While the system we built last December certainly had horsepower, it was also over the top in a number of ways. The storage system consisted of a Ultra320 SCSI RAID 0 array using Seagate Cheetah 15,000RPM hard drives. Both the controller and a hard drive were pricey, and somewhat finicky to set up -- though the array certainly ran like a champ once we got it going. The speaker system was a bit over the top, too, built by cannibalizing the subwoofer from a set of Cambridge Soundworks 5.1's and adding three Cambridge Soundworks Newton MC300 speakers for the front array and a pair of MC200 satellites for the surrounds.

All of these goodies pushed the price of the system to well over $5,000. So this time around, we wanted to build a system that certainly performed well, but was also more cost effective and practical. That's not to say we didn't go to some excess in a couple of areas; more on that in a bit.

Components

The CPU
Our CPU of choice is the 3.0GHz Pentium 4 with the 800MHz frontside bus. This time around, we didn't build up a separate Athlon XP system, as we often do. There are several reasons for this:

• The Athlon XP 3200+ really only outpaces the P4/3.0GHz in a couple of tests. The Pentium 4 really outshines AMD's best CPU. On top of that, the Athlon XP 3200+ CPU actually costs more than the 3.0GHz Pentium 4, although this is mitigated somewhat by the motherboard costs.
• No current Athlon XP solution offers native Serial ATA support, though that will change shortly when motherboards using Via's 8237 south bridge begin to ship in quantity. This was a key consideration, as we'll see shortly.

3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading
http://www.intel.com
Price: $425 street, check prices

Cooling the CPU
The standard Intel heatsink is amazingly quiet for something that has to cool down a CPU that can potentially dissipate up to 100W of heat. However, it's certainly not suitable for overclocking. On the other hand, we're not convinced that water cooling is quite mainstream yet, though we continue to monitor the world of alternative cooling solutions. Finally, we still wanted to minimize noise where possible, while still offering substantial airflow.

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To that end, we chose the Vantec Aeroflow VP4-C7040. The Aeroflow heatsink has a four-way fin structure surrounding a copper core. The Aeroflow uses a TMD (tip magnetic drive) motor assembly, in which electromagnets on the perimeter of the fan are driven inductively to spin the fan. The result is a fan that's quieter than most high speed fans, but capable of spinning at 5600RPM and moving 35.5cfm (cubic feet per minute) -- all at a noise level of around 38dB (A-weighted). For more info, check out Vantec's web site.

Vantec Aeroflow VP4-C7040 Socket 478 Cooler
http://www.vantecusa.com
Price: $29, check prices

The Motherboard

We wanted to have a motherboard that was stable and fast at normal clock rates, but had the flexibility to cater to people who wanted to push the system. While the latest Intel D875PBZ board has some rudimentary overclocking capability, and is pretty speedy out of the box, the BIOS isn't as flexible as we'd like. The Asus P4C800 scored some pretty impressive benchmarks -- but those scores were partly because Asus overclocks the CPU and memory a bit by default.

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In the end, we chose the Abit IC7-G. Out-of-the-box performance is quite good, the SoftMenu BIOS allows for easy tweaking and stability was rock solid. Check out our review of the IC7-G here. The IC7-G ships with support for Intel's CSA (communications streaming architecture gigabit Ethernet. Abit also offers two different Serial ATA RAID options -- ICH5R RAID, part of Intel's I/O controller hub -- and Silicon Image's SiL 3112 PCI SATA controller. Abit also put some thought into the I/O options, with most of the useful I/O on the ATX I/O panel.

Abit IC7-G Intel 875P Motherboard
http://www.abit-usa.com
Price: $198, check prices

Memory
We've been using Kingston HyperX high performance memory, but have discovered that the PC3500 HyperX we had on hand could only run at CAS2-3-3 timing. But Kingston has revised the product, tightening up latencies and improving performance at 200MHz speeds. The current HyperX product is fully capable of running at CAS2-2-2-6 (1T CMD rate) at 200MHz (DDR400) and CAS 2-3-3-7 (1T) at 217.5MHz (DDR434). Based on the newer modules, we'll continue to use HyperX, which has served us well. Kingston is selling the modules singly, or in pairs, though they're careful not to call them matched sets.

