Test system
Without the help of MESH Computers, we wouldn't have been able to bring you this preview but, even with it, we've ended up delivering a lot later than we'd intended. However, we weren't willing to go live until we were reasonably happy with the article and so it's gone up two days later than planned. Perhaps we were just a little over ambitious.
A few words about our take on build quality and the like. If we have any criticism (and, of course we do), it's largely down to the fact that - because of time-constraints - one of the system chassis cooling fans used hadn't been specifically tailored to suit the ATI card. The ATI All-In-Wonder X1800 XL was surprisingly and acceptably quiet and merited components to match and, with one exception, they did.
The AKASA CPU cooler fan wasn't noisy and nor was the 120mm Chieftec fan venting air from the rear of the case. Even the fan on the 550W HEC 550TD-PDE power supply was okay. However, fully assembled, the machine was rather noisier than we'd have liked and it turned out that the offender was the 85x85mm Chieftec D80SM-12 attached to the chassis' left side panel. This serves to force air along a short corrugated tube onto the CPU cooler fan. With the left side panel removed (no tools required - there's a lockable quick-release mechanism) and it's safe for us to disconnect the fan without fear of overheating, the noise level dropped considerably and it became clear how remarkably quiet the AIW's on-board fan is.
Chassis side panel removed to
show corrugated tube, at the base of which is a fan to blow air over the CPU
The Chieftec fan within
the tube is rather noisyOur hope - and our expectation - is that a quieter side panel fan will be used in any system the company builds containing an All-In-Wonder X1800 XL.
We've already pointed out the problem that the MESH-installed Cyberlink software suite caused us, and we also fully expect that to be resolved in any such AIW-based system.
Those two issues apart, we were very happy with the MESH system and its components. The case is good-enough looking (but a swine to photograph because of its silver and black front) and has plenty of drive bays - four 5.25in external and three 3.5in internal. With the drives that had been installed - using quick-release fittings, we should add - one bay of each type was left free. We'd have like to have seen a FireWire port around the front, rather than just a pair of USB 2.0 sockets but with two FireWire sockets round the back - along with four further USB ports - we probably would be ungracious to do more than raise an eyebrow.
Front of MESH PC
Rear of MESH PCThe ASUS A8R-MVP motherboard - which we'd recommended be used - is well spec'd and laid out in such a way that all sockets are readily accessed, and with no daft things such as memory-release handles only being able to be used when the graphics card has been removed.
Interior. Neat and tidy
layout with good access to key areas of the motherboard. The lower red arrow points
to a power plug, and this goes into a socket at the end of
the ATI card - indicated by the left-most arrow. The
larger red arrow shows the Molex plug that takes
power to the fan on the removable side wall
(removed, of course, to take this shot ). The fan
blows air over the CPU. The case is lockable - note
the key in the lock, with spare below, at top left
Sideview. The top vent is
for the CPU blower fan. The bottom one is passive. Once unlocked, the side panel
is released using the lever at top centre
We'd love to have told you how much we like the Creative Labs 7.1-capable sound card and speakers but we never took the speakers out of their boxes nor listened to sound on anything other than our own headphones - there wasn't sufficient space in our lab at the time. That's also partly the reason why we didn't try out the supplied ViewSonic monitor - the other is that we prefer to control all systems through a single keyboard/monitor/mouse switchbox, and so we did just that. Not surprisingly, use of our KVM box meant we also left untouched the supplied Logitech cordless keyboard/mouse pairing.
Finally - cabling. That was neat and tidy, but with MESH's long-standing experience, we'd have been disappointed if it hadn't been. Having tidy cabling didn't simply mean that everything looked ship-shaped but that - combined with the case design and motherboard layout - every component was easily accessible for maintenance or upgrade, and no fans were obscured or at risk of being fouled.
So, thanks people - good job.
TEST SYSTEM
MESH Computers - MatriX2 1800AIW (Hexus Jan 06)
|
System
maker |
MESH
Computers |
|
System name |
MatriX2
1800AIW (Hexus Jan 06) |
|
System price |
£1,349
(ex VAT); £1,585.08 (inc VAT) |
|
CPU |
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-core
4400+ with HT Tech |
|
Operating
system |
Microsoft
Windows XP Professional Edition |
|
System case |
Midi-Tower ATX in black & silver |
|
Power supply |
550W PSU |
|
Motherboard |
ASUS A8R-MVP; ATI Xpress 200
PCI; ATX |
|
RAM |
1,024MB
DDR400 Memory - PC3200 (2x512MB) |
|
HDD1 |
200GB
Serial ATA with 8MB Buffer |
|
HDD2 |
300GB
Serial ATA with 16MB Buffer |
|
Optical 1 |
16x DVD-ROM
Drive (40x CD-ROM) |
|
Optical 2 |
SONY 16x
Dual Layer DVD-Rewritable +R/-R/RW |
|
Graphics 1 |
256MB ATI
Radeon XI800XL All-in-Wonder - PCI-Express; DVI & VGA;
analogue/digital TV tuner (+FM radio); TV out; S-video
in/out; component video out |
|
Graphics 2 |
N/A |
|
Monitor 1 |
19in
ViewSonic VX924 TFT flat panel monitor - DVI (3ms) |
|
Monitor 2 |
N/A |
|
Monitor
cables |
1 x DVI |
|
Sound card |
Creative
Labs Sound Blaster X-Fl Xtreme Music |
|
Speakers |
Creative
Labs Inspire T7900 - 7.1 Surround with Subwoofer |
|
Keyboard |
Logitech
Cordless Keyboard & Rechargeable Cordless Mouse |
|
Mouse |
See above |
|
Software 1 |
Free
Microsoft Works 8.5 + 60 Days Microsoft Office trial |
|
Software 2 |
Free
Cyberlink Video Editing Suite - seven titles (OEM) |
|
Software 3 |
eTrust
Antivirus V7 - 90 days trial |
|
Modem |
56Kbps
internal V92 - voice, data and fax. |
|
Floppy disk
drive |
1.44MB -
3.5in |
|
Media player |
40GB Media
Box - BNI-501 Portable Media Library (USB 2.0) |
MESH Computers
Web: http://www.meshcomputers.com
Sales HotLine: 08700 46 47 47
Email: sales@meshcomputers.com
Snail:
MESH Computers PLC
MESH House
No. 1 Oxgate Centre
Oxgate Lane
London NW2 7JA
