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New Gaming System Is Tops in Performance and Style

ABS's Ultimate M6 has a heft to match its brawn. Plus, portable music players.

The spate of news about compact PCs obscures the fact that some systems are getting bigger and more powerful. Take the new ABS Ultimate M6 on the power section of the desktops chart. This behemoth is so heavy that ABS gave it wheels and a cumbersome brake lever to prevent it from rolling away.

The dividends of this computer's size are top-end power and good looks--the case is a futuristic matte silver with a perforated front-panel design. The Ultimate M6 scored 122 in our WorldBench 5 performance tests, the fastest rate recorded to date; plus, the system averaged 259 frames per second in our graphics tests, among the top five scores we've seen for a desktop PC.

The Ultimate M6 supplies plenty of ports--ten USB 2.0 and two FireWire--as well as room for extra hard drives, beyond the 320GB it came configured with. We were also impressed by the Samsung SyncMaster 997DF monitor and the aurally stunning Logitech Z-5500 speakers and Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card. At $3699, this system is expensive, but speed and style have their price.

Dell's refresh of the Dimension 8400 took sixth place on the power side of the chart--down from the previous incarnation's number three spot. The slippage was due to increasingly tough competition, in both design and performance, from rival vendors. The main differences between the two generations of 8400s are a faster processor--a 3.6-GHz Pentium 4 660 rather than a 3.6-GHz Pentium 4 560--a dual-format DVD±RW drive, and a slightly lower price ($2799). The new Dimension 8400 performed a tad better in our WorldBench 5 tests: 101 versus 98.

Our new value chart-maker, the HP Pavilion A820n, is a home-entertainment PC rich in features. Most notable is its double-layer, dual-format DVD±RW drive with the new LightScribe CD labeling technology (the first we've seen in a PC). Using the drive, you can "burn" a label onto the top surface of a specially coated CD. (For more on LightScribe, click here.) The Pavilion A820n also offers seven USB and two FireWire ports and an eight-in-one media card reader.

The A820n turned in so-so performance results. It scored 84 in our WorldBench 5 tests, and it averaged 59.6 fps in our high-end graphics tests (in the bottom third). Clearly, this value PC, which lacks dedicated graphics memory, is not meant to blow you away while you're playing Doom 3.

The PC World Reviews Staff