SYS International Performance 3066

WHAT'S HOT: No stranger to our desktop lineups, Sys Technologies often sends us fast systems. The company's latest offering arrived equipped with Intel's top-of-the-line 3.06-GHz Pentium 4 processor and 512MB of PC1066 RDRAM, a combination that helped produce an impressive score of 132 on PC Worldbench 4--tying the Falcon Northwest Mach V 2800+ DV for the highest mark we've seen.

In our tests for image quality, the Sys 180L LCD monitor delivered lovely colors on a test photo and razor-crisp fonts on text screens at its native (and maximum) resolution of 1280 by 1024.

The front panel on the PC's case provides slots for SmartMedia and CompactFlash cards, so you can conveniently read memory cards from digital cameras or PDAs. To connect digital devices, six USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire port are on the system's back case while one of each is located up front for easy access.

WHAT'S NOT: The Altec Lansing AVS500W four-speaker and subwoofer set that came with our test unit sent out strong bass and treble notes, but lacked the rich quality typically found in 5.1 speakers sets. The low-end Leadtek WinFast A180-DDR graphics board is equipped with 64MB of memory, half as much as most of the power systems and many of the value models.

WHAT ELSE: The PC's three open PCI slots and three open drive bays (one externally accessible) are easy to access in the neat and spacious interior. Two of the occupied bays hold a 16X DVD-ROM drive and a 48X/24X/48X CD-RW drive.

The Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical wireless keyboard paired with our test system is wider than average but is also replete with plenty of buttons for multimedia functions, plus a scroll wheel (in addition to the wheel on the wireless optical mouse you also get).

Sys includes Corel's WordPerfect Office 2002 suite as well as several games such as Rainbow Six Rogue Spear: Black Thorn, Master Rallye, Aquanox, and a separate CD with demo versions of other games.

UPSHOT: The Sys Performance 3066 delivers fast PC WorldBench 4 scores for those willing to pay its steep price.

SUMMARY

Sys Technology Performance 3066 PC WorldBench 4 score of 132, 3.06-GHz Pentium 4, 512MB of PC1066 RDRAM, Windows XP Home, 16X DVD-ROM drive, 48X/24X/48X CD-RW drive, LeadTek WinFast A180-DDR graphics card with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 18-inch Sys 180L LCD monitor, Creative Audigy SB0090 sound card, Altec Lansing AVS 500W speakers, network adapter, midsize tower case. Six-year parts warranty on CPU and main RAM, three-year warranty on other parts, five-year labor warranty; free, unlimited 24-hour toll-free tech support. $3043 800/613-9963 www.sys.com