Tiny has beaten its rivals to the punch and got the first 2Ghz Intel Pentium 4 processor into our labs. This machine has had us all of a flutter with excitement and with good reason too.
The Extreme is an awesomely powerful PC; its combination of 2Ghz processor, 256Mb of memory and 64Mb GeForce3 graphics card produced the best ever results in our 3D graphics and all-round performance tests. With its undoubted power, the Extreme is just the job for those who place heavy demands on their PC, such as gamers and video editors.
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The rest of the specification provides a more than able supporting cast to the spotlight-hogging Pentium 4. The 19in LG monitor will greatly enhance PC use, particularly when playing games. The CD-RW drive provides a handy way to back up data, and the 80Gb hard disk will take a while to fill.
If you are keen on video editing, you can hook up your digital camcorder via the built-in FireWire card. Meanwhile, the built-in DVD-ROM drive and five speaker plus subwoofer system from Cambridge Soundworks will help to create a pleasing home cinema set-up.
All this good stuff comes at a price, of course, and although there's plenty here for £1599, there is a strong argument in saying that a less powerful, cheaper PC is the better bet for most folk. You certainly won't need this PC if all you want to do is type a few letters, send emails and surf the internet.
Other clouds, in the form of doubts about the Pentium 4 and software optimisation, also darken the horizon. Just as a racing car engine needs optimised high-octane fuel to run at full belt, so the Pentium 4 processor needs suitably optimised software if you're to make best use of it, and there is very little of that about at present.
The Extreme may be the fastest PC we have ever seen, but there are AMD Athlon machines running up to 600Mhz slower and several hundred pounds cheaper that put in a performance that almost matches the Extreme. The narrow margin by which the Extreme beats these cheaper AMD-based machines suggests that they still represent the smart option if value for money is more important than ultimate power.
If you are tempted by a Pentium 4 but baulk at the price, it could be worth waiting for cheaper versions to come along later this year, which may not have the power of the Extreme but won't burn such a hole in your pocket.
As it is, the Extreme is aptly named. It's a dirty great brute of a PC, more than capable of handling the demands of the very latest games and applications, but you need to decide whether you need all that grunt.
It's cutting edge all right, but best for gamers and geeks only.
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