Our list of 10 most popular desktops follows the same rules as the lists from the other product categories. Because it's based on click volume, the desktops listed skew toward those that have been around longer, as well as those that received the most promotion (such as spending time on our list of Editor's Top Desktops).
You'll find a few reviews on the list from 2008, some of which are still lingering in stock at various online retailers. We advise you not to buy those old systems, as they've all been updated since we posted their reviews.
Our slideshow below breaks the most popular desktops down in order from most to least popular. We've provided a few other numbers after the jump.
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Update: Individual chip reviews are up around the Web, and the consensus seems to be universal admiration for the new Core i7's, and Core i5 especially, in terms of performance, value, and power efficiency. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for links to coverage from some of our favorite enthusiast sites.
Intel put itself far ahead of AMD technically last year with its Core i7 desktop CPUs, but the high-end prices for the Core i7 900 series made Intel's most advanced chip architecture more of a luxury than an industry standard. Monday's announcement of Intel's new, more affordable Core i7 800 series chips, as well as an even cheaper Core i5 CPU, will likely lead to Intel's most advanced chip penetrating the mainstream retail market.
Intel has three new chips to announce, as well as the new Intel P55 Express motherboard chipset to support them. The new Core i7's include the $562 2.93GHz Core i7 870, the $284 Core i7 860 at 2.8GHz, as well as the $196 2.6GHz Core i5 750 chip. Each is essentially a stripped-down version of its counterpart from the Core i7 900 series, the most affordable of which, the 2.66GHz Core i7 920, starts at about $280.
The technical sacrifices in the new chips are relatively minor. The new Core i7's have a double-channel memory interface, as opposed to triple-channel RAM in the Core i7 900's. That means new Core i7-based PC owners won't have quite as much RAM throughput, but they also save money by only having to buy two sticks of DDR3 at a time, as opposed to three with Core i7 900.
(Credit:
Intel)
The sole Core i5 chip has the same two-channel memory limit, and Intel has also stripped out the Hyperthreading capability. Hyperthreading is an Intel technique that effectively doubles the number of processing threads (adding four virtual threads to the four physical CPU cores) depending on the workload. Heavy multitaskers and those who use multithreaded software will feel the loss here, although Intel's current mainstream Core 2 Quad family, which the Core i5 may replace, has no Hyperthreading either.
To build a desktop PC around either new chip, you'll also need a new motherboard using Intel's P55 Express chipset. We've already mentioned the change to the memory interface. The next most significant change has to do with the graphics bandwidth.
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Even if we don't love Shuttle's XPC H7 5800 gaming system, we have to give Shuttle credit for offering a smaller small form factor desktop than its boutique competition.
Shuttle's XPC H7 5800 small form factor gaming PC.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)We found in our review that a Core i7 CPU and a dual-chip GeForce 285 GTX card make this Shuttle system a respectable gamer, but this configuration will cost you $250 more than the same specifications in a Falcon Northwest FragBox 2, and $600 more than an X-Cube from Maingear. Shuttle also has no 64-bit Vista option, which means if you opt for the 6GB of RAM, as we found in our review unit, you effectively waste 2GB of it thanks to 32-bit Vista's 4GB RAM limit.
Shuttle's one advantage is that the XPC H7 5800 is two to three inches smaller than those systems in every dimension You sacrifice some upgradeability (the Shuttle can support only one double-wide 3D card, while the others can take a pair of them), but if you really want the most compact gaming desktop possible, this might be it. As much as some of you may value its smaller size, we don't find it worth an extra $600, and the 32-bit operating system makes it that much harder to stomach.
Read our full review of the Shuttle XPC H7 5800.
AVADirect's new slimtower GT3 custom gaming PC.
(Credit: AVADirect)We can't help but feel a little responsible for AVADirect's newly announced GT3 Custom Gaming PCs.
A few months back, we linked to a blog post from Ed Borden highlighting GTR Tech's seemingly ignored GT3 slim tower desktop case as a 2-year-old precursor to HP's Firebird. Following that post, we heard from an enthusiastic Misha Troshin, CMO of AVADirect, informing us of his intention to sign up with GTR Tech for the GT3.
