ViciousPC Phantom review: ViciousPC Phantom

The ViciousPC Phantom stands out among budget gaming systems. It's one of the fastest game PCs we've tested; it comes with top-drawer components; and it looks cool, with a sleek, black tower case that combines impressive styling and a practical, expandable design. While the Phantom has a few compromises in its audio system and its service and support policies, it's still a solid bargain. However, the Alienware Aurora DDR offers a slightly better price (about a $40 difference), has a 100GB hard drive compared to the Phantom's 80GB, and edges the Phantom in performance, too. The ViciousPC Phantom stands out among budget gaming systems. It's one of the fastest game PCs we've tested; it comes with top-drawer components; and it looks cool, with a sleek, black tower case that combines impressive styling and a practical, expandable design. While the Phantom has a few compromises in its audio system and its service and support policies, it's still a solid bargain. However, the Alienware Aurora DDR offers a slightly better price (about a $40 difference), has a 100GB hard drive compared to the Phantom's 80GB, and edges the Phantom in performance, too.

Speed to spare
The Phantom performed impressively in CNET Labs' tests. The system teams a 1.67GHz AMD Athlon XP 2100+ processor with 512MB of DDR memory and an Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600-based video card. The Phantom's Quake III benchmark result of 194.7fps (frames per second) and its MadOnion 3DMark2001 Pro scores of more than 10,000fps mean the Phantom has the power to run games at higher resolutions, with bigger textures, and with more complex geometry. Count on fast application performance, as well.

If you decide to expand your system, the Phantom's roomy case offers six open drive bays and three available slots. Although we appreciate the case's black paint job and tool-free access panel, we especially like the attention ViciousPC pays to keeping the case both cool and quiet. A huge, five-inch fan sits directly behind the processor, circulating plenty of air while making very little noise; the CPU fan and the other case fans are relatively quiet, as well.

No sonic boom
Two of the six USB ports are on the front of the case, which is a welcome feature for those who swap game controllers often. There's also a space for an IEEE 1394 connector on the front, should you decide to upgrade to a Sound Blaster Audigy card, which supplies the interface. The Nforce 415 chipset's integrated audio supports all the major 3D audio standards and digital output, but the Phantom includes a set of midrange, analog Creative Inspire 5.1 5300 speakers. These work well at medium volumes but can't match the sonic power of the Creative Inspire 5.1 5700 and Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 speakers included with systems such as the Boldata Challenger N2000 and the Falcon Northwest Talon 4.2. If you have about $200 extra in your budget, we'd suggest upgrading to the Klipsch speakers.

Style-conscious gamers will appreciate the coordinated look of the Phantom's peripherals. The speakers and the headphones are black, as is the NEC FE950+ monitor, which boasts a flat screen, a sharp picture, and reasonably fast refresh rates. We particularly like the Logitech MouseMan Optical's side-mounted third button; it's great for quick access to weapon-change commands during games.

Good software, decent docs
The Phantom's nice features extend to the software bundle, which includes Corel WordPerfect Office. Unfortunately, the documentation is barely adequate for novices; the only literature specific to the system is a multipage troubleshooting FAQ. To its credit, ViciousPC organizes all component manuals into a three-ring binder that also contains driver and operating-system CDs.

Service and support is also adequate. The Phantom comes with a lengthy, three-year parts and labor warranty. ViciousPC says that toll-free tech support, currently limited to West Coast business hours, will be available 24/7 by this summer. You can opt for onsite service through 2Net, at prices ranging from $39 for a year to $169 for three years.