One alternative is Corsair's XMS series. The PC3500 modules are rated at the same speed as Kingston's HyperX, but Corsair sells matched sets (dubbed "TwinX") that are guaranteed to both run at the same speed. However, you pay a hefty price premium for XMS series memory.

Kingston HyperX PC3500 DDR memory (2x512MB modules)
http://www.kingston.com/hyperx
Price: $121 each, check prices

Graphics

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
http://www.ati.com
Price: $510

Display
The display was a tough choice, because there are so many good ones out there. Since one of the main uses for this system is likely to be PC gaming, we opted for CRT technology over flat panels. While a few flat panels are starting to hit a 16ms response time, which enables them to hit that magical 60 frames per second without ghosting, we'd like to see them with more screen real estate. Plus, color rendition is still better on CRTs.

Our choice in CRTs this time around is the Samsung 1200NF. It's a .24 stripe pitch, aperture-based, 22" tube (20" viewable) that can support resolutions up to 2048x1536. It's also relatively inexpensive, at $490.

Samsung 1200NF
http://www.samsungusa.com
Price: $490, check prices

Hard Drives

On the performance side, we used a pair of Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM SATA drives. Although the Raptor only sports a 36.7GB capacity, two drives in a RAID 0 array yields 72GB of storage. Raptor RAID would be our primary drive configuration. However, we also added a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB parallel ATA hard drive for the sheer capacity. We opted for the parallel drive over the Serial ATA version, because we wanted to avoid PCI bus traffic generated by using the onboard Silicon Image controller.

Our storage strategy is optimized for performance over safety. The Raptor drives are built like enterprise-class SCSI drives, so are robustly constructed. Still, doubling up on drives can potentially increase the risk of drive failure. An alternative would be to use the Silicon Image controller instead, creating a RAID 1 configuration. If one drive fails, you can reconstruct the boot drive -- but your effective capacity is halved. It really depends on your application. In our case, we went the performance route, but have the second, larger drive as backup. It's a testament to the design of the Abit IC7-G that we can easily choose between the two options.

Western Digital WD-360 10,000 RPM SATA Drive
http://www.wdc.com
Price: $155 each

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB Hard Drive
http://www.maxtor.com
Price: $207, check prices

Optical Storage
There are a plethora of interesting optical drives on the market now, ranging from very high speed CD-RW drives to multi-format DVD recordables. We were intrigued by Pioneer's announcement of their DVR-A06 multiformat drive, but our promised sample drive hadn't arrived yet. So for the time being, we went with the Sony DRU510A DVD+RW/DVD-RW recorder.

Sony DRU510A multiformat internal ATAPI DVD re-writable drive
http://www.sony.com
Price: $330, check prices

Audio -- Sound Card
We wanted the greatest flexibility and performance in an audio solution we could get. While the Abit motherboard has extensive audio capabilities, including S/PDIF in and out, we wanted to avoid host-based audio if possible. In the end, we chose the Creative Labs Audigy 2 Platinum. The Platinum ships with a control module that mounts in an internal 5.25" drive bay. We opted for the "standard" Platinum rather than the Platinum EX, mostly to avoid using an external box. The Audigy 2 fully supports 64 hardware 3D audio streams, plays DVD-Audio titles and is even THX certified.

