New in the Top 100

For this month's reviews of systems and peripherals, click the links below.

• Power PCs
  
  
• Value PCs
  
  
• Notebook PCs
  
  
• Home PCs
  
  
• Ink Jet Printers
  
  
• 17-Inch Monitors
  
  
• Graphics Boards
  
  
• CD-RW Drives
  
  
• Digital Cameras
  
  

Systems based on Intel's Pentium 4 processor are starting to claim real estate in our desktop lineup. This month's Top 10 Power PCs chart features three speedy P4 systems, as two newcomers--Gateway's number one E-4600XL Deluxe and HP's Vectra Vl800--join Dell's Dimension 8100 in capturing three of the top four spots. The HP and the Gateway are the fastest Windows 2000 machines we've tested.

P4 systems do well on our power Home PCs chart, too--the Dell Dimension 8100 retains its number one spot, while new systems from Gateway and IBM seize third and fourth place.

Meanwhile, AMD's Athlon processor continues to give the Pentium 4 a serious run for its money. Systems using the 1100-MHz Athlon, like the ABS Performance Ultra, are posting scores on our PC WorldBench 2000 test suite within striking distance of their P4 rivals on the Power PCs chart. And all three of the 1200-MHz Athlon systems in our Home PCs lineup outran their P4 rivals.

DDR Debut

Athlon processors may have even more potential when paired with double-data-rate (DDR) memory, as in the scorchingly fast Millennia Max XP home system from Micron. The Millennia Max XP and Polywell's Poly 880KR--both new this month--are the first DDR-equipped systems tested for the Top 100.

A souped-up version of the standard synchronous dynamic RAM found in most PCs, double-data-rate SDRAM executes two actions per clock cycle--compared with one action per cycle for single-data-rate SDRAM--effectively doubling the memory's clock speed. Because DDR RAM is based on the same technology as garden-variety SDRAM, memory vendors can switch to DDR RAM fairly easily.

Linley Gwennap, principal analyst for the Linley Group, says that DDR is a natural progression for the PC industry and offers an economical alternative to costly Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), which runs at speeds of up to 800 MHz and is currently being paired with Pentium 4 and some Pentium III systems. "The mainstream market will move over the course of this year...up to DDR," says Gwennap.

We can't generalize yet about how big a boost DDR RAM will deliver. Outfitted with a 1.2-GHz Athlon processor, Windows Millennium Edition, and 128MB of DDR RAM, the Micron Millennia Max XP earned a score of 172 on PC WorldBench 2000, making it the fastest home system we've tested. But Polywell's Poly 880KR, armed with twice as much memory, a 1.1-GHz processor, and the faster Windows 2000 OS, turned in a disappointing score of 164--32 points below the score of the only similarly configured system with regular SDRAM we've tested. Its uninspired performance kept the Poly off our Power PCs chart.

CD-RW Spins Faster

Like the Pentium 4 processor, CD-RW drives with 12X write speeds aren't new, but they now dominate our charts--filling eight of the ten slots this month.

In our review of printers, Sharp makes a splash: Its first ink jet model, the AJ-2000, captures fifth place on our Top 10 Printers chart. Speaking of splashes, they won't be a worry with Sony's new Cyber-shot DSC-P1 digital camera: An optional waterproof case lets you take this small, slick-looking camera scuba diving.

Freelance writers Jon L. Jacobi and Joel Strauch; contributing editors Dan Littman, Kirk Steers, and Carla Thornton; and PC World editors Tracey Capen, Lisa Cekan, Rebecca Freed, Alexandra Krasne, Kalai Murugesan, Kalpana Narayanamurthi, Melissa J. Perenson, and Alan Stafford contributed to this month's Top 100 section. Testing performed by Curt Buehler, Ulrike Diehlmann, Matt Halloran, Robert James, Elliot Kirschling, Jeff Kuta, Danny W. Lam, and Thomas Luong of the PC World Test Center.