Falcon Northwest Mach V

WHAT'S HOT: Our first review unit from Falcon Northwest wowed us with its sheer speed. Posting a chart-busting score of 197 on PC WorldBench 2000, this 1.4-GHz Athlon-equipped PC is the fastest Windows Me system we have tested so far.

Its audio performance is equally impressive, thanks to the bundled Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 sound system (recipient of a 2001 World Class award), which produced crisp tones and excellent voice quality from its four satellite speakers and thundering bass from its giant subwoofer. Audio aficionados will also enjoy the Hercules Game Theater XP sound card and breakout box, which provides additional ports beyond those found on regular sound cards, including headphone and microphone ports with separate volume controls; line-level RCA inputs; six-speaker outputs with both RCA and stereo minijack connections for front and rear speakers; optical and coaxial digital in and out jacks for DVD players; and MIDI in/out ports for attaching musical instruments such as electronic keyboards. The breakout box also features a four-port (unpowered) USB hub and a game port for joysticks and gamepads.

The system's interior cables are neatly routed to improve airflow and provide easy access for upgrades or repairs.

WHAT'S NOT: You pay for this power: Our review unit was priced at a hefty $3195, and that price doesn't buy much in terms of peripherals. The 19-inch Optiquest Q95 monitor produced only middling-quality images in our text, graphics, and DVD tests. And the bargain-basement Keytronics Propeller Pilot keyboard felt flimsy, with mushy keys. The generic beige metal case failed to impress us, and the system's eight noisy cooling fans made the PC sound like an airplane getting ready for takeoff. Tech support is limited to 9 hours, Monday through Saturday.

WHAT ELSE: The Mach V performed impressively in our graphics tests, though it finished shy of the top end. Compared with similarly equipped systems, this machine's frame-rate scores were at the middle or upper-middle of the group in Quake III (153.5 frames per second at 800 by 600 resolution and 191.2 fps at 640 by 480), second-best in Microsoft Flight Simulator (58.8 fps at 800 by 600), and about midpack (110 fps at 640 by 480) in Expendable.

Falcon does not offer on-site service, but if anything goes wrong with the system while it's under warranty, Falcon says it will pick up the cost of overnight shipment, both to and from its facilities.

Falcon's documentation includes a generic setup poster and a binder that provides some configuration details--including every component's IRQ assignment--but it lacks detailed instructions or illustrations for setup and upgrades.

Other features include a Logitech USB optical mouse with a scroll wheel; a 16X DVD-ROM drive; and a 16X/10X/40X CD-RW drive. Two available PCI slots, one internal bay, and two externally accessible bays (one 3.5-inch and one 5.25-inch) provide room for expansion. Our review unit came with three games--Interplay's Messiah, Sacrifice, and Star Trek New Worlds--but no joystick or gamepad. No productivity suites, such as Microsoft Works or WordPerfect Office, are included.

UPSHOT: The Mach V is a blazingly fast game machine with an excellent audio system, but we would expect a system at such a steep price to include better peripherals, such as a higher-quality monitor.

SUMMARY

Falcon Northwest Mach V PC WorldBench 2000 score of 197, Athlon-1400 CPU, 256MB of DDR SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows Me, 40GB hard drive, 16X DVD-ROM drive, 16X/10X/40X CD-RW drive, Asus AGP-V8200 Deluxe graphics card with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 19-inch Optiquest Q95 monitor, Hercules Game Theater XP sound card, Klipsch THX ProMedia 4.1 PC Audio System speakers, network adapter, midsize tower case, Interplay Messiah, Sacrifice, and Star Trek New Worlds. One-year parts and labor warranty; free unlimited toll-free tech support 9 hours per day, Monday through Saturday. $3195 888/325-2661 www.falcon-nw.com