Creative Labs Audigy 2 Platinum
http://www.soundblaster.com
Price: $159, check prices

Audio -- Speakers
In our December Dream Machine piece, we built a customized Cambridge Soundworks system based on their Megaworks 5.1 system that was a little over the top -- for one thing, it cost $1,125. Creative Labs has been shipping the Megaworks THX 6.1. These speakers offer full 6.1 support for the Audigy 2, and adds a somewhat beefier amplifier. At $299, it's practically a steal. However, we couldn't help modding it just a little bit, so we pulled out the MC50 center channel speaker and replaced it with an MC150 center channel, which broadens the sound stage just a bit, with two 3.5" cone drivers surrounding a 3/4" silk dome tweeter. The MC150 is well-matched to the MC50 satellites, but does add $100 to the cost of the speaker set.

Creative Labs Megaworks THX 6.1
http://www.creativelabs.com
Price: $299, check prices

Cambridge Soundworks MC150 Center Channel Speaker
http://www.hifi.com
Price: $99

Case and Power Supply

Scratch that; we wanted something a lot less industrial looking.

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Sharp eyes will recognize this as a Super Flower aluminum mid-tower case. This case can be found for prices ranging from $100 to $140 in a variety of outlets. As you can see, however, this is no ordinary Super Flower case. The paint job is courtesy of casearts.com. Casearts has developed a way to apply pattern to the exterior of a case in a relatively low cost way. Whether it's the pop-art case we show here, camouflage pattern, metallic sheen or, by god, a flowered upholstery pattern, Casearts offers dozens of choices. You can find their cases through Directron, Outpost, or ZXMods. There are several style choices, including the Super Flower (with or without acrylic panels) and Chieftec full towers.

We've used the "plain vanilla" Super Flower case with great results for a number of months now, so using the Casearts version was an easy choice. There are some nifty features, too, like a removable motherboard tray.

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The case also has scads of room for 3.5" drives, including a removable drive bay that can accept up to five drives (though for heat reasons alone, you probably wouldn't want to cram it full). The drive bay has its own cooling fans built into the front of the case.

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In addition to the cooling fans in front of the drive bay, additional fans grace the back of the case and the top.

We wanted a robust, reliable power supply to go with this case, so we went with the robust, reliable Antec True480 480W power supply. We recently uncovered the quieter Zalman 400W power supply, but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. But we've been pretty happy with the Antec supplies.

Super Flower / CaseArts aluminum PC case
http://www.casearts.com
Price: $169

Antec True480 480W Power Supply
http://www.antec-inc.com
Price: $80, check prices

Need Input!
Of course, we also need a keyboard and mouse. Recently, Logitech has started shipping their Cordless MX Duo. This combines the spiffy Logitech MX 700 cordless mouse with their Elite keyboard. Although we wish they'd also put together a combo with an ergonomic keyboard, the Duo is solid combination, with a decent keyboard paired up to the best cordless mouse for gaming -- and other applications.

Logitech Cordless MX Duo
http://www.logitech.com
Price: $80, check prices

The Competition

Dell Dimension XPS
Dell has been watching the market for boutique gaming systems for a number of years now, but has only recently decided to dip its toes into that market. The result is the Dimension XPS.

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The XPS is a massive, full tower system that's actually built on a modified Dell workstation chassis. The skins a bit different, though, with the front a cool cobalt blue offset by the chrome-veneer shield plate. However, the rest of the chassis is standard Dell charcoal, except for the big Dell logo imprint on the side.

The system uses a nonstandard, 460W power supply that actually resides in the bottom of the case. This is incredibly logical, as you'll no longer have that pesky power cable hanging down and entangling the other cables in your system.

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Dell's latest progeny is even easier to open than its recent clamshell PCs. You no longer have to lay it on its side. Instead, you release a latch and swing open one side.

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Like many of the newer Dell systems, this one uses a semi-proprietary motherboard manufactured for Dell using the Intel 875P chipset. Although it only has four PCI slots, this isn't a major issue, as the rear ATX panel sports six USB 2.0 ports and the 10/100 Ethernet port. Two additional USB 2.0 ports and one six-pin, powered 1394a (Firewire) port grace the front of the case, under a small, flip-open door.

