Top 20 Budget Desktops

SUMMARY

Sys Technology Performance 350K2 PRO: Solid graphics and audio boards, low price CON: Confusing warranty, lackluster speakers, interior cable clutter

When a PC has the word "performance" in its name, you might think the power of its processor is its best feature. In the case of Sys Technology's Performance 350K2, you'd be wrong. Not that the AMD chip doesn't offer respectable speed. The system earned a PC WorldBench 98 score of 181, which puts it in the same ballpark as the other AMD K6-2-350 and PII-350 systems in this month's lineup. But at $1699, the Performance 350K2 is all about price, not performance.

Multimedia fans and office users alike will appreciate the system's first-class graphics and audio components, including the Matrox Millennium G200 AGP graphics adapter and a 17-inch Sys Technology monitor. Likewise, it's hard to go wrong with the industry-standard Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 sound card for high-end surround-sound audio.

The 17X-40X CD-ROM drive features a button for skipping to the next music track on an audio CD. But unlike many systems these days, which let you peek under the hood by loosening a single thumbscrew, the Performance 350K2 requires you to undo two screws to gain access to the interior. The side panel came off easily enough, but the two free DIMM memory slots were partially blocked by snaking cables.

Sys Technology's warranty policy is a bit confusing because it covers individual components for different periods of time. The CPU and memory are covered for a generous six years, though, and labor is good for five years. And Sys's tech support staffers were helpful in responses to our recent anonymous calls.