ABS routinely puts together high-end desktop computers for gamers that start at excellent prices. True to form, their new M6 Sniper series starts at $1,399 and features NVIDIA's SLI dual-video card configurations. Hard-core gamers may want to make a few upgrades to the core system, but ABS offers a solid base to grow from on these gaming desktops.

AMD Athlon CPUs power the M6 Sniper series systems. Inside these computers, you'll find a 2.2GHz Athlon 64 939P 3500+. Even the baseline processor is 64-bit and ready to handle upcoming operating systems and applications. Beef it up to dual core Athlon X2 processor for under $100, or step up to an FX series CPU, but those upgrades start at $500 and move up from there.

These gaming desktop computers start with 1GB of 400MHz DDR memory, plenty for light to medium gamers. Again, the hard-core crowd may want to expand the RAM, but you can double it to 2GB for under $100, an excellent price for the upgrade.

ABS puts this core power inside a large Thermaltake Tsunami black tower, complete with a side window so you can view the internal components of desktop. A 550-watt power supply ensures that present and future high-end components get their proper juice.

Speaking of high-end components, the M6 Sniper series is touted as SLI-ready, meaning you can pair twin video cards inside these systems for double the graphics performance. The baseline M6 ships with two GeForce 6600 boards each with 128MB of dedicated video memory. They're not the fastest boards from NVIDIA, but putting two of them together means enhanced gaming and video performance. There are other SLI options available, including two GeForce 7900GTX cards with a combined GB of video memory (adding nearly a grand to the system price). Opting for a single-card configuration will take some dollar signs off the starting price.

The hard drive on the M6 series is a 160GB 7,200rpm SATA2 drive, providing a good amount of room for game installs and multimedia file storage. There are faster 10,000rpm drives available, reducing the performance bottleneck during gaming. And if size is important, these gaming desktop computers have room for three 500GB hard drives--giving you a combined 1.5 terabytes of storage space--and also adding over 50 percent to the cost.

ABS doesn't shirk on the optical drive configuration either. These desktop computers for gamers ship with twin drives: a basic DVD-ROM drive and a 16X DL DVD-writer. This latter drive can burn to traditional DVD media as well as 8.5GB Double Layer media that can hold up to four hours of high-quality video on a single disk. This setup means you can make disk-to-disk burns easily.

There's no monitor included at the baseline configuration of these desktop computers for gamers. ABS offers a good range of LCDs from a variety of vendors to pair with your M6 Sniper, from a 17-inch LCD monitor at just over $200 to a drool-inducing 24-inch widescreen LCD that costs nearly as much as the system itself.

ABS also holds back on input devices on these gaming desktop computers. Many gamers already have a favorite keyboard and mouse combo, so it's not a huge deal. But if you need input devices, they will be an additional expenditure.

What ABS does include in the setup is a nice bundle of extras--including games. You get full versions of Far Cry, Age of Empires III, and Rise of Nations with these systems. ABS also tosses in Microsoft Works 8.0 in case you want to write a paper or bring some work home with you. And they also include an ABS T-shirt so you can advertise for them around town.

There's a one-year warranty on these desktop computers for gamers and you can add on-site service to that coverage for under $50, although most gamers know their way around under the hood of their PC.

After adding on a display and input devices and making some optional upgrades, you can still get a complete gaming system for well under two grand. ABS M6 Sniper series PCs offers dual video-card graphics performance for a great price, making them excellent choices for desktop computers for gamers.

Pro: Great price, dual video-card configuration
Con: No monitor or input devices included

FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABS Computer Technologies Inc.
18045 Rowland St.
City of Industry, CA 91748-1205
800-876-8088
http://www.abspc.com

Ratings:
Value: 4
Performance: 4
Ease of Use: 4
Features: 4
Overall: 4

Warranty
1-year limited