Dell has a well-deserved reputation for building systems that generate little noise, and the XPS is no exception. Despite the extra cooling, the XPS generated so little noise, it was sometimes difficult to tell if it was powered up.

Part of this is due to the ducted CPU cooler. If you look closely, you'll see a green air duct over the CPU. Twin 9cm fans exhaust warm air from the duct to the outside world. The duct is so large, it obscures major sections of the motherboard.

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Underneath the duct is the actual CPU cooler, which is a finned aluminum heatsink layered on top of a copper slug with a built in heat pipe. The combination of the heat pipe, the duct and the dual, low-speed 9cm fans act in concert to keep the CPU cool.

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The Dimension XPS

The Dimension XPS system ships with components you'd expect in a high end gaming system. Twin Seagate Barracuda V SATA drives are combined into a RAID 0 array. Curiously, Dell chose to go with a PCI SATA RAID controller based on a Promise chip, instead of using Intel's ICH5R. Graphics chores are handled by a 128MB Radeon 9800 Pro, which drives a svelte-looking, narrow-bezel 19" Dell 1900FP digital flat panel display in the system Dell shipped to us (you can also order CRT monitors if you prefer).

The system also had dual optical drives, one being an NEC DVD+RW drive, the other a stock DVD-ROM drive. Two of the four memory slots are populated with twin 512MB Hynix memory modules, rated at CAS latency 3. The Dell BIOS is typical of all Dell BIOSes. There is no way to tweak bus speeds or memory timings, probably to reduce incident calls to customer support. Given that the audience for this system won't be the hard core system tweaker, that's certainly okay.

Adding peripherals to the XPS is a snap. For example, to add a third hard drive, all we had to do was pull a pair of green drive rails from the drive bay, snap them onto the drive (no screws required), then slide the drive into place.

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Dell also shipped us a set of Logitech Z-680, which were driven ty an Audigy2 sound card. A Dell Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard and Logitech MX700 mouse rounded out the package.

Oh, so close…

We'll present the results of the performance testing shortly, but suffice it to say that the Dimension XPS came up short in the majority of our performance tests. In fact, the Gateway system generally performed better, despite using the same CAS3 latency memory as the Dell. Our suspicion is that Dell backed off just a bit on the memory timing in the system BIOS in order to ensure reliability and minimize support costs. The Dell system did do well in some performance tests, but 3D Studio Max, in particular, generated disappointing results. Note that the Dell ships with only CL3 DDR memory, but so did the Gateway 700XL, which simply performed better.

More worrisome are a couple of glitches we ran into. One involved 3D Studio Max release 5.0. As we noted above, performance was disappointing. In fact, some of the rendering tests were so slow, we had some concerns that the CPU was throttling back due to heat problems. However, the other rendering tests were in the right ballpark, if somewhat slower than the competition. A number of the 3D Studio tests were substantially slower.

Secondly was an issue we encountered in our After Effects rendering test, which runs through a scripted sequence of filters and compositing exercises. The Dell could not complete the rendering test in one pass. We could complete the test only if we pressed the render button after the rendering operation halted the first time. This was completely repeatable, and always halted at the same point. The combined time in our output log was about what it should be, but the XPS is the only system we've tested to date in which the render test wouldn't complete without manual intervention.

Based on that, we have to ding the score a bit, even though the Dimension XPS is such an elegant -- if massive -- package. On the flip side, the lack of noise, the ease of access to the interior and the relative ease of adding peripherals are all major pluses. And bear in mind that performance is still good enough for the majority of games on the market today. The system was also rock-solid during a number of networked gaming sessions. Still, we would have liked to see a bit more "oomph" out of a system targeted at the gaming population.

