- Future 64-bit Support
- High Speed Serial ATA RAID
- Wireless Networking
- Above Average Price
- Too Many Fans
- No Speakers
- AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 64-bit Processor with ASUS A8V K8T800 Pro Based Motherboard
- 1GB Mushkin PC3200 DDR Memory
- Two 74GB Western Digital Raptor II SATA Hard Drives in RAID0 Array
- Lite-On 52x CD-RW Burner and 16x DVD-ROM Optical Drives
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Audio Card
- ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition Graphics Card with 256MB Memory
- 10/100 Ethernet Port and 802.11b/g Wireless Network
- Six USB 2.0 and Two FireWire Ports
- Windows XP Professional Operating System, Word Perfect Suite and Far Cry
6/29/04 - Velocity Micro is not one of the bigger names in the PC computer marketplace, but they sure do build a great performance desktop. The Raptor 64 Special Edition has plenty of performance in all areas of the computer that make this one top computer system.
The PC is powered by the new socket 939 AMD Athlon64 FX-53, a faster processor than the FX-51. It is matched up with 1GB of Dual Channel PC3200 DDR memory to give it additional performance over the previous registered memory.
Storage continues to be a leader in the class for hard drives with the use of two Western Digital 74GB Raptor II SerialATA hard drives in a RAID0 array. Optical storage is a bit less thrilling with a 52x CD-RW burner and a 16x DVD-ROM from Lite-On. It would be nice to see a DVD burner.
Graphics have been updated with the latest Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition. This is the current top of the line ATI DirectX 9 graphics card that should provide excellent performance in all current and future games.
One area that is very unique to the new Raptor 64 is in the networking. The ASUS motherboard that it is built around has the option for an 802.11b/g wireless networking module that Velocity has decided to include. This makes networking the Raptor 64 SE easy, especially for things like LAN Parties.
Overall the performance for the Raptor 64 Special Edition is very strong. The price is reasonable for the level of components installed in the system, but it is slightly above average for the segment.
