Matthew Elliott,
Section Editor
April 6, 2009
Let me start with a disclaimer: I'm a console gamer. Always have been, since my friend down the street in Minneapolis got an Atari 2600 in 1979, and I trumped him a year later with Mattel's Intellivision. (Along with George Plimpton, we found Intellivision's Major League Baseball to be clearly superior to Atari's Home Run baseball. (Intellivision baseball, hockey, skiing were pretty much all I cared about in 1980.) Intellivision baseball, hockey, and skiing were pretty much all I cared about in 1980.) Like Larry King with wives, there's long list of consoles that I traded in for newer models over the years: Intellivision to Intellivision 2, to NES, to Sega Genesis, to PlayStation, to Xbox, to Xbox 360. As I moved from console to console, I never did find the need to plunk down for a gaming PC, and thankfully any old PC can run an Intellivision emulator.
If I were a PC gamer (and I happened across a pile of money), however, here are the systems I'd be considering. Since May, we've reviewed one gaming PC each month that has really impressed us. These five systems are all overclocked, and all but the AVADirect system feature a quad-core processor, so you know your investment--prices of our review units range from $3,600 to nearly $6,600--is well equipped to stand the test of time. Three of the five earned an Editors' Choice, and the most recent of the bunch, the HP Blackbird 002, is the highest-rated desktop we've ever seen at CNET--at least since Rich Brown and I have been here.
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| Review date | September 05, 2007 | August 10, 2007 | July 25, 2007 | June 29, 2007 | May 14, 2007 |
| The Bottom Line | HP's Blackbird 002 earns the highest rating this editor has ever given a desktop PC. Its design rivals the Apple Mac Pro, it takes risks that benefit your upgrade path, it's fast, and it's competitively priced. If you can afford it, and you want a high-end gaming PC, buy this one. End of story. | AVADirect's newest Core 2 Duo SLI desktop would be a great buy for a gamer looking to dominate on a current-generation title. We wish it had a quad-core chip, and we'd also rather that tweaking this configuration didn't involve choosing from such a vast array of parts. AVADirect seems to build quality PCs, including this one, but you should definitely go to its Web site knowing what you're looking for. | This newest Falcon Northwest Mach V isn't shy about its price tag, but it also dominated our gaming tests thanks to two fast ATI 3D cards and an overall top-notch configuration. The current uncertainty regarding next-gen PC gaming is the only issue holding this system back. | Maingear's F131 SLI takes it to the high-end PC competition, earning itself an Editors' Choice in the process. Without having the full picture of DirectX 10 performance, you're potentially taking a risk buying a high-end gaming PC now. But if you need to make that purchase today, we recommend Maingear with enthusiasm. | This high-end gaming PC doesn't quite cross into ludicrous territory, and by staying disciplined Velocity Micro has come up with one of the best deals we've seen. You still might wait for a clearer picture of the next-generation gaming scene, but based on what we know today, this PC is a winner. |
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| Features | |||||
| Graphics Controller | PCI Express x16 - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra | NVidia GeForce 8800GTX - 1.5 GB | ATI Mobility RADEON HD 2900XT - 2 GB | PCI Express x16 - NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT - 256 MB | ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT - 512 MB |
| Hard Drive (2nd) | 1 x 500 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-150 | 1 x 500 GB - Standard | 750 GB | - None | 1 x 150 GB - Standard |
| Optical Storage | DVD?RW (?R DL) / DVD-RAM with LightScribe Technology | DVD?R (+R DL) | DVD?R (+R DL) | DVD?RW (+R DL) with LightScribe Technology | DVD?RW (?R DL) |
| RAM | 2 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 800 MHz - PC2-6400 | 2 GB DDR II SDRAM | 2 GB DDR II SDRAM | 2 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM | 2 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM |
| OS Provided | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium | Microsoft Windows Vista Vista Home Premium |
| Processor | 1 x Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 / 3 GHz ( Quad-Core ) | 1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 ( Dual-Core ) | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 / 3.63 GHz | 1 x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / 2.4 GHz ( Quad-Core ) | 1 x Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core 3 GHz |
| Hard Drive | 1 x 160 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-150 | 1 x 150 GB - Standard | 150 GB - Standard | 1 x 250 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 | 1 x 400 GB - Standard |
| Product Description | HP Blackbird 002 Dedicated Edition - Core 2 Extreme QX6850 3 GHz | Core 2 Duo E6700 | Core 2 Extreme QX6800 3.63 GHz | Maingear F131 SLI - Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz | Core 2 Extreme Quad Core 3 GHz |
| Audio Output | Sound card | Sound card | Sound card | Sound card - 7.1 channel surround | Sound card - 7.1 channel surround |
| Monitor | None. | None. | None. | None. | None. |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
| Buying choices |
This product is available directly from the manufacturer's Web site. |
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