Product:	Dell Dimension XPS Gaming System
Web Site:	http://www.dell.com
Pros:	Slick case; easy access; extremely quiet; lots of USB 2.0 ports
Cons:	Disappointing performance; minor compatibility issues; non-standard case and motherboard.
Price:	$4,079 as tested
Summary:	Dell takes a stab at the market for gaming PCs, and falls a bit short. The case is cool, though, even if it's nonstandard, and we loved the lack of noise.
Score:

Gateway 700XL

At first blush, the Gateway 700XL case actually looks bigger than the Dell Dimension XPS case, although this is clearly an optical illusion. The 700XL is Gateway's high end system for mainstream use, but it certainly has all the chops to be a good gaming system.

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When you open up the box, you're confronted with a bit of a surprise: a seemingly stock Intel D875PBZ motherboard. The CPU was cooled by a relatively standard heatsink manufactured by AVC. Because of this, and the relatively standard power supply cooling fan, the Gateway wasn't nearly as silent as the Dell XPS system.

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However, when you first boot up, you soon discover that the infamous "burn-in" menu (Intel's euphemism for it's somewhat limited overclocking menu) is missing. Given that Gateway has to minimize support costs, we can understand the omission. Many of the components are similar to those used in the Dell Dimension XPS system, including a 128MB Radeon 9800 Pro, 1GB of Hynix CL3 DDR400 memory, a DVD rewritable drive (DVD-R/-RAM in this case) and a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card. Like Dell, Gateway supplied us with a 19" flat panel display, their FPD1830 model. Because of its relatively wide bezel, it looks slightly more clunky than the Dell display. Also like the Dell, we saw some ghosting of images at very high frame rates during gameplay. However, you can order a CRT display if you wish.

However, Gateway built a pair of 160GB Seagate Serial ATA drives into the system and, unlike Dell, used Intel's ICH5R RAID 0 option to set up a RAID array. Also, Gateway shipped us a set of Boston Acoustics BA7900 5.1 speakers, which Dave Salvator liked a lot. The display was a Gateway

However, for such a tall case, the 700XL has only modest expansion capability. For example, no third bay exists for an additional 3.5" hard drive, though you could add one to an empty 5.25 inch bay with the appropriate mounting bracket.

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The Gateway system ships with only a 250W power supply that uses non-standard mounting. Specifically, it's held in place by a plastic latch, and the power supply snaps out of the way, facilitating easy exchange. However, no stock ATX power supply has the requisite mounting tabs, so you'd have to get a replacement from Gateway. The actual 20-pin and ATX 12V four-pin power connectors are standard, however. Expansion cards are held in place by a single, flip-up bracket which uses a single thumb screw, facilitating easy access and installation of expansion cards.

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Gateway Delivers

Just as importantly, the Gateway was predictable and stable. We encountered no glitches running any of our benchmarks. In numerous multiplayer gaming sessions -- one of our acid tests for stability -- the system proved to be as solid as they come. This was quite a pleasant surprise, as we've run into stability issues with previous generations of Gateway products. But the 700XL proved its mettle time and again, and we were pretty impressed with its overall performance and stability. Better yet, at $3,449 as tested, it's not only faster than the Dell, but costs less, too. You do give up some expandability and noise, but you gain in performance.

Product:	Gateway 700XL
Web Site:	http://www.gateway.com
Pros:	Excellent performance for a mainstream PC; easy access to the case; good speakers; relatively low cost
Cons:	Modest expandability for such a large case; noisier than the Dell XPS; CL3 memory.
Price:	$3,449 as tested, check prices
Summary:	Gateway's mainstream system surprised us with its robust performance, stability and well rounded mix of components. Worth a closer look if you're wanting to buy an off-the-shelf system.
Score:

System Setup

In effect, the ExtremeTech system is about $200 more than the Gateway 700XL, but comes with additional mass storage options, an arguably beefier graphics card and a case that's a lot more fun and usable. We're definitely cheaper than the Dell Dimension XPS system.

Now let's compare performance.

Benchmark Setup

All tests were run once with Hyper-Threading enabled in the system, and both systems were run in dual-channel mode.

