HEXUS.reviews :: MESH Elite Extreme SLI System - Core 2 Extreme X6800

[Steve]

It's quite appropriate, on Conroe and Allendale launch day, for us to take a Core 2-based system for a spin on the day of the CPU's launch. MESH is the system builder that's kindly put together a system for us. It's called the Elite Extreme SLI and, as the name suggests, it features an Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 CPU.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=6188

[xrob]

they could have been a bit more adventurous with cooling and given it a nicer heatsink!

impressed with the benchmarks.

everything seems to have swapped around since i bought my PC, the amd FX 57 was the best so i got it, the nvidia 7800gtx was the best, so i got that. annoying

[SpawnofSonic]

all i can say is yum yum, what a system, you have to wonder though if its worth hanging on for the next set of gpu's before taking the plundge...

[dancingmatt]

I'd like to see a little more comment on the nForce 4 board being used for it - is no one else surprised?

Since I'm looking to buy an E6600 and ideally SLI, I'm waiting to read about the nForce 590... wouldn't have thought of looking at nF4 boards.

Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't follow a similar route and use an nF4 chipset?

Thanks
DM

[Steve]

nForce 4 is more mature than nForce 500. That makes it pretty safe to start with.

We'll no doubt see nForce 500 I.E. series boards used in systems very soon, but until we've tested them we can't say if they're any better than an nForce 4 based board.

[dancingmatt]

Fair enough.

I read that nVidia had problems with their nF4 boards when they released them for Intel - would you say that's all sorted now?

[Steve]

I should hope so! They've been out long enough...

Any 'problems' in particular?

[dancingmatt]

Can't recall anything exact, just people saying "oh nVidia, they have instability problems with Intel boards, stay away blah blah".

At the mo I'm more interested in the 7900GT than any ATI boards, and the nForce 590 actually has 2x x16 PCI express slots and other potentially-interesting features too.

I'm not a fanboy, maybe a bit lazy (!)... if an ASUS nForce 590 (and Core 2 Duos) were out right now then I'd probably buy them straightaway

DM

[dancingmatt]

OH

nForce 4 doesn't have the High Definition Audio - something I really wanted from the nForce 590 boards.

That pretty much scuppers that then.

<waits for a proper motherboard>

DM

[drunkenmaster]

two things jump out at me from the gaming benchies. firstly, when the game is taxing obviously gpu limited cpu seems to make little difference, also crossfire and sli really depend on what games they use for which is best to use for you. the 2nd big thing to note is, some games even at 1920x1200 aren't all stressed anymore. i mean, any first person shooter 60fps is fine, theres rarely games where more really helps so ideally you want a resolution where you start to hit 60fps and obviously cpu isn't a huge thing here. for a gaming pc a whole bunch of cpu's can max you out. for pure speed the conroe is just a beast, any workstation with encoding/rendering in mind it would be madness to buy anything other than that.

for a pc with sli'd cards, obviously something aimed at gaming you would have to, based on these benchmarks, include a 1920x1200 monitor at the least otherwise you're wasting a lot of power you'd start to wonder if crt's could make a comeback in gamers pc's, some games you can run at 1600x1200 and have problems with speeds even with sli, some games you need a res higher than 1920x1200 to really see your power used properly.

maybe oled monitors in the next year with massive resolutions and no issues with resolutions other than the native one. a screen that does higher than 1920x1200 as standard but looks great at 1600x1200 too.

[arc110]

why are oled monitors going to have massive resolutions? My understanding is that the polymer ink jet printing techniques that make oled displays ecomonical still place a limit on the possible pixels per inch.

[drunkenmaster]

i dunno, just assuming oleds saving power will end up meaning they become mainstream and cheaper to run and replace tft's in not to long. so assuming by the time we get cheap 1920x1200 screens or above that, and are affordable they'll be oleds by then. i mean you can get a ultra high res tft now but £2k for an apple display is a little to far away from affordable right now

[athlon_xp_2800]

they could have been a bit more adventurous with cooling and given it a nicer heatsink!

impressed with the benchmarks.

everything seems to have swapped around since i bought my PC, the amd FX 57 was the best so i got it, the nvidia 7800gtx was the best, so i got that. annoying

I am a bit disappointed, to be honest.
I thought that the Mesh system would have beaten my system on Hdd performance, but that isn't the case, see this:

[Psionic Wibbly]

Mesh offers extremely good value for money; an equivalent Mesh system costs 15-20%% less than a similar system from Scan PC.

the question is: Do Mesh Computer systems have an unlocked Motherboard and hence can they be overclocked?

[Steve]

This review has now been updated with a HEXUS.where2buy link. Or, the link is here:

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default...UCT&KEY=104371

[bum_fluff_86]

Is the motherboard here a P5N32-SLI or the newer SE version?

I only ask because i have an original P5N32 and was wondering if it supports Core 2 Duo.

Thanks