MESH Matrix² CrossFire™ 1300 & Matrix² CrossFire™ 1600 specs. and notes
MESH has been keen to showcase multi-GPU graphics technology in SKUs priced across the spectrum. To this end, MESH also sent us a couple of Radeon X1300 Pro 512MB and Radeon X1600 Pro 512MB cards. The basic system attributes are based on the RD 1900 XT SKU shown on the previous page. The notable differences, down to pricing, are the use of an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ CPU, 1GByte RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. All other components remain the same. We built up the same chassis with the revised components, just as you would receive it from MESH.| System name(s) | MESH Matrix² CrossFire™ 1300 & Matrix² CrossFire™ 1600 |
| Processor | AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ |
| Motherboard | ASUS A8R32-MVP (ATI RD580, PCI-Express) |
| Memory | 1GByte (2x 512MBytes) PC3200 RAM @ 3-3-3-8 @ DDR400 |
| Hard Drives | Maxtor 250GB SATA2 (16MB cache) |
| Screen | None as standard, optional extra |
| Graphics card(s) | ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 512MB CrossFired ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 512MB CrossFired |
| Optical drive #1 | Sony DW-G120A multiformat DVD ReWriter |
| Optical drive #2 | Sony DDU1615 DVD-ROM drive |
| Sound | Onboard 7.1-channel High-Definition Audio |
| Modem | None |
| Networking | Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCIe Gigabit LAN Marvell Yukon 88E8001 PCI Gigabit LAN |
Ports connectivity | 6x USB2.0, 2x FireWire400, 2x GbE, PS/2, Parallel, hot-plug SATA2, coaxial and optical S/PDIF |
| Operating system | Windows XP Home SP2 |
| Case | Chieftec black and silver midi tower with 550W PSU |
| Warranty | MESH Classic Plus - 1 year onsite and 2 years back to base |
| Price | £594.89 + VAT (£699 inc. VAT) for RD 1300 Pro £680 + VAT (£799 inc. VAT) for RD 1600 Pro |
| Shipping | £39 + VAT (£45.83 inc. VAT) |
| Other notables | CrossFire. Logitech cordless desktop combination (for RD 1600 Pro) and wired for RD 1300 Pro |
The above table highlights the differences in the SKUs in bold. MESH uses an identical Chieftec case, so the general commentary applicable to that is also valid here. However, with X1300/X1600 Pro cards taking up only a single slot each, expansion isn't such a problem. Additionally, the cards' coolers don't use temperature-controlled fans, thereby minimising the need for an induction fan at the very front.
We're glad to see MESH using a dual-core Athlon 64 as the beating heart of these SKUs. The Athlon 64 X2 3800+ runs at 2GHz and sports a total of 1MB L2 cache. That compares reasonably well the 2.6GHz clockspeed and 2MB L2 cache of the vastly more expensive Athlon 64 FX-60; both CPUs use the same basic architecture.
System memory for both machines is 1GByte, split over 2 512MByte modules run in dual-channel mode. Timings are kept at 3-3-3-8. It makes sense for MESH to use the same motherboard as the high-end system. As you will know, it adds in high-definition audio, dual Gigabit LAN, FireWire400, and masses of USB2.0, as well as external SATA2. Cheaper pricing means that hard-drive capacity is down to 250GB; just about right for £699 and £799 gaming-orientated base units.
The cheaper SKU, priced at £699 including the dreaded VAT, features a couple of Connect3D Radeon X1300 Pro 512MB PCIe graphics cards that are clocked in 594MHz core and 792MHz memory, right on reference money. The cards each sport 4 pixel shaders, 4 vertex shaders, ATI's lovely Avivo video-processing technology, and an ultra-threaded architecture that takes in Shader Model 3.0 (for realistic-looking effects) and High-Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering with antialiasing applied. There's enough bandwidth from the PCIe slots to do without an auxillary connector between the two cards. Techies will note that both cards are regular X1300 Pros; there's no master card needed here. Our concern with this choice is the effectiveness of the 512MB framebuffers on cards that probably cannot make best use of them. Perhaps MESH could have passed a little of th cost-saving from the use of a couple of 256MB Radeon X1300 Pros to the consumer?
The Matrix² CrossFire 1600 adds in, you've guessed it, a couple of Connect3D Radeon X1600 Pro cards that are based on the same advanced architecture as the X1300 Pros but have more graphical grunt. Clocked in at 500MHz core and 810MHz memory, they feature 5 vertex processors, 12 pixel shaders and a 128-thread architecture. Again, both cards are standard X1600 Pros with no additional hardware needed for CrossFire compliance. We'll show the performance difference between running cards in single and CrossFire modes in our performance evaluation.
See? Identical.
Software and bundle
All three SKUs ship with an identical bundle. MESH drops in Microsoft's Windows XP Home Edition as the OS of choice. CyberLink weighs in with its PowerDVD 5 (2-channel), Power2Go 4 (media burning software), PowerProducer 3 (DVD authoring), PowerDirector 3 (video editing), PowerDVD Copy and Power Cinema 4 software bundle. That's a lot of power from CyberLink! Microsoft's Works 8.5 and a 60-day trial of Office XP are included, too.The MESH Matrix² CrossFire 1900XT and 1600 systems feature a cordless keyboard and mouse combination from Logitech. The lower-priced Matrix² CrossFire X1300 SKU makes do with a corded version of both input devices. The bundle would be considered just above average for the industry.
Warranty
The Matrix² CrossFire 1600 and 1300 base units both feature MESH's Classic Plus warranty. It's a 3-year warranty that has onsite coverage for the first year. The remaining two are back to MESH's base. The systems ship with a recovery CD that puts the systems' software back into factory-shipped condition, should problems arise. MESH also has a lifetime support number for hardware-related problems. It's pleasing to see that it's a national-rate number rather than a premium one.The £1949 Matrix² CrossFire 1900XT's warranty is a little better. Termed MESH advantage, it features the same 3-year period but with the first two years onsite. We'd like to see this upgraded to 3-year onsite, considering the relative expense of the machine.
Value for money?
In order to evaluate value-for-money offered here we priced up the cost of the parts and software from recognised e-tailers in the U.K. Our research indicated that it was possible to build similar systems yourself for around the same kind of money, but that sum excluded the 3-year parts and labour warranty provided by MESH and the opportunity cost of taking the time to source components and building it yourself. For example, just the CPU and graphics cards in the Matrix² CrossFire 1900XT would set you back £1,400. That's more than 70% of the asking price.General observations
MESH's main focus in offering these SKUs is to provide across-the-range multi-GPU gaming machines, with the user free to add the screen and speakers of their choice. To that end, they all succeed reasonably well. Being ultra-critical, we'd like to see a front-mounted induction fan for the Matrix² CrossFire 1900XT SKU. Lower latency memory and a multicard reader would also be attractive 'upgrades', we feel.Delivery at £45 for a single box also seems a mite steep.