Windows XP was installed, and all the motherboard BIOSes were set to support full APIC (advanced programmable interrupt controller) mode. We also installed Service Pack 1, and the latest (at the time of the start of this round of testing) chipset, graphics, and audio drivers. Networking was enabled on all systems. The desktop resolution was stepped up from 1024x768 in prior testing to 1280x960x32. We prefer the true 4:3 aspect ratio of 1280x960 whenever possible, as opposed to the 5:4 ratio of 1280x1024. Some images or fonts may not look quite correct at 1280x1024.

Business Winstone 2002 and Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2003
Multimedia CC Winstone 2003 has updated most of the applications in the test to the latest versions: Photoshop 7.0, Premiere 6.0, SoundForge 6.0 and so on. The new Multimedia CC Winstone also adds a Lightwave 7.5 rendering test. You can get a copy of the new Multimedia CC Winstone CD for a nominal shipping charge here.

Test Resolution: 1280x960x32, 75Hz refresh rate
Graphics Driver Setting: Defaults
Hard drive defragged before test runs

Software Rendering Tests
We're now using 3D Studio Max 5.0 for our 3D Studio tests. Render resolutions were 1024x768 for Lightwave, but varied for 3D Studio. Our 3D Studio rendering tests have increased in number, using the benchmark scenes provided on the supplemental disc shipped with 3D Studio 5.0. The POV-RAY 3.5 test is more synthetic, and doesn't generate a final image. The hard drive was defragged before 3DStudio Rendering Test

Media Encoding
Adobe After Effects: Various resolutions and encoders on multiple data items
Windows Media Encoder 9: Quality set to "DVD video, CD audio". (640x480 video, 16-bit, 44KHz audio).
Quicktime 6.1 Pro, Windows version. MPEG-4 encoding set to "LAN". Note that this is a change.
Apple updated to Quicktime 6.1 recently, which offers much more efficient MPEG4 encoding.
Sound Forge 6.0: Four filters are chained together and run on a 248MB .WAV file using Sound Forge's standalone batch converter.

PCMark 2002, 3DMark 2001SE and 3DMark 2003
PCMark 2002: Default run at 1280x960x32 desktop resolution
3DMark 2001SE run at 1280x960x32 and 640x480x16 (software T&L on the 640x480x16 test)
All graphics driver options set to default
3DMark 2003SE was run at 1280x960x32, in standard mode.

3D Gaming
All games were run at 640x480x16 and 1280x960x32 or 1280x1024x32 if the game didn't support the 1280x960 mode. All the Unreal Tournament tests were run in 32-bit color. The reason for running the low-resolution tests is that we want to minimize the overall impact of the graphics hardware. However, we also report the 1024x768x32 tests so you can gauge how a similarly equipped system might handle games at playable resolutions. Audio was enabled, except for the Unreal Tournament 2003 test. We've also added Splinter Cell, a third person action game from Ubisoft that makes use of some DirectX 8-class features. Splinter Cell uses DirectX Graphics for its 3D rendering API.

Multitasking Scenarios
We also tested the impact of Hyper-Threading by using three different multitasking scenarios.

In the first test, we ran a Norton Antivirus scan in parallel with a scripted suite of Adobe Photoshop Elements filters. The second test ran a 3D game -- Dungeon Siege -- in conjunction with our Sound Forge 6.0d file conversion test. The third test involved using Lightwave 3D 7.5, in dual-thread mode, with a Windows Media Encoder 9 session running in parallel.

Performance Results

Test Results: Business Winstone and Multimedia Content Creation Winstone
Our standard suite of applications-based benchmarks test the overall performance when running office applications (Business Winstone) or multimedia content creation (CC Winstone).

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The Dell XPS lags a bit in Business Winstone 2002, but stays pretty even in Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2003. The ExtremeTech posts the best scores, but the difference is likely due to the 10,000RPM Raptor RAID array.

