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The Mesh Matrix II TT makes a good first impression with its smart, glossy black finish. USB and audio ports are plainly visible on the front. There’s also blanking plate for an eSATA port, but this isn’t used, and it wouldn’t take much to accidently knock out the flimsy bit of plastic, leaving a small but unsightly hole. It’s a minor gripe, though, and we were pleased with the rest of the system. The 20in Iiyama ProLite monitor is the most expensive in the group at around £135 if bought separately. It’s also the best, displaying sharp text and realistic colours, and offering wide viewing angles. The 1,600×900 resolution isn’t quite full HD, but at least you can use the DVI interface for a digital connection. Mesh has opted for a quad-core AMD Phenom X4 9950 processor and 4GB of RAM. As the Black Edition processor has an unlocked multiplier, it’s a good option for those who are looking to overclock. The Matrix’s performance isn’t the best here, but it’s not far off. A possible culprit is the hard disk. It provides a decent 500GB of storage, but has a 5,400rpm spindle speed, which means it’s likely to be slower than 7,200rpm disks. Everything in the case is neat, and a gigantic Akasa heatsink and fan keeps the processor cool. The heatsink’s fan makes a fair amount of noise, and while it’s not excessively loud, it’s certainly the noisiest of the group. Fortunately, this niggle is offset by great gaming performance. The Radeon HD 4850 managed 53.5fps in Call of Duty 4 at 1,680×1,050. At the monitor’s native resolution of 1,600×900, this increased to 59.3fps, while at 1,280×720 the demanding Crysis ran at a playable 26.7fps. This makes the Matrix II TT PC suitable for entertainment as well as work.
Although the Logitech 250 keyboard doesn’t have any media short cut buttons, it’s solidly built and feels good to type on. The Matrix comes with the bare minimum of warranty cover, but the value of all the components mean it’s the clear winner here and deserves its Best Buy award.
