ABS Conquest MP

Reviewed on 6/6/02    Updated on: 6/6/02    ABS takes a chance by dubbing its dual-processor Athlon system Conquest. The system's configuration awkwardly tackles the needs of the traditional multiprocessor (MP) workstation market and of consumer power users. If your productivity needs demand an MP solution, though, the Conquest MP is a solid entry-level performer with a reasonable price.

Full review of ABS Conquest MP

ABS takes a chance by dubbing its dual-processor Athlon system Conquest. The system's configuration awkwardly tackles the needs of the traditional multiprocessor (MP) workstation market and of consumer power users. If your productivity needs demand an MP solution, though, the Conquest MP is a solid entry-level performer with a reasonable price.

What's my line?
The Conquest MP's configuration is hard to define. Of its core components, only the motherboard says workstation. The $2,338 system comes with two 1.67GHz Athlon MP 2000+ CPUs on an MSI K7D Master motherboard, which is based on AMD's 760MPX chipset. Its 512MB of DDR SDRAM is an acceptable minimum for entry-level professionals. Two of the board's five PCI slots support 64-bit (66MHz) cards, making the system suitable for bandwidth-hungry interfaces such as Gigabit Ethernet. Integrated audio also fits the workstation profile. But the rest of the essentials--a Leadtek WinFast Z250 Ultra GeForce4 Ti 4600 graphics card with 128MB of memory and a 100GB Western Digital hard drive with an 8MB cache--are more in line with consumer needs.

This setup delivers similarly ambiguous performance. As we expected, the second CPU did nothing for the Conquest MP in application performance tests, where it posted a slightly lower overall SysMark2002 score than did the Alienware Aurora DDR, a highly optimized single-CPU system. The Conquest MP was only 15 percent faster overall than a run-of-the-mill contender such as the NexGenMicro AMD XP Dragon. And in our MadOnion 3Dmark2001 Pro test, the Conquest MP's performance was also lackluster--about 10 percent slower on DirectX frame rates compared to the Aurora DDR. The results are equally vague on SPECviewperf 6.1.2 tests, which measure OpenGL graphics performance. The Conquest MP generally outperforms the ElementPC Radium's ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500DV except on wireframe-intensive viewsets such as DX-06 and ProCDRS-03, where ATI cards traditionally excel.

Here's the beef
If you're among those who do two or more CPU-hungry tasks simultaneously--real multitasking as opposed to simply task switching--then the dual processor delivers the tangible benefit of increased CPU resources. For instance, we comfortably watched a full-screen DVD with the 16X Pioneer DVD-ROM while ripping audio files from the 40X/12X/40X Plextor CD-RW drive. We got a few stutters while watching the movie, but the system dropped nary a bit of data.

The Conquest MP's peripherals fall short for either consumer or workstation use, as well. Our test unit included a 15-inch Samsung SyncMaster 151S LCD, which, although a good display, was simply too small for professional work. The three-piece Logitech Z-340 speaker system delivers surprisingly good sound--it's almost too good for a workstation--but it's also not up to 5.1 home-enthusiast levels.

Card games
ABS's tool-free server case for the Conquest also has its problems. A four-port USB 2.0 card and a 10/100 Ethernet NIC occupy two of the five PCI slots. The graphics card's heat sink blocks access to the slot next door, leaving only a single free slot, which you'd probably want to fill with the missing FireWire port. At least there's a lot of room for adding storage and other devices, with three more 3.5-inch drives (one front-accessible) and two front-accessible 5.25-inch drives.

ABS's service and support policies, like the system they cover, are merely adequate. Documentation consists of a generic quick-setup poster and a color-coded binder holding general system and component documentation and supplemental software discs. You get a three-year parts and a lifetime labor warranty, with lifetime access to toll-free tech support--but not on weekends. Getting 24/7 support runs an extra $29, and we recommend opting for it if you're a weekend warrior. In any case, the Web site won't help; when we tried it, the driver-downloads database seemed pretty skimpy, and the knowledge base was still "coming soon."

As a dual-CPU system, the Conquest MP starts out with a small, specialized audience. If you're part of that crowd, $2,338 is a reasonable price to pay for such a system. But you're probably better off paying a little more for a PC that can support growth into a workstation or for a single-CPU system with better consumer amenities.

Performance chart of ABS Conquest MP

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