Test Results: Media Encoding

Media encoding for home and professional use is becoming more popular, as more users rip audio to their hard drives, or edit home movies. We use a number of encoding apps here to stress the system.

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The benchmarks that are more CPU intensive, such as Sound Forge 6.0 and Quicktime 6.1, are pretty even across the board. Encoding tests that are more responsive to differences in memory bandwidth and latencies perform better on our homebrew system, which has lower-latency memory. The "Turbo" setting was enabled in the Abit IC7-G BIOS, which juices up the frontside bus a bit, too.

Test Results: 3D Rendering Applications

These applications are floating point intensive, and have been somewhat optimized for SSE2.

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The 3D Studio Max 5.0 tests prove to be something of a puzzle with the Dell Dimension XPS system. They are substantially poorer than the other two systems in all but one scene, the Stadium scene, in which the Dell placed first. These results are repeatable, in that we ran them six times over two days, and obtained essentially identical results. We're at a loss to explain the disparity. It's unlikely that the CPU is throttling down, but other explanations elude us. Our own ET-built system performed quite well in all three tests.

Test Results: FutureMark Benchmarks

Note that MadOnion has been formally renamed FutureMark. Let's take a quick look at their PCMark 2002, 3DMark 2001SE and 3DMark 2003 benchmarks.

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Our DIY system performs quite well in all the FutureMark tests. Being able to use boutique memory definitely helps in these types of benchmarks. In the graphics tests, the slightly higher memory clock on the DDR-2 equipped, 256MB Radeon 9800 Pro may have been the differentiating factor.

Test Results: Direct3D Gaming

We ran our standard suite of DirectX Graphics game benchmarks, which now includes Ubisoft's Splinter Cell.

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The Gateway takes the honors in most of the Direct3D game tests, but the Dimension XPS comes out swinging in the Unreal Tournament 2003 test. Our own DIY system generally splits the difference, except for Splinter Cell at the higher resolution and essentially tying for first in Comanche 4. In all cases, the differences were fairly small.

Test Results: OpenGL Gaming

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The situation turns around in the OpenGL gaming tests, with the ExtremeTech killer rig sweeping the tests. Bear in mind, though, that these differences are relatively minute.

Test Results: Multitasking Scenarios

The first test simultaneously runs through a scripted sequence using Photoshop Element filters and a Norton Antivirus manual scan. The second test simultaneously performs a Lightwave 7.5 render and a Windows Media Encoder file conversion session. Both these apps are SSE2 enabled, and we run Lightwave 7.5 with two threads active. Finally, the third test runs a Sound Forge 6.0 conversion in the background while playing through the Dungeon Siege test in the foreground.

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Our ET homebrew system seems to fare very well in the first test, but the other tests are essentially dead heats.

Analysis and Conclusion

We are, however, simultaneously impressed with the performance of the Gateway 700XL system and disappointed with the performance of the Dell Dimension XPS. Dell spent a lot of energy developing a slick looking case, and building a damned quiet system, only for it to fall short in the performance arena. The potential compatibility issues leave us slightly concerned, too.

However, the Dell is incredibly quiet, and the case is a joy to work with. Unfortunately, it won't accept standard ATX components, so you won't be able to swap in your favorite motherboard at a later date. To really participate in the market for boutique gaming systems, Dell really has to work on the performance side, however.

The Gateway was quite a surprise, and a pleasant one to boot. Performance was great across the board, especially on the gaming front. It's true that the case is a bit clunky, and the system noise greater than the XPS, but the 700XL seems to be a solid system overall.

Finally, we've once again proven that you can build a system that can keep up with the big boys in terms of performance, yet offer an exceptional amount of configuration flexibility. While we didn't explore the various overclocking options built into the Abit IC7-G, the option is there for users who want it. By the same token, we were quite happy with our "out-of-the-box" performance.

And we liked the case, too. A lot.