Review: Mesh Matrix Quad FX gaming PC

In releasing this gaming PC, Mesh has kept faith with AMD by fitting the Matrix Quad FX with an Athlon 64 FX-62.

This processor slots into an AM2 socket on the motherboard but, despite also being dual core, it can’t hold a candle to Intel’s new lightning fast Core 2 Duos.

The 2GB of DDR2 Ram supplied is ample for modern gaming and runs at an ultra-fast 900MHz; two free Ram slots make future expansion possible.

You’re unlikely to run out of storage space as this PC has a 500GB serial ATA (Sata) hard disk; a 16MB buffer is used for optimal performance. Should you wish to improve on this, the motherboard supports Raid and even has an external Sata connection port.

Although a floppy disk drive sits at the top of the case, there are still two free 3.5in bays.

However, the main attraction of this PC is highlighted in its name: quad SLI graphics. Two Nvidia Geforce 7950 GX2 cards are installed on the moterhboard, each of which house a pair of GPUs.

The cards are connected together with an SLI bridge and there’s a combined 2GB of graphics Ram available.

On paper this is a formidable setup. But, while it scored a respectable 296 in Sysmark 2004 SE, it failed to light up our graphics card performance table, which we believe is largely down to poor initial revisions of the drivers supplied by Nvidia.

In 3Dmark05 it achieved 13,573, which is fairly poor considering a 7950 GX2 system usually scores around 12,000 in the same test. We were hoping for something in the region of an 18,000 in 3Dmark05.

While we expect 3D performance to improve, we can’t help but feel disappointed with these results, especially when you consider how much the additional 7950 GX2 contributes to the cost of this PC. On the street, you’ll pay around £350 for one of them.

The dual card setup also adds significantly to the amount of power the Matrix Quad FX draws when running under heavy use. But the 550W PSU ensures the components are supplied with ample power.

A 20in widescreen Viewsonic VX2025wm serves as the display for the Matrix Quad FX. It’s great for gaming and it makes good use of the supplied Windows XP Media Center operating system.

With a native resolution of 1,680 x 1,050, there’s plenty of desktop space to work within and games can really be pushed to their limits.

The silver and black case of this PC is a staple feature of recent Mesh high-end desktop PCs. It looks smart, is lockable and disperses the considerable heat that the components generate in an efficient manner.

Audio is generated by a Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music card and delivered via Creative’s Inspire T7900 7.1 surround-sound system. Should you be pushed for space, the monitor also has built-in speakers.

Mesh has really sweetened this package with the assortment of peripherals that ship with the Matrix Quad FX. Gamers will be particularly pleased with the Logitech G15 keyboard, Creative Fatal1ty 1010 mouse and Saitek Cyborg Evo joystick.

The G15 is a wired USB keyboard that is particularly wide with 18 extra keys on the left-hand side to aid gamers.

Three mode keys seamlessly change the functionality of these keys. A nice touch is a physical game mode switch which disables the Windows key, preventing you from accidentally returning to the OS in the middle of game play.

At the top of the G15 lies a flip-up LCD which, when configured, interacts with a whole host of media software to display information akin to that on the display of a portable audio player; certain games can also interact with this LCD screen. A jog wheel and media keys control playback.

DVD drives occupy two of the three 5.25in bays, both of which are Sony models. The first is a dual-layer burner complete with Lightscribe technology for etching your own labels onto discs and the other a reader with CD burning capability. The second is a standard DVD-Rom drive.

We liked the Matrix Quad FX and Mesh’s attention to detail. However, it’s hamstrung by relatively poor quad SLI performance.

Of course, this will hopefully improve with new Nvidia driver releases, but we feel gamers who are willing to spend over £2,000 for a PC will probably be swayed by the impressive Core 2 Duo systems we’ve recently reviewed.

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