WHAT'S HOT: This Falcon Northwest Mach V--a different configuration than the slightly older Mach V that's based on a 1.73-GHz Athlon XP 2100+ CPU--is well equipped for entertainment. The 19-inch, flat-face ViewSonic P95F monitor rendered delicious colors and sharp, easily readable text. The top-of-the-line Xtasy Ti 4600 graphics board paired with the display to deliver excellent gaming performance, with smooth motion and crisp, clear images at all resolutions. The PC itself is also nice to look at: The stout aluminum case of our test system came with red lacquered side panels (you can choose any custom automobile paint color, though the spray job will cost you $399 extra). The system arrived well equipped, but still had six open drive bays (three suitable for removable-media drives) and three open PCI slots for further expansion. On the audio front, the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 speakers delivered full, powerful sound in our CD audio tests and excellent surround sound from DVD movies (which looked sharp and played smoothly).

Loaded with Intel's new 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 and a gigabyte of 266-MHz DDR memory, this Mach V scored 122 on our PC WorldBench 4 tests--one point better than a Dell Dimension 8200 with the same configuration; it may derive some of its speed from the twin 60GB hard drives connected to a RAID controller.

WHAT'S NOT: Fancy features always come at a fancy price, and in this case, they'll cost you more than $4100. Falcon's system manual is very thin--providing only basic setup, troubleshooting, and disaster recovery information.

WHAT ELSE: Other goodies include a speedy 40X/12X/40X Plextor CD-RW drive and six USB 2.0 ports for fast data transfers from the latest external devices (along with two standard USB 1.1 ports). Also, the SoundBlaster Audigy sound card includes a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port for connecting digital camcorders and other high-speed peripherals. The Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro has 19 shortcut keys for multimedia and Internet functions and also incorporates a two-port USB 1.1 hub.

UPSHOT: This is a powerful, tricked-out entertainment PC for gearheads willing to foot the bill.

SUMMARY

Falcon Northwest Mach V PC WorldBench 4 score of 122, 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 1GB of DDR266 SDRAM, Windows XP Home, two 60GB drives with RAID, 16X DVD-ROM drive, 40X/12X/40X CD-RW drive, Xtasy Ti4600 graphics card with 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 19-inch ViewSonic P95F monitor, Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy sound card, Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 speakers, network adapter, midsize tower case. One-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited, 9-hour weekday and Saturday toll-free tech support. $4173 888/325-2661 www.falcon-nw.com