Desktops

Freeway Gaming Predator PI440-R

At a Glance

FreewayTech Predator P1440-R

Mick LockeyArtwork by: Rick Rizner, John GoddardFreeway Gaming Predator PI440-RPowered by a 2.8-GHz Pentium 4 CPU and 512MB of PC1066 RDRAM, FreewayTech's Predator garnered a score of 126 on our PC WorldBench 4 benchmark--a bit above the average speed for this configuration. Its sound system is also a few notches above most 2.1-channel speaker sets we've heard. The Creative Labs Inspire 4.1 4400 set that shipped with the Predator consists of four small, square satellites and a subwoofer. They are a good compromise if you want pleasing sound but you don't want to pay a lot or you don't have the room for a 5.1-channel surround-sound setup. In our tests they delivered strong but not overpowering bass notes, and distortion-free trebles at high volumes.

FreewayTech's full-size tower case provides plenty of upgrade options: an open memory socket, three vacant PCI slots, and six open drive bays--three for removable-media drives and three for hard drives. (Our system came already equipped with CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives, so you have a surplus of bays.)

Unfortunately, getting at the drive bay cages is a nuisance. Our test unit arrived with a jumble of cables and connecting wires coiling through its interior. Another misstep: The audio ports in front are connected to jacks that plug into the rear-mounted ports. To use one set, you'll have to forgo the other.

Though aimed at gamers, this system shortchanges them in a few key areas. For the price, we expected a better graphics card than the included NVidia GeForce4 MX440-based unit with 64MB of DDR SDRAM memory. Though frame-rate scores were adequate for a card in this class, the system's overall frame-rate speed was anemic compared to true gaming systems' speed. For the most part, our suite of high-end 3D games was playable at a maximum resolution of 1024 by 768 in 16-bit color.

The black keyboard that shipped with our PC felt comfortable and solidly constructed. It sports seven hot-keys for launching Internet-related applications. The keyboard lacks audio controls--an extra that many other keyboards include.Casual gamers looking for a bargain will like this tall tower's performance and affordable price.