Can a truly high-end system still be assembled for $2,500? We set out to find the answer and learned some important things along the way. And here's a bit of a teaser: we're going to compare the performance of...
Intel’s P55 Express remains a mainstream chipset, so by breaking through the $200 barrier, we have high expectations of superb overclocking, unsurpassed stability, and uncompromising features. Can all of...
Intel might have postponed USB 3.0 support for chipsets, but that hasn’t stopped motherboard manufacturers from offering it. We look at solutions from Asus and Gigabyte at two distinct budget levels.
Will the right gaming peripherals make you a better gamer? There are a number of high-end mouse, keyboard, and headset vendors out there who'd like you to think that the right $100 add-on will make all of the...
Welcome to Part One of Tom's Hardware's Holiday Gift Guide. This first episode is geared toward those system builders planning to pool some Christmas cash to construct a powerful (yet value-oriented) system....
Upper-range P55 motherboards cost around $100 less than similarly-equipped X58 products, but are these still good enough for enthusiasts? We take a closer look at eight different models, dissect their features,...
When AMD launched its 785G chipset, we were impressed by the mainstream value enabled from such an affordable platform. In this roundup, we're covering seven different 785G-based board covering ATX, microATX,...
Nvidia is introducing its first 40nm GPUs with DirectX 10.1 support. But the GeForce 210 and GT 220 GPUs aren't the flagships you might expect the company to announce hot on the heels of Radeon HD 5870. Rather,...
Intel’s newest desktop processor series is all about value, and the P55 platform already powers some very affordable motherboards. We put five such boards to the test, hoping to see solid baseline performance...
Our response to reader-demand for AMD systems focuses on the company’s penchant for gaming value across three budget classes. How do these fully-optimized systems compare to each other in ultimate performance...
With a limited budget and high-resolution gaming in our sights, we spice up this quarter's $1,250 build with as many graphics cards as we can fit into a mid-range chassis. By popular request, this one's an...
We kick off our third-quarter System Builder Marathon series with Paul's $650 gaming PC. Last time you asked for an all-AMD set of builds, and that's what we're giving you. As before, all three systems are...
We set off testing Intel's Lynnfield processors with low expectations, but were surprised to find the new LGA 1156-based CPUs are capable of holding their own and then some. Read on for more about Turbo Boost,...
With the launch of Core i7, we ran an insane load of gaming benchmarks to explore CrossFire and SLI performance on X58. Today's P55 launch sees another Intel platform with great graphics options, and we're back...
In our AGP Radeon HD 4650 review, the old Athlon X2 3800+ system couldn't hack today's games due to a CPU bottleneck. This time, we up the ante with a cheap replacement CPU and overclock to see if we can...
Gigabyte's new Radeon HD 4650-based R465D2-1GI arrives on the scene, hopefully bringing playable frame rates to old AGP rigs long-forgotten by their gaming owners. We pair the card up to an Athlon X2 3800+ to...
Modern southbridges support multiple RAID levels via software, but do they deliver decent performance? We used six Intel SSDs and tortured the top three by AMD, Intel and Nvidia. As if that weren't cruel...
Today’s most powerful graphics processor, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 285, still struggles with some games at the highest resolution and quality settings. Gigabyte answers the question: "Will more RAM help?" with...
With our $300+ and $200-300 Core i7 motherboard comparisons distant memories, it’s time for a sub-$200 roundup. Recent price fluctuations have pushed two contenders over the mark after we tested them, but...
Asus and Gigabyte are again previewing upcoming P55-based motherboards. A recent visit from Asus left us with the company's P55 flagship, and Gigabyte sent over the first microATX board we've seen. Both reflect...
Last week we gave you a sneak peek at Asus' P7P55D Evo for Intel's upcoming Core i5 CPU. Today's preview features a pair of boards from Gigabyte, one of which strikes out at the value audience as the other...
Eager to let you know it’s been busy, AMD is launching four new processors today: the first Athlon II, a dual-core Phenom II, and two low-power 65W Phenom IIs. We bought ourselves a new Pentium E6300 and let...
We take a look at a handful of non-reference cards with GeForce heritage: the 9600 GT, the GTS 250, and the GTX 260 from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and Zotac. Read on to find out which cards performed, overclocked,...
While most manufacturers tout the value of AMD’s latest 790GX integrated chipset, enthusiasts need the added PCI Express connectivity of 790FX for multi-card graphics configurations. We test four 790FX-based...
Tired of bog-standard reference graphics cards differentiated by nothing but a box? We pit Gigabyte's GV-N250ZL-1GI with Zalman cooling and Asus' EAH4850 MT with adjustable voltages against each other to see if...
Processor speed matters. We found that a fast solid state disk drive, such as Intel’s X25-E, can be greatly impaired by a system running with all of its CPU’s power saving features turned on. Surprised?...