Carrera Cygnus M550f & Dell Dimension XPS T550

As these two PCs from Dell and Carrera are built around the fastest version of Intel's flagship processor - the Pentium III - we weren't surprised when they turned out to be the fastest Windows 98 systems we've seen. But, it is doubtful whether the extra performance is really worth the extra cost.

With a chip running at 550MHz, we expected these PCs to turn in scores just under 10 percent better than a 500MHz PIII computer, and the SYSMark 98 scores for the Carrera and Dell of 217 and 219 respectively, bear out our predictions. But apart from this hike in speed provided by the extra megahertz, the processor at the heart of these PCs is really no different to any other Pentium III.

The interesting thing about these PCs is their graphics card. Each is one of the latest models, based on the just-released Riva TNT2 graphics chipset. Dell's Diamond Viper V770 is successor to the Viper V550 which was Best Buy in May's group test, so we expected big things.

But it was the lesser-known Guillemot MaxiGamer Xentor inside the Carrera that surprised us. Its 3DMark 99 Max score of 5168 is the fastest we've seen in a review system, and is a full 25 percent faster than the result given by the Diamond board.

We experimented with different combinations. We got a retail board from Diamond in case Dell had supplied a slightly flawed pre-production model, and loaded up the most up-to-date drivers. These made a big difference, raising the card's score from 4206 to 4757, but strangely, the Diamond card gave by far its best performance - 4965 - using Guillemot drivers.

It's clearly a good product - but tweaking may be required and our results illustrate the importance of well-written drivers.

These huge 3Dmark 99 Max scores reflect the underlying power of the machines and either would be a great choice for games - in fact games are virtually the only software that stretch PCs of this calibre.

The rest of the components that make up these two PCs are just as impressive as their performance. Both are extremely well built and come with large monitors. Dell has chosen a 19in Trinitron that would be a joy to work at, while the 17in Iiyama screen supplied by Carrera is also a fine Trinitron model, this time with a virtually flat screen.

Either monitor is big enough to watch DVD movies on, which is handy as both machines have DVD-ROM rather than CD-ROM drives and at 4.8x they are fast enough to ensure smooth playback. A look inside each PC reveals a fast modem and good sound cards - Carrera has plumped for VideoLogic, while Dell has picked Creative Labs. Sound is output by reasonable speakers on both systems, although Dell has opted for a more sophisticated set with a sub woofer.

As for storage, if you're going to need more than the 18Gb hard disk in the Carrera, choose the Dell which offers a huge 22Gb to play with.

Interestingly, Carrera has chosen an ATA-66 model and installed an additional controller, which promises to transfer data at up to 66Mb/s. This doesn't seem to make any tangible difference to performance though; indeed the Carrera is slightly slower than the Dell.

The Dell comes up trumps with its other accessories too. It's the first machine we've seen with a built-in Zip 250 drive, offering 250Mb of removable storage on a single disk, and Dell has these exclusively for a period.

As for software you get to choose between Office SBE on the Dell or SmartSuite Millennium with the Carrera.

We prefer the Dell's large monitor and unique Zip 250 but unless you're a demanding user, you should ask whether you really need a PC with this much power.

SPECIFICATIONS

Carrera Cygnus M550f: 550MHz Intel Pentium III processor

128Mb RAM, 18Gb ATA-66 hard disk with Promise controller

17in Iiyama IFT monitor

16Mb Guillemot Maxi Gamer Xentor TNT2 graphics card, VideoLogic sound card

Altec Lansing ACS90 speakers

56Kbits/s modem, 4.8x DVD-ROM drive Lotus SmartSuite Millennium

Dell Dimension XPS T550: 550MHz Intel Pentium III processor

128Mb RAM, 22Gb ATA-33 hard disk 19in Trinitron monitor

32Mb Diamond Viper V770 TNT2 graphics card, Creative Labs sound card

Altec Lansing ADA880 speakers

56Kbits/sec modem, 4.8x DVD-ROM drive, Zip 250 drive

MS Office Small Business Edition

Carrera: £1,820.08 (inc VAT)

Dell: £2,113.83 (inc VAT)

Carrera: 0181 307 2800

www.carrera.co.uk

Dell: 0870 907 5687

www.dell.com/uk

Carrera Cygnus M550f

Build quality ****

Performance *****

Features ****

Value for money ****

Overall ****

Dell Dimension XPS T550

Build quality *****

Performance ****

Features *****

Value for money ****

Overall ****

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