We all know that the phrase "world's first" is very short-lived when it comes to PC technology, so it's easy to raise a sardonic eyebrow when Evesham uses the phrase in connection with its new desktop monster, the Solar Quattro. However, when you realise that this is a triple claim - to have the first DirectX 10, QuadCore and free Windows Vista Upgrade - it's time to investigate more thoroughly.

Before we come on to the headlines, this is no lightweight system. The main box cripples your back and the two peripheral packages also suggest the need for a forklift truck. As you'd expect, a PC with a ton of new gizmos under the lid is going to need considerable cooling and so Evesham has encased it all in an aluminium case from CoolerMaster. This has an open mesh pattern on the sides and top for high air flow and its side-bracket with screw-less assembly can support a total of nine 120mm fans.

The front-opening panel conceals a Sony DVD-RW drive and a Sony DVD-ROM player plus a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS audio sound card. As if you were in any doubts about this being essentially a gamer's machine, you are also supplied with a Creative Gigaworks ProGamer G500 5.1 surround sound speaker system.

Now, back to the 'firsts', and we can confirm that this PC does indeed have an Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX6700 (Quad Core, 2x 4MB cache, 1066MHz), so visual physics and graphics rendering can be spread over four hardware threads.

This is allied with 2GB of Corsair DDR2 800 EPP memory and the first DirectX 10 GPU GeForce 8800GTX graphics card from Nvidia which has a gigantic 768MB of GDDR3 RAM in-built, clocked at 900MHz as standard. Because the Solar Quattro is SLI ready, you could even add a second card to double the awesome visual effects.

No worries about lack of storage either, as there is a 500GB, Serial ATA, 7,200rpm hard drive with 16MB buffer. The machine operates quietly, too; there's barely a murmur, which is a tribute to the airflow of the case. Naturally, as no respected gamer would be seen without cordless accessories, you can engage the enemy with a Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 laser keyboard and mouse.

And finally, yes, you are granted a free upgrade from Windows Media Centre 2005 Edition to Windows Vista Home Premium Edition as soon as it comes in (although plenty of other PC manufacturers would argue about this being a 'first').

In a sense, the main problem with this PC is that it's so far ahead of the pack. There aren't any DirectX 10 games ready to play on it, Windows Vista has yet to be proved a hit and most developers haven't yet had a chance to make the most of all that Quad Core has to offer.

And as we know, future-proofing is something of an illusion where PC advances are concerned, but this system will certainly put you ahead in the computing power race.

Whether or not it justifies the "world's first" claim in all respects, this is an impressive machine with stunning graphics and processing power and a superb cooling system. But you may have to wait a while before the full benefits become apparent, and the price tag is almost as hefty as the machine itself.