GameSpot
Nails It: "You Can't Buy Anything Faster for PC Gaming"
GameSpot
January 2000
In
GameSpot's January 18
th review of the SYS Cold-Fusion
1000, the first couple of lines say it all. "You can't buy anything
faster for PC Gaming. That's the bottom line with the Sys Technology
Cold-Fusion 1000."
The
articles goes on to say, "The (SYS) Cold Fusion posted the highest
GameGauge 2.5 score we've seen to date, besting the previous top
performer, which was an Intel 800MHz Pentium III that used very
expensive RDRAM.The overall fit and finish was quite good...."
The author had some concerns that we're happy to respond to here:
- Price-the
author refers to the system as costing "nearly $5000." The system
he reviewed is currently (1/21/2000) priced at $4383-with slightly
larger and faster hard drives. Expensive? Is first place expensive?
- There
was a compatibility issue with a "Logitech game controller." We
don't offer controllers as an option and we didn't ship the one
the author used with our review system. Point of reference-we
will only ship units with components that we have confirmed work,
at the hardware and operating system level, in the configuration
ordered by the customer. If we identify a problem during integration,
we notify the customer and arrange a change to the shipping configuration.
However...we do not test, and make no representation that we test,
for the customer's intended application software (game) load.
As avid gamers are well aware, some components are simply not
compatible with some games, patches may be required, or other
work arounds may be needed. We have no crystal balls and neither
does anyone else.
The author notes that the problem went away when he changed to
the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! sound card. The Platinum
version of that card is a standard option with the SYS Cold-Fusion
1000 desktop.
- The
author also complained about our submission of a unit with a modem
in this day of the cable modem (which use a network interface
card, or NIC, as the system-to-service interface). Again, NICs
are included on our standard options list. BTW, had we put a NIC
in the unit, we suspect we would have been faulted for not including
a regular modem. Put in both? An option? Yep, one that's on the
list.
- The
author also didn't like the speakers we sent, "decent (but)...won't
rock your world." Again, there's a higher-end option available-and
we'll provide any generally-available speaker system the customer
is interested in specifying.
- Power
supply-as noted by the author, Athlons at 1000MHz are really pushing
the power supply. When we identified a problem with the power
supply provided by KryoTech, we tried the standard unit used in
our other high performance systems. We found the problem completely
went away and provide the author a replacement unit overnight.
He confirmed that the new unit totally resolved the problem. That
power supply was phased into production before the replacement
unit even reached the author.
- As
far as our choice of the CD-ROM drive (a Kenwood 72X), we have
removed that product from all our product lines. It has been found
to be unreliable. The Cold-Fusions now come standard with a very
reliable 50X unit-and there is a 10 DVD-ROM option for Windows
98 users.
- The
last of the author's "comments" dealt with noise. We really have
no good solution for that one. The extra equipment in the system
generates extra noise. The impact is cumulative. But...as
the article concludes,
"...the
Cold Fusion isn't about making a quiet statement - it's about performance.
And if you've got the bucks to spare, and you don't mind a little
background noise, you won't find anything faster today. And the
70-pound system on your floor makes quite a statement."
"Sounds" like he nailed it to us.
