Not so long ago, the only choice you had if you wanted a dual CPU system was to go down the Intel route or be tied to IBM. Not so any longer. AMD's Opteron is steadily gaining a foothold in the server and workstation market, and HP is the latest company to offer a dual AMD solution workstation with its new flagship model, the xw9300.

Not only does the xw9300 come with dual processor support, it also supports SLI graphics, up to 16GB of memory and 64-bit processing, making it a powerful high-end tool for workstation users with more than a degree of future-proofing.

As you might expect from a professional piece of kit, the xw9300 has many options when it comes to processor choice, either single or dual. All are based on AMD's 200 series of Opterons, from the 2GHz Opteron 246 through to the 2.6GHz 252 single core processors and either the 270 (2GHz) or 275 (2.2GHz) Dual Core Opterons. Our review sample from HP came with dual Opteron 252 CPUs, 2GB of PC3200 (DDR400) ECC memory plus a pair of Nvidia Quadro FX 3400 cards configured in a SLI setup.

The two 2.6GHz CPUs sit on a motherboard that uses Nvidia's nForce Professional chipset which provides support for a host of high-end workstation must-haves: 16GB ECC memory through 8 DIMM slots, three PCI-X slots (two 133MHz and a single 100MHz), one standard PCI slot and integrated Gigabit Ethernet. There's also a four-channel SATA II controller which supports RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 and a dual-channel Ultra320 SCSI connector. To feed all this lot with power there is a massive 750W power supply.

All this is housed in the same chassis as HP's Intel-based xw8200 and, once inside the easy-to-open, lockable case, you are confronted by a large plastic duct under which sit the two CPUs and coolers. To help keep this system cool there is a rear-mounted 120mm fan plus an 80mm fan installed in the front of the case.

As you might expect, you get plenty of room for drives in the xw9300; three 5.25-inch bays with external access and five 3.5-inch bays internally. Our review system came with a single Maxtor MaXline Plus II 250GB drive but there's a host of other options offered by HP, both SATA and SCSI.

Our system came with Windows XP Professional SP2 pre-installed, but HP also offers Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3.0 as alternatives. You also get a 3-year parts and labour warranty with NBD onsite service.

As you might expect with a specification that reads like your dream workstation, the xw9300 isn't cheap, but it is super-fast with a lot of future-proofing built-in.