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More…True to its style of building tricked-out systems, Maingear has launched its first foray into AMD's Phenom II architecture: a souped-up, overclocked machine dubbed the Dash. Since the capacity for overclocking is a large component of AMD's Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition processor, we were quite curious to see how an overpowered system would fare against PCs based on Intel's Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, and Core i7 processors. The Dash holds its own against most tested value PCs (rightly so, as its $1499 price is at the top end of the category), but struggles against most of the desktops in our Top 10 Power PCs chart, some of which cost only a few hundred dollars more.
Maingear Dash
- Spec Navigator
- Processor
- Memory
- Storage
- Multimedia
- Software
- Optical Drives
- Expansion Slots
- Display
- Modem / Networking
- Case
- Other Features
- Interface Connection
Multimedia
| Audio Adapter Model | Integrated Realtek High Definition Audio |
| Audio Channels | 7.1 surround |
| Graphics Board RAM Type | DDR3 |
| Video chipset | XFX ATI Radeon HD-4850 |
| Installed video memory | 512 MB |
| Video bus | PCI Express-Crossfire |
Expansion Slots
| Open PCI Express X16 Slots | 0 |
| Number of PCI slots | 3 |
| Open PCI Express X1 Slots | 0 |
| PCI Express Slots | 0 |
| Slots | 0 |
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Desktops »
Pros
Overclocked Phenom II CPU
Excellent graphics performance
Cons
Slightly pricier PCs have greater non-gaming speed
Bottom Line
Maingear's Dash minitower desktop PC packs an overclocked Phenom II CPU and provides excellent graphics performance.
Maingear Dash Desktop PC
Dash Review, by David Murphy, PC World January 7, 2009
On the Dash, the 3.0-GHz Phenom II Black Edition CPU has been overclocked to 3.4 GHz--not the most generous of overclocks, especially since enthusiasts have cranked the processor to a mind-blowing 6-GHz (using liquid nitrogen, of course, but that still leaves plenty of air-cooled leeway). The processor sits atop a DFI LanParty JR 790GX motherboard sporting 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM. (DDR2-1066 RAM would have been nice, but that omission isn't surprising in a $1499 machine.)
A single 500GB Western Digital hard drive provides the storage for the Dash, with a single Lite-On iHAS422-08 22X DVD-R burner serving as the machine's only optical offering. Keeping with the "extreme" feel of this value PC, the Dash comes with 64-bit Windows Home Premium preinstalled.
The Dash's graphical capabilities are absolutely potent. Two XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 cards sit in CrossFire synchronization, offering a significant performance boost over all competing value PCs. We recorded average frames-per-second scores of 171 on our Doom 3 benchmark (1280 by 1024, antialiasing on) and 89 on our Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark (2560 by 2100 resolution at high quality settings)--performance that other value PCs, carrying single graphics cards, can't match. In fact, the Dash's gaming scores were good enough for it to place right in the middle of our power desktop PCs category: Only five other desktops beat its Doom 3 scores, and just three PCs surpassed its Unreal Tournament 3 scores. The Dash's WorldBench 6 score of 117 tied with the mark of the 3-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400-equipped Micro Express MicroFlex 82B as the fastest score for a value PC.
Compared with the lengths Maingear goes to for the hardware inside the PC, the company's approach to the machine's external components feels a little underdone: For one thing, the accompanying two-button mouse and 104-button keyboard look like they're an afterthought. Thankfully, the Dash's external connectivity isn't as ill-considered. The system has four USB connections, one HDMI, S/PDIF coaxial and optical outputs, one ethernet, and 5.1 surround sound on its rear. On the front of the Dash, a single FireWire 400 port makes an appearance alongside two USB ports and a multicard reader.
Maingear has designed its minitower case with the element of stealth in mind. But it's a frustrating arrangement, as you have to pull away one of the side panels to access the hidden front-panel connections. We would have much preferred to see the connections on the outside of the case. The combination of trailing wires and open front panels is just plain ugly.
