IBuyPower Gamer EX

Designed for gamers on a budget, this system is long on flash but short on performance.

Dressed in an elaborate case, IBuyPower's $1395 Gamer EX is unlikely to entice its intended audience. Though it earned a respectable WorldBench 5 score of 92, its frame rates in games were bottom of the barrel. And the windowed case, shaped to resemble a monster's face, is unlikely to impress anyone over the age of 12.

For gamers, performance is king; but the Gamer EX is hardly regal. We saw adequate frame rates and image quality while testing games, but the frame rates from the EVGA E-GeForce FX 5750 graphics card fell significantly short of those from other, more expensive gaming systems with faster graphics cards. Still, general performance wasn't bad. Equipped with a 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 CPU and 1GB of DDR400 SDRAM, the system achieved a WorldBench 5 score of 93.

The Gamer EX's 2.1-channel Cintre RW-1310C speakers looked cheap and sounded flat (iBuyPower offers a range of other speaker options, such as the.Klipsch Promedia 5.1 GMX set for an additional $250). And though the 19-inch ViewSonic E90F CRT rendered sharp text and true, crisp colors in photo screens, a DVD movie and our test games looked dark and gloomy.

The Gamer PC does offer opportunities for expansion, with three open bays, two open RAM sockets, two open PCI slots, and two open PCI Express X1 slots. Easy access to the roomy interior, coupled with toolless bay access, permits quick additions.

IBuyPower's documentation is weak. No overall system manual is included; help is limited to separate, highly technical component manuals for the motherboard, monitor, and video board.

The Gamer EX--despite its plasticky case, lackluster gaming performance, and flat-sounding speakers--is a pretty good general-purpose PC, but doesn't impress on high-performance games, its intended use.

IBuyPower Gamer EX

WorldBench 5 score of 93, 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 1GB of DDR400 SDRAM, Windows XP Home, 120GB hard drive, DVD+/-RW drive, 16X DVD-ROM drive, Evga E-GeForce FX 5750 graphics card with 128GB of DDR SDRAM, 19-inch ViewSonic E90F CRT monitor, Cintre RW-1310C speakers, midsize tower case. One-year parts, three-year labor warranty; lifetime 24-hour daily toll-free support during warranty period, subsequently 9 hours daily.$1395888/462-3899www.ibuypower.comScott Plasmondon