The m9040n is multimedia to its (quad) core. It loads an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor, 3GB of system memory, two 320GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array, an over-the-air ATSC (HDTV) tuner, wireless networking, a media card reader, and a plethora of ports. It would have been nice if HP had included an HD DVD or Blu-ray drive instead of its dual layer DVD±RW drive, though that would have pushed the price up significantly.

The m9040n has both Personal Media Drive (desktop class) and Pocket Media Drive (notebook class) bays for HP’s cartridge-style hard drives. Just pop an HP Personal Media or Pocket Media Drive into its respective bay and it’ll read like any other hard drive. With the Easy Backup button on the m9040n’s front panel, you can either back up manually or as a scheduled automatic backup to either the Personal or Pocket Media Drive (or to an external drive).

The m9040n proved its mettle on our multimedia tests. It ripped through our video encoding test in 1 minute flat and our Photoshop CS2 test in a sizzling 42 seconds. It likewise turned in a stellar 29seconds on our new Adobe Photoshop CS3 test.

If you’re looking for a multimedia powerhouse desktop, the M9040n should be on your short list. In both features and performance, it’s true to its “Elite” moniker, yet proletarian in price.

HP Pavilion Elite m9040n PC Review
Price range: $1,190
Specs:
- 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor
- 3GB 667-MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- Two 320GB 7,200-rpm SATA hard drives in a RAID 0 array
- 256MB nVidia GeForce 8400 GS graphics card
- Windows Vista Home Premium

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