A chief benefit of the GT3 is that it offers a slim profile, but it also lets you add a full-size graphics card. Based on AVADirect's high-end processor offerings, including Intel Core i7 Extreme chips, we don't believe it's using the GT3 to go after both a small footprint and power efficiency, making it more in keeping with the likes of Falcon Northwest's FragBox 2 and Maingear's X-Cube, as opposed to the HP Firebird and Maingear Pulse.
The starting price for the AVADirect GT3 gaming system is $948.82 for the AMD version, and $1,239.92 for the Intel-based model. Based on the art featured on AVADirect's Web page, at least, the company has also apparently addressed our chief complaint about the original GT3 case, swapping out the Miami Vice-blue lettering on the front for decidedly less-rad white.
It used to be that spending more than $5,000 or $6,000 on a high-end gaming PC returned very little in the way of actual performance. However, with Intel's pricey solid-state hard drives tearing up performance charts, suddenly dropping $8,000-plus on a performance PC will actually get you a noticeable speed benefit on a wide variety of applications.
It's mostly for that reason that we let Falcon Northwest submit an $8,000 Mach V last November, and it's why we agreed to let Maingear send us its three-way SLI-equipped Ephex gaming desktop, which we posted this morning. We weren't convinced that the expense of three graphics cards plus the expensive 1,200-watt power supply to run them was worth it, but excluding both technologies felt like too much of a restriction on the modern no-limit desktop now that solid-states drives have come into their own.
Maingear's high-flying Ephex, complete with smoky custom paint.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)We know fewer people may be shopping for top-end gaming PCs at the moment, but even if this review provides practical buying advice for a very limited audience, we still think it's worth examining the upper echelons of the PC market, as a glimpse ahead to the kinds of hardware that will be more common, and more affordable in a few years. We also intend to spend a lot of time this year on more down-to-earth PCs, hopefully starting with HP's forthcoming Firebird, unveiled at this year's CES. Stay tuned.
Read our review of the Maingear Ephex.
As you may have read, we are impressed by Intel's Core i7 965 Extreme Edition desktop processor. It's fast not only because of the chip itself, but also because of the changes Intel made to the way it interacts with your system memory. Such chip-specific information is great for the DIY crowd, but what about those of you less inclined to build your own PC?
Dell's Core i7-based Studio XPS.
(Credit: CNET)We've spent the better part of November reviewing Core i7-equipped desktops, five to be exact. The highest-end model, the $8,000 Falcon Northwest Mach V, set records on every desktop benchmark in our arsenal. The surprisingly affordable Dell Studio XPS and Gateway FX6800-01e also impressed us, not only with their relative speed, but by allowing up to six system memory sticks, in the case of the Dell, or by allowing you to add two 3D cards in an sub-$1,500 desktop with the Gateway. Both of those upgrade options speak well of the flexibility afforded by Intel's new Core i7-supporting X58 chipset. We also loved the Gateway's tricked-out chassis.
Gateway's FX6800-01e has a slick removable hard drive array.
(Credit: CNET)In between, we saw a Core i7-based Alienware Area-51 X58 with 2TB of traditional hard drive storage, as well as a pair of Samsung solid-state hard drives. That's a truly impressive amount of hardware, even for its $6,500 price tag. We just wish there was an overclocking option with that system. And finally, Velocity Micro's upper-midrange Edge Z55 impressed us as PCs from that company often do, with its workman-like design and superior performance for the dollar.
... Read moreWe reviewed Intel's new Core i7 CPU already, as well as two desktops with the chip inside, but today is the first day you can actually make a Core i7 purchase. Dell has the best starting bid, with a deal on its Studio XPS with a Core i7 920 chip and a 20-inch LCD for $999. Gateway's FX 6800-01e is also impressive, coming in at $1,249 for a Core i7 920 in a PC that can accommodate two 3D cards. Look for the Gateway review this evening, with a review of a more expensive version of the Dell up shortly after.
Dell's Studio XPS has an Intel Core i7 CPU inside
(Credit: CNET)On the higher-end of the spectrum, both the $8,028 Falcon Northwest and the $2,499 Velocity Micro PC's we reviewed are also available for order. Maingear has a Core i7-based Ephex on offer as well, starting at about $3,850. We're disappointed, however, to see that neither Voodoo's swanky Omen desktop, nor HP's Blackbird 002 have made the switch yet.
