Reviewed on August 4, 2009Asus crafted the Essentio CG5290-BP007 to serve as a no-frills gaming desktop for just more than $1,000. And while the boutique PC vendors have a bit more polish for not too much more money, Asus can at least claim that this PC is one of the fastest on the retail shelves. You might have a hard time arguing the necessity of such a fast gaming box for back-to-school, but we can at least recommend this system as a speedy bargain.TAGS:back-to-school, ASUS, retailer, customer service, 64-bit, games, Nvidia GeForce, NVidia, video card, PC
Reviewed on November 21, 2007Despite the usual caveats of an ever-fluctuating 3D market, for the moment, at least, ATI's new Radeon HD 3850 graphics card delivers the best bang-for-the buck in PC graphics hardware. Until now we haven't had an acceptable sub-$200 option for PC gaming this year. Thanks to AMD, now we do.TAGS:Radeon, DirectX, ATI Technologies, card, Nvidia GeForce, NVidia, motherboard, video card, games, PC
Reviewed on October 20, 2009Nvidia's Ion graphics chip gives the Asus Eee Top ET2002 better-than-average video performance for a Nettop, but that does little to spare this system from its weak overall performance and the variety of competitive, more well-rounded alternatives for low-cost video and gaming. Nettops might be competitive someday, but for now this category as a whole is a disappointment.TAGS:ASUS, graphics chip, Gateway Inc., Xbox 360, entertainment, keyboard, Microsoft Xbox, LCD, NVidia, Nvidia GeForce, games, video, mouse, PC
Reviewed on October 19, 2006If you're looking for a gaming card to run Vista and play most games, ATI's Radeon X1950 Pro will get you there, but not perfectly, and its real-world pricing is higher than we'd like. We're more interested to see ATI's next-gen cards use the newly refined CrossFire dual-card technology, debuted here, but that will have to wait.TAGS:Radeon, ATI Technologies, card, power supply, Nvidia GeForce, ATI Radeon, NVidia, pricing, PC, games
Reviewed on January 30, 2009EVGA's GeForce GTX 9800+ Superclocked edition has basically the same price-performance benefit as its Radeon HD 4850-based graphics card competition. With identical bang-for-the-buck, you'll like this card if you demand power efficiency, but you should turn to ATI's card if your PC has limited upgrade room.TAGS:Far Cry 2, Crysis, DirectX, Radeon, Nvidia GeForce, card, NVidia, resolution, games, PC
Reviewed on June 5, 2006Nvidia's GeForce 7950 GX2 should have been an Editors' Choice contender. It brings two graphics processors to a single slot, costs half as much as similarly fast setups, and lays the groundwork for do-it-yourself Quad SLI. But the gap between this chip generation and the next is too close, so we recommend you pass on the 7950 GX2.TAGS:DirectX, Nvidia GeForce, NVidia, power supply, 3D, card, generation, ATI Technologies, Microsoft Windows Vista, GPU, gamer, PC, Microsoft Corp., games
Reviewed on July 21, 2009We hate to criticize PCs that strive to balance performance and power efficiency, because the goal is noble. But despite its visual charm, Maingear's Pulse requires too many speed compromises to entice PC gamers, and too few benefits over a competing system from HP. Its base configuration may have some appeal as a digital entertainment system, but this higher-end Pulse needs the core technology to catch up to its aspirations.TAGS:Maingear, savings, Blu-ray drive, NVidia, digital media, Intel Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GeForce, motherboard, gamer, chipset, HDMI, Intel, games, PC, video
Reviewed on February 12, 2007Velocity Micro's first full-fledged home theater PC pulls very few punches in providing a complete digital media experience. It's big, it lacks a built-in audio receiver, and it invites PC gaming into the living room, which has never been the best fit. It's also the victim of a few Vista-related growing pains. On balance, though, Velocity Micro has as complete a home theater PC as we've seen.TAGS:Velocity Micro, home theater PC, CableCard, Blu-ray, NVidia, movie, Microsoft Windows Vista, PC, games, video, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on November 4, 2009AVADirect's tries to distill as much gaming power as possible into its Nano Cube, but the extra small case requires too many sacrifices next to even standard small form factor PCs. Gaming purists with a need for an extra tiny PC might appreciate the Nanon Cube, but even they should be wary of everything you need to give up for this tiny desktop.TAGS:Nvidia GeForce, Intel Core 2 Duo, motherboard, networking, games, Intel, NVidia, video card, hard drive, PC
Reviewed on January 30, 2008The 3D graphics card market changes too rapidly for us to get bullish about a card with premature driver software. The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 shows promise, even outscoring Nvidia on many PC games, but we would still wait until AMD works out the kinks before handing over your $450.TAGS:Call of Duty, ATI Radeon, Radeon, ATI Technologies, Nvidia GeForce, NVidia, AMD, DirectX, Unreal Tournament, games, card, video card, PC