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Product name	Digital Storm 950Si (Intel Core i7)	AVADirect Custom Gaming PC	Falcon Northwest Talon (Intel Core i7)	Velocity Micro Edge Z30 (Intel Core i7)	Maingear Shift
Price	Check Prices	Check Prices	Check Prices	$1,099.00	Check Prices
CNET editors' rating	3.5 stars Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.4 (4.0 stars)	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.3 (4.0 stars)	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.9 (4.0 stars)	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.2 (4.0 stars)
Average user rating				3.0 stars
Release date	February 01, 2009	April 20, 2009			November 02, 2009
The Bottom Line	Digital Storm's 950Si has all the makings of a quality performance gaming system, but its value proposition comes up just a bit short. The stable-yet-aggressively overclocked CPU tells us that Digital Storm knows what it's doing, and with a more competitive price it would earn a more enthusiastic recommendation.	The AVADirect shopping experience can be daunting, but for the tech-savvy buyer willing to navigate the many options available for this system, you'll find that AVADirect's Custom Gaming PC is competently built, with options for blazing fast overclocking, all at an attractive price.	Falcon 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.	Velocity Micro's Edge Z30 is the best deal going right now for midlevel gaming PCs featuring Intel's new Core i7 chips. The overclocked Core i7 860, a fast Nvidia graphics card, and a solid selection of features all around make it easy for us to recommend this system to anyone looking for a capable gaming desktop.	Maingear's Shift is the boutique vendor's new flagship gaming PC. It brings almost everything we expect to find in such a system, from expert craftsmanship to fast overclocking to a case that makes a statement. We found a few minor sticking points, but, on the whole, this PC sits comfortably alongside the top tier of luxury gaming boxes, and we recommend it if you have the means.
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Graphics Controller	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295	Info unavailable	Dual nVidia GeForce GTX 275	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260	2x ATI Radeon HD 5870
Video Memory	1.7 GB	Info unavailable	896 MB	Info unavailable	2 GB
OS Provided	Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition	Info unavailable	Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition	Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition	Info unavailable
Hard Drive (2nd)	1 x 300 GB - Standard	Info unavailable	1 x 80 GB - Solid state drive	Info unavailable	1 x 80 GB - Solid state drive
Product Description	Core i7 920 3.79 GHz	2.66 GHz	Core i7 860 3.3 Hz	Core i7 860 2.8 GHz	Core i7 960 3.86 GHz
Optical Storage	DVD±RW (+R double layer)	Info unavailable	BD-ROM	DVD±R (±R DL)	BD-RE / DVD+/-RW
RAM	6 GB DDR3 SDRAM - 1600 MHz	6 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 1333 MHz - PC3-10600	8 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM - 1330 MHz	8 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM	6 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM - 1600 MHz
Hard Drive	1 x 1 TB - Standard - S-ATA	1500 GB - S-ATA	1 x 1500 GB - Standard	1 x 1 TB - Standard - Serial ATA NCQ	1 x 1500 GB - Standard - S-ATA
Manufacturer Warranty	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	1 year warranty	2 year parts and labor warranty
Processor	1 x Intel Core i7 920 / 3.79 GHz	1 x Intel 2.66 GHz	1 x Intel Core i7 860 / 3.3 Hz ( Quad-Core )	1 x Intel Core i7 860 / 2.8 GHz	1 x Intel Core i7 960 / 3.86 GHz ( Quad-Core )
Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications
Buying choices	As shown: $3,636 Check manufacturer's site for availability	As shown: $2,900 Check manufacturer's site for availability	As shown: $2,495 This product is available directly from the manufacturer's Web site	Buy direct from Velocity Micro $1,099.00 In stock: Yes Price from 1 CNET Certified store	As shown: $4,724 Check manufacturer's site for availability
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