Xi Computer Mtower 64FX

Our test system used top-end components, including a Logitech deluxe keyboard and mouse that matched the system's unobtrusive black-and-gray color scheme. The keyboard was quiet and had eight programmable shortcut keys, but its key action may be too slight for some users. The system comes with a 12X multiformat rewritable DVD drive and a 16X DVD-ROM drive. And the two 74GB SATA hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration supply plenty of storage space.

The midsize tower case has one vacant removable-media drive bay and three empty internal drive bays. The interior is tightly packed with cables, and two of the three free PCI slots can't be used because some of the six USB 2.0 and four FireWire sockets on the rear of the system occupy their backplanes. But if you need those PCI slots, you can remove the extra USB 2.0 and FireWire sockets. There are plenty of connectivity options, too; the MTower 64FX is one of the few desktop systems we've seen that carried both 802.11g wireless and gigabit ethernet adapters.

The Logitech X-620 5.1-channel speaker system paired nicely with a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card to produce crisp audio on a DVD soundtrack and a music CD, but the speakers weren't particularly loud, even at full volume.

The 19-inch ViewSonic VG910b slim LCD monitor, in conjunction with an Asus V9980 Ultra graphics card (based on an NVidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra chip), produced above-average frame rates in our test games. Colors in photos looked slightly muted, however, and text could have been clearer. On the other hand, our test DVD movie looked great.

Upshot: Plenty of performance and a good set of components make this an ideal system for general home use. It will serve equally well for work, video editing, or playing games.

Victor R. Garza