Reviewed on June 24, 2008AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4850 is a solid midrange 3D card that will run pretty much anything, and it boasts some forward-looking features to boot. It might be worth waiting for the price to drop just a bit, at which point this card will become much more attractive.TAGS:ATI Radeon, Nvidia GeForce, Radeon, NVidia, ATI Technologies, Diamond Multimedia Inc., clock speed, AMD, card
Reviewed on November 1, 2006If you thought dual cores were over the top, get ready. Intel presents the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, a single CPU with four distinct processing cores. At $999, the first quad-core CPU will remain an enthusiast part for a while, but as a glimpse of the future, it's clear that clock speed is out and core counts are in.TAGS:quad-core, multi-core, Intel Core 2 Extreme, clock speed, CPU, dual-core, Intel Core 2 Duo, digital media, Intel, AMD, PC
Reviewed on February 12, 2007No other 3D graphics card comes close to this bang for the buck, making the 320MB XFX GeForce 8800 GTS mostly an easy decision if you need a midrange upgrade. Nvidia still has to polish off its Vista software, and the sooner-or-later arrival of competing cards muddies the waters a bit, but if you need a midprice graphics card today, this should be your pick.TAGS:XFX Inc, Nvidia GeForce, Radeon, NVidia, card, clock speed, DirectX, ATI Technologies, video card, 3D, AMD, Microsoft Windows Vista, games, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on July 17, 2007The quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX6850 keeps the desktop CPU performance belt tied firmly around Intel's waist at a price that helps offset the lack of sizable performance gains. New products at the end of the year may outclass this new chip when they arrive, but for now, the QX6850 reigns supreme.TAGS:Intel Core 2 Extreme, quad-core, motherboard, clock speed, bus, Intel, Intel Core 2 Duo, CPU, multimedia, AMD, chipset
Reviewed on August 23, 2006ATI's Radeon X1950 XTX is the fastest single-chip 3D card that you can buy. Unfortunately, with Windows Vista and its accompanying gaming technology, it's going to become obsolete in just five months. ATI adjusted the price of the Radeon X1950 XTX accordingly, but at $450, it's still not an insignificant purchase. We recommend it only if money is no object.TAGS:Radeon, Crysis, ATI Technologies, DirectX, ATI Radeon, Nvidia GeForce, NVidia, OpenGL, clock speed, card, 3D, memory, games, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on August 10, 2007AVADirect's newest Core 2 Duo SLI desktop would be a great buy for a gamer looking to dominate on a current-generation title. We wish it had a quad-core chip, and we'd also rather that tweaking this configuration didn't involve choosing from such a vast array of parts. AVADirect seems to build quality PCs, including this one, but you should definitely go to its Web site knowing what you're looking for.TAGS:Velocity Micro, quad-core, Intel Core 2 Duo, DVD-ROM, dual-core, clock speed, CPU, DVD burner, hard drive, games, Intel, DVD, PC
Reviewed on September 7, 2006ATI's Radeon lineup features a confusing array of cards. The budget Radeon X1300 XT is a good card for the money, but we recommend the faster Radeon X1650 Pro because it costs only $10 more.TAGS:Radeon, ATI Radeon, ATI Technologies, clock speed, NVidia, Nvidia GeForce, card, Half-Life 2