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HP Business Desktop d325 (AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 512MB RAM)

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By Rick Broida
Jun 10, 2003

Bucking the trend toward ultracompact business systems such as the Gateway E-4000 and the IBM NetVista S42, Hewlett-Packard has engineered its d325 business desktop as a more traditional midsized PC. As a result, this machine arguably has wider appeal than those cubicle-minded minis; not only is it more expandable, it's also equipped with a speedy AMD processor, a huge hard drive, dual optical drives, and a dedicated graphics card. Though IT management software doesn't come preinstalled, as it does on HP's enterprise-minded d500 line, it is available as a free download for the d325 (and all d300-series models, for that matter). With all it has to offer, the d325 deserves serious consideration for home headquarters and small and medium-sized businesses alike.

Editors' note:
The test configuration came loaded with premium options including the Athlon XP 3000+ processor and 160GB hard drive, pushing the price past US$1,168 (S$2,013). Advertised packages in the Asia-Pacific region offers processors up to Athlon XP 2800+ and hard drives no larger than 80GB in capacity. Prices start from US$559 (S$963) for a system equipped with an Athlon XP 2400+ processor, 40GB hard drive, 256MB DDR SDRAM and 48X CD-ROM drive. Check with your local HP distributor for more information.

Design
If there's any doubt that the coffin has finally closed on basic business beige, HP's d325 business desktop puts it to rest. The tower, the monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse mix silver and black to achieve an attractive yet understated look.

The midtower case stands exactly the same height as the monitor and looks natural sitting next to it. Plus, it's whisper quiet, despite the presence of CPU and tower fans, so you needn't banish it to the floor just to keep the noise level down. Two of the system's six USB ports reside handily on the tower's front bezel, just above headphone and microphone jacks. (This should serve as a blueprint for all computer makers.) To open the case, you need to remove only one single, captured thumbscrew.

Inside the tower, there's just enough expandability to please SOHO users and IT managers, too. Our test system arrived with the three PCI slots unoccupied, along with one free memory socket and an open 3.5-inch internal bay for a second hard drive. Speaking of which, drives are relatively easy to swap out, though you do have to remove the front bezel.

Features
Our HP d325 business desktop test system was surprisingly well-equipped for a business machine. HP paired AMD's Athlon XP 3000+ processor with 512MB of 333MHz DDR SDRAM and a 160GB hard drive, which placed our d325 test system at the high end of the d300 series. You can dial back the price a bit by choosing a slower processor--both Intel and AMD CPUs are available--and less memory, although we recommend at least 256MB. You can also select a smaller hard drive; they start at 40GB.

The included Nforce-2 motherboard offers an AGP slot for gaming when the workday's done. Our test system included a GeForce4 MX440 card--not state-of-the-art, but a far sight better than the integrated video found in most business boxes. You can skip the AGP card altogether in favor of the onboard GeForce4 MX chip, which includes dual VGA ports for connecting two monitors. It's not quite as fast as the MX440, but it's vastly superior to integrated Intel graphics.

With such high-end specs, the d325 is suitable for just about any kind of software you care to throw at it, from mainstream to mission critical. Alas, the conspicuous lack of a FireWire port could get in the way of the video applications you might want to run, as you can't connect a camcorder. (The abundance of PCI slots at least opens the door to FireWire expansion cards.)

Another business-machine anomaly: the d325 includes not only a CD-RW drive, but also a DVD-ROM. Before you bring your movie (or music, for that matter) collection to work, however, keep in mind that the d325 comes with no external speakers, only an internal speaker--a nice amenity if you're trying to save space. It's located behind the case's front panel and is loud enough for basic business audio, but it sounds tinny and shrill with music. At best, we'd use it for background music played at a low volume.

We were generally unimpressed by the d325's Compaq 7500 17-inch monitor, which suffered from blurriness and weak contrast in our tests. We had to fiddle quite a bit with the brightness and contrast settings to find comfortable levels, and even then the picture looked grainy and washed out. A system with this much horsepower deserves a better tube. Thankfully, HP offers a wide range of monitors--both LCDs and CRTs--from which to choose.

The d325's software bundle consists of the bare essentials. HP includes Roxio's Easy CD Creator and Norton AntiVirus 2003 but leaves out the IT management software, since the d325 isn't aimed at big businesses. If you feel the need for enterprise IT software, HP makes it available via a free download on its site. Something every office needs regardless of size is a productivity suite, such as Microsoft Office. Our d325 test system lacked such an app, and it'll cost you extra to add one; you can do so using HP's online configurator.

Performance

Application performance
Using an Athlon XP 3000+ and 512MB of 333MHz DDR SDRAM, the HP d325 business desktop is one speedy business PC. It shares the same processor as some high-end gaming PCs we've seen recently, such as the Hypersonic Cyclone and, not surprisingly, turned in stellar application performance. It held its own against the Hypersonic and Polywell systems here, even though it has a single IDE hard drive and slower memory (and less of it) than these two gaming PCs.

3D graphics and gaming performance
Because it is a business-class system, the HP d325 does not use a high-end graphics card. A business has no need for a graphics card that's aimed specifically at games. The d325's GeForce4 MX400 keeps the overall cost down and will still be able to handle almost any of today's games. The MX440 is not DirectX 9 certified, however, so it will have problems with games in the near future using DirectX 9.

Service And Support
HP's warranty falls shy of ideal, covering the d325's parts for three years but labor for only one. You also get a year of onsite service as part of the deal, along with phone support for the first 30 days of purchase on issues relating to usage and setup. A printed, multilanguage quick-setup guide will help HP's color-blind customers connect the right cables to their corresponding ports. The user manual, contained on a CD-ROM, is thorough and includes information on desktop-management issues for larger offices and a troubleshooting guide that any office will find useful.

 
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