Reviews

A 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor powers the Pavilion Slimline S5160f. That's the slowest CPU in use on any recent value PC priced similarly to the S5160F ($880 as of November 15, 2009). An above-average amount of storage (750GB) and memory (6GB of DDR3-1333 RAM) are nice touches, but they can't prevent the S5160f from ambling to a pedestrian mark of 95 on our WorldBench 6 test suite. In addition, we had to dial back the S5160f's resolution to 1024 by 768 pixels to help it achieve barely playable frame rates of 39 frames per second and 32 fps, respectively, in our Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and Unreal Tournament 3 tests (at high quality settings in each case).

As its name implies, this Slimline desktop emphasizes compactness. The glossy black case matches the look of other HP PCs--like the recent Pavilion P6130f and Pavilion Elite E9120f--but the system's single optical drive (occupied by a Blu-ray drive) is oriented vertically, and the other optical bays included in most Pavilion designs are absent. The system's single, filled hard drive bay hides behind a side-facing fan toward the front of the case, suggesting that future upgrades won't be easy.

The HP Pavilion Elite E9120f is built around a 2.6GHz Phenom II X4-910 processor--one of AMD's newer chips. Unfortunately, the Phenom II X4 CPU doesn't enable the E9120F to rise above its Intel-based value PC rivals--even after you factor in the system's 8GB of DDR3-1333 RAM and 1TB hard drive.

Its "elite" designation notwithstanding, this $830 (as of November 15, 2009) system can barely run modern games at playable speeds. We had to dial down our Enemy Territory: Quake Wars tests to 1024 by 768 resolution to achieve a frame rate of 43 frames per second at high quality. Likewise, on our Unreal Tournament 3 tests, the Pavilion Elite E9120f sputtered through frame rates of 39 fps and 27 fps, respectively at resolutions of 1024 by 768 and 1680 by 1050 resolutions (and high quality). The $800 Gateway LX6810-01 value desktop fared much better at these lower resolutions.

HP's Pavilion P6130f desktop ($600, as of November 15, 2009) goes toe-to-toe against the Gateway DX4200-11 value PC, but loses out to the Gateway's better design and stronger overall configuration. Elsewhere in the value PC category, similarly priced PCs--including one of HP's own Pavilions--outperform the P6130F as well.

HP slips one of AMD's older chips, the 2.4GHz Phenom X4 9750, inside the slick, black shell of this midsize tower system. That CPU is slightly more powerful than the Gateway DX4200-11's 2.2GHz Phenom X4 9550 processor, but it falls short of the 2.6GHz Dual-Core E5300 found in the HP Pavilion A6710T desktop--a system that outperforms the P6130f for roughly 80 percent of its price. Rounding out the P6130F's core components are 8GB of DDR2-800 memory and a single 750GB hard drive.

This is the first desktop we've reviewed from New Jersey-based Electronics and Computing--and judging by what we've seen from this machine, the boutique PC maker sure knows how to build a power PC. The Black Mamba is designed for gaming first and foremost, but that's not to say that you're paying extra for features you might not use. The desktop's superspeedy general performance places it among the top power PCs we've tested, and its $1980 price tag (as of 11/15/09) makes it one of the least expensive models on that list.

You don't have to do much digging to find this system's secret. Staying true to gaming PC design concepts, the Black Mamba has a standard 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 920 processor jacked up to 3.6GHz--quite a dramatic overclock, as evidenced by the sheer size of the Noctua CPU cooler attached to the motherboard. The 6GB of DDR3-1600 memory is average in size but unique in speed for the category. As for storage capacity, the Black Mamba has a total of 2.28TB (three drives in a RAID 0 array), the second-highest total capacity of any system on our power-PC chart.

