In the Charts: Xi Computer's MTower SP Sets New WorldBench 5 Mark
Edited by the Reviews Staff
The four new systems on our desktop PCs chart range from a high-end WorldBench 5 record-setter to a pair of relatively inexpensive Media Center machines from Sony.
Xi Computer's MTower SP arrives at the top of the power section with a WorldBench 5 score of 125, finishing just ahead of May's ABS Ultimate M6, which scored 122. The MTower SP leads the group with 600GB of drive space in a striped RAID configuration. It's a roomy and well-designed machine ideal for gaming or other high-performance tasks.
If you'd like to explore entertainment on your PC but want the process to be as simple as using your DVD player, give Sony's VAIO VGC-RA830G a try. This machine comes with all the hardware and software you need to get started, including Windows Media Center.
Failing to make the power list this month is Shuttle's new XPC P2500G, which performed sluggishly despite having a top-tier $3750 price. The $780 EMachines T6212 minitower PC narrowly missed the value rankings. It includes a double-layer DVD±RW drive, but landed below the cut due in part to an unimpressive 15-inch LCD monitor. We also examined the svelte Amax V4550+, which costs $1499 but was a slow performer.
Notebooks
IBM laptops make a splash on this month's chart with two winning upgrades: the ThinkPad T43, which earns the desktop replacement Best Buy, and the ThinkPad R52, which succeeds the R51 in the all-purpose notebook section.
A fingerprint reader in the T43's palm rest permits you to replace passwords with a swipe of a finger. Both the T43 and the more mainstream R52--a thicker portable with most of the same features--offer an ExpressCard slot and a slightly improved keyboard.
Just missing the chart was the Toshiba Tecra M3, a lightweight but tricky-to-upgrade unit that is limited to a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination drive. Toshiba's Satellite M45-S351 impressed us with good sound and dedicated CD music controls, but it offered only 3 hours of battery life.
Tech Trend
The Express Lane: New PC Cards, such as these from AboCom and AVerMedia, will replace their CardBus siblings.
PC Cards Get a Downsized Makeover The credit card-like format of today's PC Cards is giving way to a smaller and faster-operating format, ExpressCard. All ExpressCard modules are nearly 3 inches long, but the ExpressCard/34 is only 1.33 inches (34 millimeters) wide, whereas the ExpressCard/54 is slightly over 2 inches (54mm) wide. Both types have the same connector, which, however, is incompatible with the connector on today's CardBus modules.
ExpressCards interface with either today's USB 2.0 or PCI Express buses. With PCI Express, you can move data at up to 250 megabytes per second, while the CardBus slots top out at about 133 MBps.
Some laptops now ship with ExpressCard slots; ExpressCard peripherals should start to appear later this year.
Inside Info
Graphics BoardsNew Radeon X850 boards from MSI and Asus dominate the power section of the chart, with two NVidia 6800 GT-based boards following close behind. Meanwhile, GeForce 6600-based cards from BFG, EVGA, and MSI top the value section. EVGA's GeForce 6200 board just squeaks in.
More on the Web PC World uses its industry-standard benchmarking application, WorldBench 5, to evaluate the performance of desktop PCs, notebooks, and tablet PCs. We run a number of real-world applications performing real-world computing tasks. For more information on the WorldBench 5 tool, click here. For more details about PC World's Star Ratings, click here.
The Top 100 TeamFreelance writers Rebecca Freed and Richard Jantz, Contributing Editor Carla Thornton, and PC World editors Yardena Arar, Laura Blackwell, Eric Butterfield, Tracey Capen, Kalpana Ettenson, Melissa J. Perenson, Narasu Rebbapragada, Dan Sommer, and Alan Stafford contributed to the Top 100 section this month. Ulrike Diehlmann, Julio Giannobile, Elliott Kirschling, Jeff Kuta, Tony K. Leung, Thomas Luong, and William Wang of the PC World Test Center tested the products reviewed in this issue.