Don Woligroski

This quarter, we're dropping the budgets on all of our systems, the enthusiast-class build, specifically, by $500, giving us $1,000 to fight the $1,500 system's performance. Read on to see what value we managed to squeeze out of this shrunken-cost box.

AMD's Athlon II X3 440 is such a capable little chip, and and it costs so little. Is there any real point in spending more money on your gaming machine’s CPU? We explore this question with a head-to-head challenge against Intel's venerable Core i7-920.

The last time we matched up Intel's Pentium G6950 against AMD's Phenom II X2 555, our overzealous overclocking efforts caused a processor meltdown. With a little more experience on Intel's 32 nm process (and caution), we offer a suitable rematch. Game on!

Tom's Hardware has an exclusive first-look at Blu-ray 3D technology running on a notebook and HTPC leveraging Nvidia's 3D Vision technology, CyberLink's PowerDVD 10 Ultra Mark II software, and an Acer display. Might this setup be in your future, too?

AMD turns the bait-and-switch tactic upside down for the second time in four months, offering faster CPUs at existing price points. We explore the company's seven new models and discuss the processor lineup in a more general manner.

We put Blizzard Entertainment's long-awaited StarCraft sequel to the test in order to see how much CPU and graphics power it needs to run smoothly. Even though the game is in beta at this point, performance is fluid. However, there are a few surprises.

Aliens vs. Predator is the latest DirectX 11-enabled first-person shooter/stalker. But whereas DirectX 11 cost us performance in DiRT2, this title is said to run faster in DX11 mode. We evaluate performance and image quality to answer: what gives?

If you've seen Avatar in 3D at the theater, then you know how impressive the technology can be. Would you believe us if we told you that you can bring the 3D movie experience home with your own polarized dual-projection system? Tom's shows you how!

In this System Builder Marathon, we get to make a great $1,500 Core i7-920 enthusiast PC and then pit it against the Core i5-750 system from our previous series. Is the extra money for the Core i7-920 worthwhile, or can the Core i5-750 go the distance?

Just as we thought ATI was done launching DirectX 11-class graphics cards (for at least a little while), we received a note that a 5830 was in-route with a seven-day lead time. We quickly broke out the test equipment for a round with ATI's latest.

Cryptic Studios recently released its new Star Trek Online MMO after the movie reinvigorated this history-steeped franchise. Today we're checking out the game play and analyzing its performance on a number of graphics cards to show you what to expect.

AMD rounds out its DirectX 11-capable lineup with an entry-level gaming card sporting all of the Radeon HD 5000-series' value-adds. Does the Radeon HD 5570 represent the perfect combination of low-price, gaming performance, and features?

Spoiler alert: ATI's Radeon HD 5450 is the first DirectX 11 card we've seen with outright poor gaming performance. But with its low price tag, does this Radeon deliver solid value to the masses, or should you be setting your sights a little bit higher?

The SpursEngine-based WinFast PxVC1100, which centers on the same architecture as the PS3's Cell processor, shows off its ability to accelerate video encoding. But does its performance justify the price? Or is your money better invested in a faster CPU?

AMD is launching a broad spectrum of new CPUs today. And while most are simple speed bumps, today we're pitting its fastest dual-core model, the Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition, against Intel's LGA 1156-based Pentium G6950 to see who rules for under $100.

We were impressed with ATI's Radeon HD 5800- and 5700-series launches. But it's a new day, and the 400-shader Radeon HD 5670 doesn't get a free pass because of its predecessors. Today we test the card's ability to hang with an old guard of solid buys.

DiRT 2 promises to be one of the first compelling games to make use of DirectX 11 enhancements. We have a look at the title, its presentation, and its performance in this month's game analysis, comparing graphics cards from both ATI and Nvidia.

Last quarter, we presented you with four Radeon HD 4850s under $1,250. This time around, we put together a very respectable Core i5 system with a couple of Radeon HD 5850s in CrossFire. Let's see how it compares against the previous "QuadFire" system.

ATI's new Radeon HD 5870 is a powerful card at stock speeds. However, its 40nm manufacturing process just begs to be overclocked. PowerColor's liquid-cooled model gives us a great opportunity to see just how far we can push the Cypress graphics processor.

While the GeForce G 210 and GT 220 lacked inspiring performance, this newest model boasts enough of a punch to make us sit up and take notice. We have a detailed look at the first Nvidia graphics card to be paired with GDDR5 memory, its GeForce GT 240.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is purported to be the definitive Batman game. We're testing it on a range of mainstream graphics cards, a number of CPU settings, and with PhysX on and off. You'll walk away from this one knowing whether an upgrade is in order.

Today AMD is introducing a revision of its flagship Phenom II X4 965 processor rated at 125W, replacing the 140W part, as well as a new 3.1 version of its Overdrive overclocking software. We take a quick look at both to see what advantages they offer.

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, DDR2 memory, DDR3, and two different sockets.

Today AMD introduces what might turn out to be the ideal budget CPU, with three cores for multi-threading, a relatively high 2.9 GHz clock speed, and an impressive sub-$90 price tag. How does it stand up to the rest of the company's Athlon and Phenom IIs?

One hundred dollars seems like nothing for a new CPU, especially with so many new GPUs calling to us. We put the Athlon II X4 620, Phenom II X3 710, Phenom II X2 550, and dual-core Pentium E6500 to the test to find the best performer in today's games.