MaximumPC 2004 06

 MAXIMUMPC JUNE 2004

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Our zero-point system includes: a 2.2GHz Athlon 64 FX-51, an Asus SK8N mother-

board, 1GB of Corsair Registered TwinX DDR400 RAM, an ATI Radeon 9800 XT, a

250GB Western Digital WD2500JB hard drive, Plextor PX-708A DVD burner and a PC

Power and Cooling TurboCool 510 Deluxe power supply.

ack in August 2003, we fell in

love with Velocity Micro’s P4-

based Raptor PC. Its top-of-the-

line components and blazing-fast

performance in our benchmark tests

merited it a 9 verdict and our coveted

Kick Ass award. Aside from a few

updates to the hardware, Velocity

Micro’s recently released ProMagix

A/V/D Digital

Media system, is

an almost exact

replica of the

Raptor (the

company obvi-

ously subscribes

to the “if it ain’t

broke, then don’t

fix it” school

of thought).

The

ProMagix comes

loaded with

a Pentium 4

3.4GHz Extreme

Edition that’s

been slightly

overclocked to

3.47GHz, the

reliable Intel

D875BZ moth-

erboard, and

a gig of high-

end Corsair

memory. When

we reviewed

the Raptor way

back when, we

raved about its

ample storage, and

Velocity Micro deliv-

ers the storage goods

again by stuffing the

ProMagix with two

74GB Western Digital

Raptors in a RAID

0 array for perfor-

mance, and two 250-

gig 7,200rpm Western

Digital drives—also

linked in a RAID 0 array—for a

Caligulan amount of hard drive

space. The system also comes with

both a DVD+/-RW and CD-RW

burner. Everyone’s favorite piece

of obsolete hardware, the floppy

drive, rounds out the storage

package. The ProMagix’s audio

capabilities have been improved

slightly with the ZS version of the

Audigy 2 soundcard.

For video, the ProMagix comes

with a slightly overclocked eVGA

GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, a surprising

choice considering that the Raptor

had such success with a Radeon 9800

Pro. Still, the 5950 Ultra is no slouch,

so we can’t complain. We should also

note that Velocity Micro, along with

eVGA, offers a generous 90-day vid-

eocard upgrade policy that allows

users to migrate to nVidia’s new

NV40-based chipset when that hard-

ware becomes available.

The 5950 Ultra’s dazzling perfor-

mance helped the ProMagix power

its way through our benchmarks.

We were especially impressed in our

gaming benchmarks, where the rig

delivered a forceful 69.7 frames per

second in Jedi Academy and 44.3

frames per second in Halo. The

ProMagix also excels in its intended

capacity as a Digital Media system,

as evidenced by its high scores in

our Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and

MusicMatch benchmarks.

The ProMagix also blew us away

by posting an unprecedented, mind-

blowing 219 in our SYSmark2004

benchmark. This score shattered the

previous high of 204 set by the

Athlon 64 FX-53–based Polywell we

reviewed just last month. This

record-breaking performance contin-

ues the tradition set by the Raptor,

which itself broke the SYSmark 2002

record when it was lab-tested.

It’s clear that Velocity Micro,

realizing it had a good thing going

with the Raptor, didn’t break from

that design when fashioning the

ProMagix. However, we would have

liked to see some sort of tangible

progression in the system’s design,

especially given the amount of time

that has elapsed since the Raptor

was introduced. Ultimately, though,

performance trumps repetitive

design, and it’s hard to look down

on the fastest PC the Maximum PC

lab has seen to date.

—TAE KIM

4he 6elocity -icro Pro-agiX is unBelieVaBly

fast, But it’s nothing we haVen’t seen Before.

UNDER THE HOOD

DISPLAY

Videocard eVGA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra

(576MHz core/500MHz DDR)

STORAGE

Hard drives Two 74GB Western Digital

Raptors (10K rpm, SATA) Raid

0, two 250GB Western Digital

WD2500JB (7,200rpm, parallel)

Raid 0

Optical Lite-On DVD+/-RW (LDW-

851S, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD-R,

4x DVD+RW, 2x DVD-RW, 40x

CD-R, 24x CD-RW, Lite-On 52x

CD-RW/16x DVD-ROM combo

drive

Other 1.44MB floppy drive

BUNDLE

Windows XP Pro, Ulead Digital Creation Suite,

Open Office 1.1

CPU Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition

3.4GHz (overclocked to 3.47GHz)

Mobo Intel D857PBZLK (Intel 875P,

800 FSB)

RAM Corsair PC3200-XMS DDR400

Extreme Memory (two 512MB

sticks

I/O ports Eight USB 2.0, parallel, serial,

two FireWire, mic, headphone,

three line-in, three analog out,

one optical in/out, one coax

digital in/out, MIDI in/out

LAN Intel Pro/1000 Gigabit Ethernet

(Integrated)

AUDIO

Soundcard Creative Sound Blaster Audigy

2 ZS Platinum Pro with external

drive

Case Blast Red and Silver DX-W case

with front mounted LED display

Power Antec 500-watt PSU with dual

supply fans

Fans/extras Two case fans, single blue

cold-cathode chassis light, case

window

Mouse Logitech Cordless MX700

Keyboard Logitech Cordless MX Duo

keyboard

FINE DETAILS

BOOT: 48.6 sec. DOWN: 17.4 sec.

Velocity Micro ProMagix

This speedy desktop PC feels like déjà vu all over again

Incredible performance, fantastic storage options.

YOGI BEAR

RANGER SMITH

No significant progression in system design or

component choice.

$4,260, http://www.velocitymicro.com

MAXIMUMPC VERDICT 

ample storage, and

Velocity Micro deliv-

ers the storage goods

again by stuffing the

ProMagix with two

74GB Western Digital

Raptors in a RAID

B

ack in August 2003, we fell in

love with Velocity Micro’s P4-

based Raptor PC. Its top-of-the-

line components and blazing-fast

performance in our benchmark tests

merited it a 9 verdict and our coveted

Kick Ass award. Aside from a few

updates to the hardware, Velocity

Micro’s recently released ProMagix

DISPLAY

Reviews