Though the external design is a fixable issue, the Dash's internal expandability is not. We can't fault Maingear for the extremely tight mess of components and wires created by stuffing all that hardware into a portable midtower case--there's just no way to tidy it up, given the cramped confines. But the Dash's upgradability is almost nonexistent. We made out a bit of space for adding one extra hard drive, but that's it. Be prepared for a configuration nightmare should you ever choose a more-complex task such as pulling out a video card or swapping out some RAM.
True to form, Maingear includes a comprehensive set of support documents and discs alongside this system. You get Vista CDs, separate recovery discs, driver discs, and games, as well as specific manuals that come with handwritten benchmark evaluations of your as-shipped PC and a signed-off checklist of steps that the builders took prior to the machine's leaving Maingear's facilities. We don't often see that level of support detail. It's reassuring to know that should anything hit the fan with your Dash--whether the first time you turn it on or the five hundredth--you'll be well prepared to deal with the results.
While the Dash's processing performance is slightly lacking compared with that of power PCs priced only a few hundred dollars more, we have nothing but praise for its excellent graphical performance. You might not notice the effects of a 10-point WorldBench 6 difference in your day-to-day use of the Dash, but you'll definitely appreciate the higher frame rates this system lends to your games. Had Maingear decided to crank this system's overclocking even higher, the company might have been able to upset the big players with an underdog.
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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89
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57
-
78
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Desktops
89
79
88
Performance
| Adobe Photoshop CS2 | 396 |
| Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 DirectX | 317 |
| Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 Rendering | 300 |
| Doom 3 with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 170.73 |
| Doom 3 with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 171.27 |
| Doom 3, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 172.43 |
| Doom 3, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 172.23 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 1024x768 | 91.13 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 1680x1050 | 90.47 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 1920x1200 | 91.03 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 2560x1600 | 82.13 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 1024x768 | 90.93 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 1680x1050 | 90.77 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 1920x1200 | 90.4 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 2560x1600 | 89.8 |
| Far Cry with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 192.95 |
| Far Cry with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 190.88 |
| Far Cry, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 207.52 |
| Far Cry, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 200.81 |
| Firefox 2 | 226 |
| Microsoft Office 2003 with SP-1 | 323 |
| Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9.0 | 181 |
| Nero 7 Ultra Edition | 402 |
| Overall Graphics Score | Good |
| Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5 | 200 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1024x768 | 91.17 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1680x1050 | 90.93 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1920x1200 | 91.21 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 2560x1600 | 89.05 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1024x768 | 147.49 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1680x1050 | 145.35 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 2560x1600 | 125.41 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium1920x1200 | 147.14 |
| Winzip Computing WinZip 10.0 | 211 |
| WorldBench 6 Score | 117 |
| WorldBench 6 Word Score | Superior |
WorldBench 6 Tests
| Multitasking | 247 |
User Reviews
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Discussion: AMD Launches Phenom II CPU, Its Fastest Yet
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an6rew - 1 year ago
AMD has always innovated with far fewer resources than Intel. Intel has always had insane R+D capital and hasn't done as much groundbreaking. Remember that AMD was the leader until Intel overtook them with the Core2 Duo. That wasn't that long ago. And when it looked as though Intel had finally gotten off its arse public response was more like, "Uh....where've you been?"
So feelings of disdain aren't quite what I have for AMD.
With the economy the way it is, however, I find brand loyalty taking a backseat to practicality. That said, I just built a gaming machine with an AMD 6500+ (3.0 GHz), 790GX mobo, 8GB of OCZ ram, an HD3870 vidcard and two Seagate hdds (raid 0) and the most expensive component was the vidcard- $104 when I bought it. [b]smirk[/b] The proc was 79, the mobo was 89 and I'm playing COD4 maxed out at 1680x1050.
AMD wins again. :| -
gunfighter85310 - 1 year ago
I Agree with you i am using a 90nm AMD 6000+ I have 4gb of ram and a HD3850 card it runs everything fine (GAMES).
I do not see any need for more speed right now. -
I realize these online columns cater to the computer enthusiasts among us, may of whom crave speed for the sake of speed.
