CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/25/2007
- Updated on: 10/31/2009
We've stayed away from the $6,000-plus gaming PCs for awhile, largely because the shift to Windows Vista has thrown the high-end PC market into a state of uncertainty. Still, we agreed to review this Mach V from Falcon Northwest because the company sent us a configuration with two long-rumored but rarely seen 1GB ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT cards. They prove every bit as fast as we expected, at least with current PC titles. The next-gen PC gaming picture is impossible to call right now, making it hard to justify spending $6,595 for this system (or any other in this price range with the purpose of playing DirectX 10 games). That's ultimately what prevents us from awarding this system an Editor's Choice Award, despite its very high score. But for current-generation titles, which developers are still improving visually, the Falcon Northwest Mach V delivers unprecedented 3D performance.
Because we've been reviewing less-expensive $4,000 gaming PCs, we didn't have anything in the same class as this Falcon Northwest Mach V to compare against. Thankfully, then, Falcon sent us a nearly identical, Nvidia-based system of its own to go head-to-head with the ATI model. Here's how the two match up:
| CPU | 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (overclocked to 3.63GHz) | 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (overclocked to 3.63GHz) |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel BadAxe II 975X | Nvidia NForce 680i SLI |
| Memory | 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM | 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM |
| Graphics | (2) 1GB ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT | (2) 768GB Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra |
| Hard drive | 150GB, 10,000 rpm hard drive, 750GB 7,200 rpm hard drive | 150GB, 10,000 rpm hard drive, 750GB 7,200 rpm hard drive |
| Optical drives | 20x dual layer DVD burner, 16X DVD-ROM | 20x dual layer DVD burner, 16X DVD-ROM |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit | Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit |
Since we've received this system, Intel has released its marginally faster Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processors, and Falcon has duly added them to its online configurator. And in order to run two graphics cards on a QX6850-equipped PC, you'll also need a different motherboard than the one we reviewed. Falcon tells us that for the same price as the system we reviewed, you will be able to purchase a system that comes with the QX6850 processor and the soon-to-hit-the-States Asus Blitz Extreme motherboard. So while a few of the parts we've covered here are no longer available on Falcon's Web site, the good news is that you'll be able to get faster, more recent components for no extra charge.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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In seconds |
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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In seconds |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Rendering Multiple CPUs | |
Rendering Single CPU |
Even with its current hardware, this Falcon Northwest Mach V still plowed through our benchmarks. The only test this system didn't win was our Photoshop test, and only because the Dell and the ABS systems with better scores had 4GB of RAM to the Falcon's 2GB. We were particularly surprised by the gaming performance, however, especially compared to the matching Mach V with the Nvidia cards in it. On both Quake 4 and F.E.A.R., the ATI-powered Falcon system outpaced its competition by a significant amount. We can't say the Nvidia's-based Falcon and its 121 frames per second on F.E.A.R. at 2,048 x 1,536 is slow, but that the ATI-based system scores a 137 on that same test is a real testament to the benefits of graphics memory on those ATI cards. (If you're wondering why we don't have DirectX 10 scores, see our recent Crave post on the topic.)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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2,048 x 1,536 (4x AA, 8x AF) | |
1,600 x 1,200 (4x AA, 8xAF) | |
1,280 x 1,024 (4x AA, 8x AF) |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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2,048 x 1,536 (4x AA, 8x AF) | |
1,600 x 1,200 (4x AA, 8xAF) | |
1,280 x 1,024 (4x AA, 8x AF) |
Aside from its core speed, this Mach V is about as well-equipped as we'd expect for a PC in this price range, although we have questions about its overall value. Falcon uses the now-standard pairing of a 10,000rpm boot drive and a larger, slower 7,200rpm hard drive for mass data storage, so you get the best of speedy access to Windows Vista (Ultimate, in this case) as well as a ton of general-purpose disk space. Compared to the rest of the high-end gaming PC market, Falcon Northwest is on par with most of its competition, but Maingear and Velocity Micro throw the scale off considerably.
We priced out similar systems from Alienware, Dell (limited to the slower QX6700 CPU), and Voodoo PC, and all came in around or grossly above (in the case of Voodoo PC), the Mach V's $6,595 price tag. Some of those systems don't have the ATI cards featured in this review, and instead require that you go with the more-expensive GeForce 8800 Ultras. Velocity Micro and Maingear, however, offer roughly the same hardware (including the pair of 1GB Radeons) and similar claims about above-and-beyond customer service, but charge you $1,000 less than Falcon Northwest. The main differences are that Falcon overclocks beyond any speeds listed by its competition, and it will also cover the cost involved in overnighting the system back to its offices for repair. Both the overclocking and the overnight shipping features set Falcon Northwest apart from the competition, but you certainly have to pay for them. We expect more-experienced customers (who haven't built their own PCs) might not place as much value on those features, but if you have the money to burn and want to own the fastest PC around with a near-bulletproof service policy, you'll likely find that extra grand worth it.
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