Engineered for 3-D multimedia performance, the Intel-based Falcon Northwest Mach V features a striking 21-inch monitor, an Audigy sound card, a set of awesome Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers, and DVD-RW and DVD-ROM drives, all in a customizable Intel blue aluminum case. Having three 40GB hard drives (in a RAID 0 configuration) is a plus, allowing more hard drive data throughput, a traditional bottleneck on PCs. The system includes two USB 1.1 ports and four USB 2.0 ports, plus a total of three FireWire ports, but none are on the front panel. The Mach V's 2.8-GHz P4 processor, 512MB RDRAM, three hard drives, and ATI Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card contributed to its well-above-average scores on our 3-D and gaming tests. Strong bundled music and video software round out this system.

MULTIMEDIA SCENARIO
Music: () PlayCenter and Pioneer RecordNow DX are bundled with the Mach V and should satisfy all of your music needs.

Photos: () Unfortunately, this system skimps on photo-editing software—we used MS Paint—and has no front-panel ports.

Video: () There are a few solid application choices for capturing, editing, and burning video to DVD, including the powerful Pinnacle Studio 8 and Ulead Visual Studio 4.0 SE Basic. Thanks to the Audigy breakout box, there is a front-accessible FireWire port.

UPGRADABILITY
() The Intel-based Mach V is designed for easy upgrade. There are seven free 3.5-inch drive bays (four of which are filled by the floppy disk drive) and three hard drives. There are two available PCI card slots.

PERFORMANCE
(On a 60-point scale)
Business: 33.6
Multimedia: 50.5

SUPPORT
Falcon Northwest computers are covered by a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, but no on-site service is available. Toll-free technical support is available noon-9:00p eastern time, Monday-Saturday. You can also e-mail questions to technicians.