ABS Supreme 3D2 PIII-500

WHAT'S HOT: It's fast and affordable, and the midsize tower case offers room to grow. The fastest Pentium III-500 equipped system we've tested, this ABS has a better PC WorldBench 98 score than some PIII-550 systems we've seen. Graphics performance was also solid, as indicated by high frame-rate scores on our AVI file and 3D gaming tests. And if you want to add cards, drives, or other devices in the future, this is the system for you: three PCI slots, two ISA slots, and three externally accessible drive bays are open and unobstructed. The motherboard can support eight IDE devices-like a second hard drive, Zip drive, or CD-RW drive-instead of the standard four. The user guide, component manuals, and software come in a handy binder with clear plastic sleeves for easy storage.

WHAT'S NOT: The system lacks helpful touches like a separate setup instruction sheet. Color on still graphics looked realistic but a bit grainy, and the screen's brightness was slightly uneven around the edges. Small text fonts looked sharp for a 17-inch monitor at 1024 by 768 resolution, but excessive screen flicker made viewing at higher resolutions uncomfortable.

WHAT ELSE: The Altec Lansing ACS33W speakers and subwoofer sounded fine for a low-cost sound system. The generic multimedia keyboard is a cut above most low-end boards, too, with good weight and a solid feel. And unlike most multimedia keyboards, this model includes CD player and volume controls--but no programmable buttons. A small user manual supplies basic how-to, setup, and troubleshooting information. The software highlights are Corel's WordPerfect Office 2000 and Norton Utilities.

BEST USE: The ABS Supreme makes a great foundation for building a powerful home-office system that will last well into the future.

SUMMARY

ABS Supreme 3D2 PIII-500 PC WorldBench 98 score of 238, Pentium III-500 CPU, 512KB of secondary cache, 128MB of SDRAM, 13.5GB hard disk, 22X/48X CD-ROM drive, 17-inch monitor, Matrox G400 AGP with 32MB of RAM, V.90 modem, Altec Lansing ACS33W speakers, midsize tower case, Windows 98. $1199 800/876-8088 www.buyABS.com