The Polywell Poly P5500C power desktop PC has a 2.93GHz Intel Core i7 870 processor. That isn't the fastest CPU on the charts, but it's swift enough to help the system come within 7 percent of the category's speed leader, the Xi MTower PCIe 965. Supporting this Windows 7 Ultimate-based system is 4GB of DDR3-1333 RAM; two additional DIMM slots remain empty, for future upgrading. This compact machine's most impressive feature, though, is the storage space: Three hard drives in a RAID 0 array give you a total capacity of 3.5TB. It's funny that the smallest system on our current power PC chart delivers the most capacity of any PC we've reviewed, period.

Gateway's LX6820-01 is a sensible "next step up" in the company's LX series of desktop PCs. Compared with the company's $800 LX6810-01 value PC, the LX6820-01 gives you a little more power in the processor, significantly more hard-drive space, and increased frame rates for your games, all for a bit more cash (the price is $980 as of 11/15/09). The downside? Pitted against some of the bigger systems in the value PC arena, the LX6820-01 falls short in features and performance.

Interestingly, though Gateway stuck 8GB of memory in its LX6820-01 configuration, it didn't push forward into the triple-channel architecture of Intel's Core i7 platform--a move that surely would have given the system a boost in general performance and increased its ability to compete with other similar desktops. The LX6820-01's 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q9400 processor is a smaller advance from the LX6810-01's 2.33GHz Core 2 Quad Q8200 CPU. Fortunately, in storage capacity the LX6820-01 is a definite improvement over its predecessor: Its 1TB hard drive gives you 360GB of additional space to work with.

This beautiful desktop-on-a-diet is burdened with a $1376 cost (as of November 15, 2009)--a cost that seems a little high given what it ultimately delivers.

The GT3 is based on Intel's 2.66GHz Core i7 920 processor. It's a fine CPU in its own right, as it ultimately allows the system to reach one of the stronger plateaus of performance in the value PC category. However, competing systems like CyberPower's Gamer Xtreme 2000 offer a higher-performing (and, at $1100, less expensive) Core i5-based setup. The GT3's 6GB of DDR3 memory is certainly an above-average amount for this category, but its single 500GB hard drive trails the terabyte storage found on other, similarly priced value desktops.

Everyone loves a big screen, and that's exactly what ViewSonic's VPC100 all-in-one desktop PC delivers (the screen is 18.5 inches). Unfortunately, to get to that point and hold the price down ($550 as of 11/16/09), ViewSonic has taken a few shortcuts with the system's core functionality. It's a tough market for inexpensive all-in-one desktops. Limitations on applicable system components tend to average out these systems' general performance. That's what makes even the smallest of features critical to a system's success--or in the VPC100's case, its mediocrity.

The specs of most all-in-ones with screens of 19 inches or less tend to start with a variant of Intel's Atom processor. The specific CPU model can vary--the VPC100 uses Intel's single-core Atom N270, whereas others opt for the single-core N230 or the dual-core N330. The performance of these 1.6GHz chips is almost identical in our benchmarks, but the similarities don't stop there. The VPC100, like most of these all-in-one "nettops," also comes with a single gigabyte of DDR2-533 RAM and 160GB of total storage space.

One doesn't always associate the word "value" with "gaming." But CyberPower has delivered a phenomenal, high-performance desktop catering to smaller budgets. At $1100 (as of November 15, 2009), the Gamer Xtreme 2000-i5 sits on the high end of the value spectrum. But no competing PC is able to offer as balanced a mix of high-performance computing as this one. If you want stronger gaming performance out of a value PC, you'll have to sacrifice some general performance--and pay more.

The holiday season is here, as are the accompanying parties and celebratory events. If you're all gussied up, you might as well bring a camera like Sony's fashion-conscious, 10.2-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC TX1 ($380 as of 11/23/2009), a touchscreen camera that lets you party instead of fussing with camera settings.

Measuring 3.75 by 2.38 by 0.66 inches and weighing five ounces, the DSC-TX1 is small enough to fit into a coat pocket, and it won't take up a lot of room in a purse. The metal body has a front panel that slides down to reveal the camera's 4X Carl Zeiss optical-zoom lens, which has a range of 35mm to 140mm. A power button is on the top, so you can turn on the camera to peruse your pics and still have the lens protected while the camera is in your hands.