But in the real world of business and consumers where most people use only a fraction of the power their PCs offer, the AMD Phenom II CPUs are perfect chips -- more than meeting their needs at less than the comparable Intel CPUs. For most they don't even need the power of a Phemon II.
So while AMD has given Intel free reign on the really high end CPU market, AMD continues to offer a really solid and much more affordable alternative for the rest of the computing world -- and you don't have replace your motherboard and RAM with each new iteration of AMD's CPUs. -
I agree with everyones statement. I built my parents a computer that far exceeded their needs (Pictures, online media, email, music) and went with AMD. Only cost me about 250 bucks for the whole computer. It was at least 100 more if i went Intel. And money matters a lot right now.
-
Funny; I've read over 20 reviews on this processor and their benchmarks place this CPU on a much higher pedestal than PCWorld's. In fact, take price into account and the Phenom II does actually blow Intel's comparable offerings "out of the water". I don't need to upgrade my motherboard either? There's a clear winner here ladies and gentlemen and it isn't Intel.
Hey PC World; what's Intel's annual contribution to your ad revenue coffers? What a joke! Now if you could excuse me; I'm off to read some real unbiased and far more analytical reviews. -
Sorry again amd junk is just that JUNK. And they can't even or ever keep up with INTEL.
I laugh at all the excuses you amd "lovers" just like to throw out there. It is very entertaining.
I am a network administrator and there is one amd computer left on my network from before I took over. I can't wait to replace the piece of crap with an INTEL computer. It is the slowest, junkiest computer here. -
Thanks for the insight. I'm not a fanboy for either Intel or AMD; I just hate irresponsible journalism. So you're an admin huh? Somehow I doubt that.
-
Packer75 - 1 year ago
You obivously don't know what you are talking about since you have to "read" everything and I take my "real" world experiences into account. Doubt my "Admin" experience all you want (I don't have to PROVE anything to you) but this network runs 100 times more smoothly on INTEL now that I have the amd junk out of it!!
-
It's not about who's the best, I mean let's face it, who goes around upgrading their computer ever few months when a new one comes out? I have a friend who runs TF2 on a sempron 1.8ghz. It works fine, I used to have a P4 2.6Ghz and it died serving me a loyal, what, 6 years now? It's about what you need, not what you want. AMD is what I need, plainly I love this company because, DESPITE it's loss against Intel, despite the failure it's falling into, they arent money sucking leaches. They dont want you to upgrade your motherboard, or buy a new motherboard just because they make the chipset, they just want to impress the customer, and that's something that we must all admire from AMD. Frankly I see no point in what Intel is doing with their Core i7s. They want you to upgrade your motherboard, RAM, and everything, geez people, It's not like they make the motherboard anyway. Intel is following the path that Microsoft took once, the path that lead them to failure - I'm just curious to see if Intel fails the same way.
AMD Wins, maybe not in performance, but in impressing the customer. They deserve to win. -
catnat109 - 1 year ago
I favor AMD for a number of reasons, the first being system to bind the CPU to the mainboard. The AMD clips are so much easier and a more positive bond CPU to heatsink than the Intel 775. I just despise that "dog dick" system of Intel's. I build my own computers for special projects at school processing astronomical x-ray data. I run my BIY AMDs against big, powerful Xeon array-based Macs and Intel quad-cores and yes, the more expensive computers "win" in the sense they finish the processing a few seconds or a minute sooner on the big heavy compute-intensive jobs, but the AMD platforms are so much cheaper that the extra few seconds gained are not to me compelling against the 12,000 dollar Macs, or the 3,000 dollar Intel worskations. My $800 AMD Phenom quad-core workstation can do everything the much more expensive computers can do. How can you in an academic setting where funds are very limited tell me that a few seconds or even a few minutes for that matter are any more than another couple sips of coffee while waiting for the process to complete? I am platform agnostic and not a AMD "fanboy", but I can't ignore what amounts to a huge difference in $$$ between Intel and AMD CPUs. I am also thankful that the applications I work with use Unix or Linux which are Free and Open operating systems, but that is another debate.
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