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Evesham has used AMD's latest Athlon processor to build the fastest PC we've ever tested - but that's only part of the story. The Axis 1.4GHz also uses the new DDR (double data rate) memory that looks similar to normal DIMMs but adds about five per cent to the performance of a PC.
The system is supplied with 256MB of memory, which should be enough for most users. One snag, however, with the DDR memory is that the motherboard only has two memory slots. As one slot has been used, there's only one other available for future memory upgrades.
Evesham has made an interesting choice of graphics card. It's a Leadtek card but it uses nVidia's GeForce2 Pro graphics chip rather than the technically superior GeForce2 Ultra or GeForce3. Our testing has shown the Pro is an excellent performer though, and it gives better value for money than the Ultra or GeForce3. We expect this to be the case for another year or so because then we should see games on the market that use the special features of GeForce3.
Until then, the combination of 1.4GHz processor, 256MB of high-speed memory and GeForce2 Pro graphics card will handle your gaming and movie playing requirements very nicely indeed.
Evesham has clearly considered the look and feel of the system. The case has a pleasant two-tone front panel in beige and grey. It's well constructed and very easy to get open once two thumbscrews have been undone. No tools are required to get inside. The front of the PC has two USB ports in addition to the two ports on the back of the case, and there are a further four USB ports on the 17in LG monitor. You won't need all of the available USB ports, but it's good to have so many so conveniently located.
One slightly surprising aspect of this high-powered PC is that it has four cooling fans. This makes for a noticeable amount of background noise, so don't position the Axis 1.4 near your hi-fi or TV unless you enjoy a whirring accompaniment.
It's quite unusual to find a FireWire card inside a desktop PC but Evesham has fitted one to the Axis. FireWire ports look very similar to USB and are mainly used with digital camcorders for transferring movies to your PC for editing. You can perform basic movie editing using the Movie Maker software that comes as part of Windows Me.
Video editing takes a lot of processing power and hard disk storage space. The Axis certainly has the power with that Athlon processor, and the Maxtor 40Gb hard disk is enough to get started.
Once the movie is finished, you could use the burn-proof Teac CD-RW drive to make a Video CD that will play back on a DVD player.
Evesham has rounded off the specifications nicely with Creative's SoundBlaster Live sound card and a set of DTT2200 5.1 speakers.
This system is good value for money and is excellent for gaming, DVD playback and music. It even comes with a decent warranty.
Contact
Evesham: 0870 729 9785 www.evesham.com
ALSO CONSIDER
HI-GRADE ULTIS 1.7GHz
A very competent all-round system.
£1,761 ****
See also:
With a C-Cube DVxpress MX25 chip, this PCI card provides superb method of editing films. 14 Nov 2001
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