You can't buy this PC for another few weeks, but following our review of Intel's new Core i7 CPU, we also got to inspect a fully loaded gaming desktop from Falcon Northwest. The latest edition of Falcon's Mach V includes an overclocked Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition processor, and along with its other powerful hardware (Intel solid-state hard drive, 12GB of RAM, a pair of Radeon HD 7800 X2s) it set records on our benchmarks. It also costs more than $8,000. At least it doesn't take gas.
Falcon Northwest's Mach V gaming PC, complete with custom paint.
(Credit: CNET)We'd hoped to debut a new Far Cry 2 test with this review, but apparently it didn't like the combination of Core i7, Intel's X58 motherboard, and ATI's graphics cards in this PC.
With the Far Cry 2 benchmark tool we saw more than 100 frames per second on one run, and then less than 30 the next. Actually playing the game is fine (with Far Cry 2's recent patch), but we need ATI to shore up its graphics software drivers before we can make the switch. The game itself plays fine, and even with that issue, we'd still opt for those Radeon cards in this system. We're perhaps most impressed that the Mach V is the first PC to hit 60 fps on our high-resolution Crysis test.
We'll have reviews of a few more down-to-earth Core i7 desktops from Velocity Micro and Gateway posting shortly, as well as another high-end contender from Alienware. Check back for the latest.
Read the full review of the Falcon Northwest Core i7-based Mach V.
Intel takes the wraps off a brand new desktop CPU family today. Core i7, formerly named Nehalem, will hit stores and desktop vendors' config pages before the end of the month, but reviews with benchmark and pricing information had the greenlight this morning.
Intel's new Core i7 CPU blasts through benchmarks across the Web today.
(Credit: Intel)We ran our own tests and found the flagship $999 Core i7-965 Extreme chip is the new fastest game in town. The usual round of enthusiast sites also found lots to like about both this chip and the other members of the new Core i7 family. A required new motherboard will add $300 to the price of adopting any of these new CPUs for the moment, making Core i7 a decidedly enthusiast platform for the time being, but we expect gamers, digital media editors, heavy multitaskers, and others who demand fast multicore performance will be very interested in this new platform.
In addition to the wealth of reviews emerging today, our coverage will expand throughout the next two weeks with reviews of Core i7 desktops from Falcon Northwest, Gateway, Velocity Micro and Alienware. If you're not a system builder yourself but you still want in on the fast PC action, stay tuned.
Read the full review of Intel's Core i7-965 Extreme Edition CPU.
Enthusiast coverage:
On the one hand, we'll cut Shuttle a little slack with the XPC P2 4800X. By shoehorning an Intel X48 chipset into a small form factor case, not only do you get support for Intel's most recent Core 2 Extreme quad core chips, but the computer also features two eSATA ports. If you're a designer and you want a fast little system that will accommodate speedy external storage, you might find something to like here. The case itself is also unique because it comes with a built-in fingerprint reader behind a front panel door.
Shuttle's XPC P2 4800X: sorry, we just can't recommend this one.
(Credit: CNET)But on the other, more important hand (the one with the rating on it), Shuttle positioned this system against the Falcon Northwest FragBox 2. That system lacks the X48 chipset, and thus cannot use Core 2 Extreme CPUs. It can, however, support two graphics cards via AMD's CrossFireX. That's important for gamers, and moreso than an Core 2 Extreme CPU for those who want to play at high resolutions.
Technically, the X48 chipset can support more than one 3D card, as well. Only, not in this Shuttle. By opting for a smaller chassis than the FragBox 2, this Shuttle system has only a puny 450-watt power supply. That means it can't supply enough power for more one 3D card. Shuttle also doesn't offer the Radeon HD 4870 X2 as a two-chip, single-card upgrade option (unlike Falcon Northwest, which will sell you two of them).
Sorry, Shuttle. We liked that little Linux system from a few months back. We're also working on our review of that newer one. We just can't recommend this gaming system.
