Reviews

	AeonCraft (Model Aeon 7035) The Aeon 7035 from Aeoncraft has a futuristic design with the appearance of brushed stainless steel on the front panel and a “MOD Window” with blue interior lighting. The biggest downside to this computer is it doesn’t come with a monitor. But at $1,729 you could add a monitor and still be under $2000.
	Processor: This processor runs at 1.86 GHz with a bus speed of 1066. This is common for a gaming computer in this price range. The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo. Memory: The Aeon excels in the memory category with two GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive. This should run any game fine and there is plenty of room for storage. Video/Audio: This computer comes with a 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 7050 GT—one of the best graphics card in this review. It will have no problems with even your most complex games. You’ll can also enjoy the audio aspect of your favorite computer game with the integrated 7.1 surround sound. I/O Device: This PC comes with an awesome tower. It has an ultramodern design with a “MOD Window.” This transparent panel radiates either blue or green—whichever color you choose. The system doesn’t include a monitor, but you will get a mouse and keyboard with this package. Value/Price: Overall, this is a decent computer for the price—from its good design to the standard liquid cooling. They also offer free shipping. You will have to buy a monitor, so realistically expect to pay around $2000. Support/Warranty: Aeoncraft offers a 1–year warranty. You can contact customer service through phone but not by live chat. The live chat feature is excellent when configuring your machine.


	Aeoncraft Aeon-8010 This high-powered system offers impressive graphics but a strange case design.
	Our test unit owes its first-rate performance scores in part to AMD's dual-core, 2.6-GHz Athlon 64 X2 FX-60 processor and 2GB of DDR400 SDRAM. With this configuration, the system posted a score of 141 on PC World's WorldBench 5 tests--matching the second-fastest score we've recorded thus far and missing the top mark by a single point. (Xi Computer's MTower 64 AGL-SLI scored 142.) The unit's graphics test results were also impressive thanks to ATI's top-of-the-line graphics card, the Radeon X1900 XTX with 512MB of DDR3 on-board RAM. With a frame rate score of 169 on our Return to Castle Wolfenstein gaming test at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution and 16-bit color, the Aeon-8010 ties for the highest score among our currently tested systems (as of 4/12/06). Not surprisingly, informal game play on Doom 3 was very smooth. However, game play was a bit dark on the 19-inch ViewSonic VX924 LCD display that came with our test unit, even when we turned up the brightness. You'll also find all the ports and connectors you'd expect on a $3595 PC. The system has an ample supply of USB 2.0 ports--three on the front and four on the back--but only a single FireWire port on the front of the case. The graphics card offers two DVI connectors and an S-Video port. One minor omission: The system lacks a VGA connection, so hard-core gamers using a CRT will need an adapter. An external SATA connector makes adding additional high-speed external storage a snap--a nice extra. Audiophiles will appreciate the Aeon-8010's inclusion of all the necessary connections for amplifiers and sound systems. The standard cluster of audio ports on the back of the case supports 7.1 surround sound, and S/PDIF digital audio ports come in both optical and coaxial flavors. From the front, our test unit's case looked more like a giant 1950s-era toaster than a futuristic gaming platform. (You can get a more standard silver case for an extra $30.) A large, rounded panel of reflective, shiny silver protrudes from the front of the case, which contains the dual-layer DVD±RW drive, five-in-one media card reader, and floppy drive behind a swinging door. The clear window in one of the side panels reveals a visually unremarkable interior, and a useless grille covers the back of the case, providing little aesthetic value but lots of potential for tangled cords when connecting other devices. The Aeon-8010 is a worthy alternative to gaming systems from Alienware and Voodoo as long as you don't need loads of free PCI slots and don't mind the quirky design.


	Aeoncraft Lexa
	What do you do when your brand is universally recognized as being so crazy-low-priced that consumers ignore you when searching for something more upscale? You add a “luxury” sub-brand. If it worked for Toyota with Lexus maybe it’ll work for iBuypower with its AeonCraft brand. In execution, AeonCraft makes an admirable attempt to set itself apart from its parent company by doing something iBuypower wouldn’t normally do. To keep the CPU cool, AeonCraft utilizes an exclusive new water-cooling system. Very similar to Cooler Master’s Aquagate Mini, AeonCraft’s solution is also a two-piece, maintenance-free unit. The Lexa rig also sports the new and fast Athlon 64 FX-60 dual-core processor, and an Asus A8N32-SLI motherboard complete with two x16 PCI Express slots for graphics cards. AeonCraft even throws in a pair of eVGA 256MB GeForce 7800 GTX KO videocards and an X-Fi soundcard. Three of those components top our monthly “Best of the Best” list, and the FX-60 pretty much steamrolled Intel’s newest dual-core in last month’s CPU feature story. The icing on a pretty tasty-looking cake is the BenQ DVD burner, which supports LightScribe. Alas, it’s not just the parts that make a PC. Like we said, AeonCraft’s Lexa is an admirable attempt, but it doesn’t automatically punt the company into the boutique-chic neighborhood. The pair of Raptor hard drives would be more compelling had AeonCraft gotten its hands on Western Digital’s new super-fast 150GB Raptors. That would have given the Lexa deadly HD speeds and 300GB of storage. As it stands, the two 74GB Raptors in the AeonCraft leave you with less than 150GB. Senator, we know people whose laptops have more storage than that. On the performance tip, the FX-60/SLI combo pulls no punches. With updated GeForce drivers that don’t retard SYSmark 2005 scores (see our CPU showdown in the February issue for details), we saw the AeonCraft pull down a shockingly fast score of 273. That doesn’t eclipse the record set by Falcon Northwest’s Mach V (reviewed in February), but it’s the fastest we’ve seen from a non-overclocked production machine. Is it any wonder that the other (Intel-based) machine we had lined up for review bowed out this month? The Lexa’s gaming scores were neck-and-neck with the FX-57-powered HyperSonic machine we pawed in October. That’s to be expected—the single-core 2.8GHz FX-57 is simply faster in single-threaded gaming apps than the dual-core 2.6GHz FX-60. Photoshop and Premiere Pro performance was right at the front of the pack. Our biggest problem with the Lexa is in presentation. A machine that costs four large should sport an internal wiring job that’s tighter than a gunnery sergeant’s rack. The Lexa’s wiring is anything but. In fact, it’s so messy, you’d almost have to plan it that way. The odd thing is that AeonCraft includes a window on the case so you can clearly see the unkempt innards. Perhaps messy is the new tidy? Inattention to details puts a serious dent in AeonCraft’s attempt to move beyond the white-box crowd. It’s not a fatal mistake, but we expect more from a company that’s catering to the power-user crowd, and asking power-user prices.