Polywell Desktop Reviews

"Overall performance is mediocre Limited expandability...The 580CF-2900 received a score of just 93 on WorldBench 6 Beta 2 tests, a result roughly 26 percent behind the average mark of 126 that rival systems in our gaming-PCs chart achieved...The dual HD 2900 XT graphics boards also struggled, achieving 130 frames per second in Doom 3 at 1280 by 1024 resolution with antialiasing turned on, and 140 fps in Far Cry at the same settings...Though..." read more »

"Fast...Outperforms Quad SLI on one of the more strenuous tests...A lot less expensive than a Quad SLI system....Boring case design...Extremely loud fans....A lot less expensive than a Quad SLI system...Optimizing resources, driving efficiency and lowering total cost of ownership are critical strategies for the survival of any business...No matter how large or small your business is, you are constantly faced with the challenged of keeping all your computer systems..." read more »

"Expensive for the performance Massive power supply blocks bays...The Poly 790FX's case is attractive...The Poly 790FX has a single graphics board (a 512MB ATI 3850) installed in one of its four PCIe x16 slots......" read more »

"The Poly 880K7-1400 we tested zipped to a score of 113 on our PC WorldBench 4 tests...The system includes a 1.4-GHz Athlon CPU, 256MB of 266-MHz...Polywell's phone support earned only a Fair rating in our recent anonymous tech support calls:...Following a $200 price drop, the Poly 880K7-1400 is $2399...The Poly 880K7-1400's documentation consists of thorough component manuals and a spiral-bound system manual that's light on illustrations..." read more »

"Case interior is crowded...Both our DVD test movie and our still photos had flat colors on the display, and the DVD showed some ghosting in fast-moving scenes...Moreover, you will have to pay a premium for the SLI feature--the same Poly system with just a single graphics card costs about $600 less...Having two graphics cards means that the system needs a lot of power......" read more »

"If gaming power is what you desire from a PC, then look no further than the Polywell Poly 939N-FX55...Using a 2.6-GHz Athlon 64 FX-55 processor and 1GB of DDR400 SDRAM, the Poly 939N-FX55 notched a 113 in our WorldBench 5 tests--the fastest result we've noted to date...Consumers are ordering PCs with LCDs more often than with CRTs these days, but at the Polywell we reviewed included a 19-inch ViewSonic E90FB CRT display...Opening the case entails using a screwdriver, but to add or remove expansion cards and drives you just push or pull release latches..." read more »

"Gamers and power users who crave top performance and need easy upgrades will like this system's design and price...The Polywell Poly 939N4-SLI2/FX60 lacks the sculpted shapes and coloured backlights decorating the cases of many high-priced gaming systems, but it carries cutting-edge hardware and delivers near-record-setting performance...The Poly 939N4-SLI2/FX60 also posted the second best frame-rate scores we've seen on our gaming tests while running Unreal Tournament...The Logitech Bluetooth mouse felt good in my hand and showed no delays..." read more »

"The Polywell MiniBox2 939NP-MCE ($1,888 direct, $1,520 without monitor) is a compact, living-room-friendly Media Center PC...There is room in the case for one PCIe x1 card and an additional PCIe x16 graphics card to supplement the integrated nVidia GeForce 6150 graphics, but the integrated graphics are sufficient for the 2D multimedia tasks a Media Center PC is typically used for...It's not the prettiest or smallest Media Center PC out there, but the Polywell MiniBox2 939NP-MCE may satisfy the middle ground for those who want to convert to a digital home, yet want a system that's expandable and can fit equally well in the living room or the office..." read more »

"Though not overclocked like its boutique brethren, the Poly 939VF-FX53 nevertheless delivers a potent gaming experience...The heart of the Poly 939VF-FX53 is the ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard with VIA's K8T800 Pro chipset...There's lots of open space inside, good for keeping the system cool and leaving room for future upgrading...Our tested configuration took good advantage of the integrated Realtek ALC850 7.1 audio by bundling a set of Creative Labs Inspire T7700 7.1 speakers..." read more »

"Monster video-editing power...Lots of hard drive space, intelligently partitioned...Packaged with wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse...Passive cooler on...Multiple case fans mean steady noise...Ugly Microsoft IR receiver...No front-mounted LCD or LED info panel....The Polywell Poly 975MCE-Extreme ($3,695 direct, $3,375 without monitor) is a high-powered multimedia system for the power user who doesn't want a tower PC...A twin TV tuner tops off the 975MCE's..." read more »