Reviewed on January 27, 2009Maingear's Ephex is the fastest PC we've reviewed, and also the most expensive. You can find better service policies from other boutique PC vendors, but the Ephex's overall speed and build quality are enough for us to recommend it to those in the market for the best desktop they can find.TAGS:Maingear, Intel Core Microarchitecture, LightScribe, Blu-ray, 64-bit, Intel, PC, video card, games, hard drive
Reviewed on October 8, 2008Intel's X-25M solid-state hard drive enjoys several advantages over both spinning disk drives as well as other SSDs, including improvements to data throughput, boot time, and laptop battery life. Its one drawback is that it's pricier than even its other solid-state competition, but if you can forget about its cost, this is by far the fastest data drive available.TAGS:Seagate Momentus, Intel, Seagate Technology, pricing, hard drive, laptop computer
Reviewed on September 7, 2009Falcon Northwest's revamped, mainstream-oriented Talon gaming desktop puts its best redesigned foot forward with a new case and a strong, price-competitive configuration built around Intel's latest batch of Core i7 CPUs. Shop around, as many vendors will have adopted Intel's new chips, but for this build at this price, Falcon Northwest sets the example to beat.TAGS:Intel Core Microarchitecture, chassis, fan, Intel, hard drive, motherboard, PC
Reviewed on November 19, 2008You can find flashier PCs than Dell's $1,299 Studio XPS, but few have as much power where it counts. We don't recommend its small, pared-down case for upgraders, but this PC will satisfy anyone who needs a loaded, powerful PC for gaming and consumer-level digital media editing.TAGS:Dell Studio, Intel Core Microarchitecture, Gateway Inc., configuration, Dell, 64-bit, hard drive, Intel, PC
Reviewed on November 24, 2008Even if we have a few reservations about this system, we can't deny that Alienware has an outstanding deal on its hands, with the Area 51 X58. It offers the same core hardware and twice the storage capacity as PCs that cost $1,500 more. High-end bargain hunters, assuming they exist, will find an amazing deal in this PC.TAGS:Alienware, ATI Radeon, Blu-ray, ATI Technologies, Intel, Samsung Electronics, hard drive, games, PC, operating system, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on November 11, 2008Velocity Micro's Edge Z55 provides a powerful example of the leap ahead in performance afforded by Intel's new Core i7 CPUs. Velocity Micro's own overclocking efforts don't hurt either. Any PC gamer would love to make this upper midrange desktop their own.TAGS:Velocity Micro, Intel Core Microarchitecture, Acer Inc., 64-bit, Radeon, Intel, games, CPU, PC, hard drive
Reviewed on July 15, 2009The Dell Inspiron 545s cuts a more robust profile than other budget Inspirons by offering better upgrade options and some decent performance for its price. It has a hard time challenging Gateway's strong budget slim tower, but this Dell might sway you, depending on your needs.TAGS:Dell Inspiron, Gateway Inc., Dell, Intel Core 2 Duo, 64-bit, dual-core, Intel, Ethernet, video, hard drive