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Machines featuring the Athlon XP processor are becoming common, especially in the consumer and budget-conscious office markets. These are markets PC World (sole distributor of Advent PCs) is aiming for, so it's no surprise that AMD's Athlon XP 2000+ chip is at the heart of this desktop system, whose main components and features are obviously geared towards use in an office environment.
The AMD processor, which runs at a core speed of 1.67GHz, is mounted in a Gigabyte GA-7DX motherboard, alongside 512MB of DDR memory. This is supplied in two DIMM sticks, so the third slot is empty for upgrades.
Twin cooling fans help to keep the chip and memory cool, and the 64MB nVidia GeForce 3 Ti 200 graphics adapter also has its own cooling system.
Connected to this adapter is a good quality 17in Samsung SyncMaster 171S LCD monitor. The graphics card has a DVI connector for digital displays, but that's not used in this system, with the card connecting to the monitor via a D-Sub VGA adapter.
Other key components include an Ultra ATA/133 80GB Maxtor E-IDE hard disk drive, a 24/10/40-speed Samsung CD-RW and a Toshiba DVD-ROM drive. A pair of speakers are supplied, but there's no modem. Instead, an Intel Pro/100 desktop PCI network adapter occupies one of the PCI slots, hinting that this machine is destined for the office rather than the home.
There are no other PCI cards in the system, realistically leaving three free PCI slots for upgrade purposes.
You get a Microsoft wheel mouse and a standard keyboard. The two USB ports are at the rear, plus two serial and one parallel connector.
In addition to the pre-installed Windows XP Professional, there's Microsoft's Works Suite 2001 and utilities including DVD Player and Nero 5.5 CD authoring software. As well as the well-written manual there's a rescue CD, along with drivers for all the main components of the PC.
There's nothing too outstanding about this system but there's not much wrong with it either. If the price suits your budget, then go for it.Contact
Distributed by PC World, Dixons House, Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 7TG
Tel 08705 464464
www.pcworld.co.uk
See also:
Good specs, combined with a low price and a three-year on-site warranty, make this a great value piece of kit. 06 Jun 2002
While we're still hoping for a G4 iMac, this latest machine is no slouch and, at £1199, it's reasonable value when everything is considered. 15 Feb 2002
A blisteringly fast Athlon XP processor beats at the heart of this PC. 10 Dec 2001All Desktops
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