Velocity Micro ProMagix HD180 Max

• Pros

  GPU acceleration. High end multimedia performance. Lots of expansion room.

• Cons

  Huge Chassis. Only one year warranty standard. Expensive. Could use more USB 3.0 ports and/or Thunderbolt ports.

• Bottom Line

  The Velocity Micro ProMagix HD180 Max combines a six-core consumer-grade Core i7 processor with Nvidia Tesla and Quadro GPUs to make a video editing workstation that outperform systems with two Xeon processors. Specialized? Yes, but still a powerhouse for the video niche.

Design and Features
The ProMagix HD180 Max is built into one of Velocity Micro's larger chassis. As such, it has the room inside for the Intel Core i7-3930k processor (and huge air cooled heat sink), 32GB of DDR3 memory (and room for more), two 120GB SSDs, 2TB hard drive, Nvidia Quadro 4000 graphics card, Nvidia Tesla C2075 GPU coprocessor card, Blu-ray burner, and the 1,200W power supply. The case door is windowed, so you can see into the system and show off the extra Nvidia Tesla coprocessor card. Aside from the window, the rest of the system looks every bit the professional workstation.

The visible Quadro graphics card and Tesla GPU coprocessor cards are your visual cues that the system means business. Inside the chassis, there's a bunch of room left over for up to two more Tesla cards, as well as another graphics card (at least physically). The system can accommodate two more hard drives and two more optical drives, and thankfully there are four free SATA ports on the motherboard. Outside, the system can be connected to quite a few peripherals with the eight USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and a FireWire 400 port. You can add a PCIe card for more USB 3.0 ports, but it would've been nice to have more than two. Thunderbolt is notably missing, but the motherboards with built-in Thunderbolt ports are somewhat scarce, as are add-on cards. This particular configuration is appealing for the same type of users that will welcome the added speedy external storage found in a Thunderbolt drive, i.e. video editors and mastering folk.

The desktop came free of any bloatware, as is usual for Velocity Micro's custom built PCs. You really don't want to have to deal with uninstalling extraneous software when all you want to do is work on editing and transcoding your Citizen Kane. The system we reviewed came with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, the Nvidia drivers for the GPUs, and that's about it. The system comes with a 1-year standard warranty, which is a bit short for such an expensive system. You can purchase an extended warranty at added cost, but workstations from the competition like the single-processor workstation Editors' Choice Dell Precision T1600 ($2,185 direct, 4.5 stars) come with a three-year warranty standard.

Performance
Velocity Micro ProMagix HD180 Max The reason you buy a workstation is for performance and reliability. The reliability is covered by the 1,200W power supply and the professional-grade Nvidia cards. The Nvidia cards also provide a performance boost, particularly on tasks that take advantage of GPU optimization like the Mercury Playback Engine (MPE) built into Adobe Premiere CS5.5 and CS6. MPE uses the system's RAM, the GPUs in the Quadro and Tesla cards, and Nvidia's CUDA programming language to speed tasks that would otherwise be time consuming. For example, using the PPBM CS5.5 benchmark test run in Premiere Pro CS6, the ProMagix took only 5 seconds to complete the standard MPE-optimized test. The high-end Velocity Micro Raptor Z90 ($4,999 direct, 3.5 stars) without a Tesla co-processor, which took a much longer 43 seconds. This task is a huge argument for adding the Tesla co-processor to an (relatively) inexpensive non-Xeon processor. The test file was only minutes in length, so imagine the difference if you were mastering a multi-hour-long documentary.

V3 Gaming PC Avenger

• Pros

  Very good performance. Easy-to-open case. Includes gaming keyboard, mouse.

• Cons

  Expensive. Not the fastest performer out there. Limited internal expandability.

• Bottom Line

  The V3 Gaming PC Avenger is far from the fastest or most exciting gaming PC out there, but it's a satisfying and powerful computer nonetheless.

Design and Features
The V3 Gaming PC Avenger may lack the ostentatious looks of many high-end gaming PCs, but it makes the most of what it does have. This starts with the Corsair Obsidian Series 650D $167.88 at TigerDirect.com case, a sharp-edged, sharp-looking model adorned with very little ornamentation: Nvidia and V3 logos on the windowed primary side panel, a giant Nvidia logo on the opposite one, and that's it. You certainly don't need much more, and the case is well enough outfitted that you likely won't care: There's plenty of interior space, and two easy-to-use door latches on either side panel give you frustration-free ways to access it.
Once you open the case, you're greeted with a bit more color by a green cold cathode ray lighting tube that spans the vertical interior (more Nvidia-focused subtlety, we'd wager). But you'll also find plenty of enticing components worthy of any serious gaming PC. Installed on the Asus P9X79 Pro $374.44 at Amazon Marketplace motherboard is an Intel Core i7-3930K $558.99 at RAM Experts CPU, our favorite Sandy Bridge–Extreme model (because of its excellent performance-affordability profile), which has been overclocked from its natural 3.2GHz to a blistering 4.8GHz. That sort of treatment demands heavy cooling, and it's been provided by a closed-loop Asetek liquid cooler. The processor is paired with 16GB of RAM, distributed among four 4GB Corsair Vengeance DIMMs in the motherboard's eight expansion slots; you can install a maximum of 64GB in the P9X79 Pro (but to do so, you'll need to swap out the chips that are present—not that 16GB will become wimpy anytime soon). Providing hefty graphics firepower are three Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 video cards, which diminish expandability somewhat by blocking one PCI Express (PCIe) x8 slot and two PCIe x1 slots.

Of the four 5.25-inch drive bays on the Avenger, one is filled with a Samsung Blu-ray burner, a second with a multiformat card reader, and two are empty. The case technically has six 3.5-inch drive bays located below the 5.25-inch drives, but all are spoken for. There's a 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive in one, two 120GB Corsair Force solid-state drives (SSDs) in a RAID Level 0 configuration in two others, and the controller for the interior lighting takes up all of the bottom three; if you want to add more drives later, something will have to go first. Providing the juice for all this is a 1,200-watt Corsair AX1200 $279.99 at RAM Experts power supply.

Ports on the rear panel include six USB 2.0, four USB 3.0, two eSATA, Ethernet, S/PDIF optical out, and jacks for eight-channel audio. Also present are a dongle that adds Bluetooth 4.0 and a BIOS flashback button (used in conjunction with a specially marked USB 2.0 port) that gives you the freedom to tweak your system settings without fear that you'll render the computer unbootable. The front-panel port selection is hidden behind a drop-down door, and comprise two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, FireWire 800, and headphone and microphone jacks. Another nice addition is a 3.5-inch drive dock in the front section of the top panel; it's covered by a door as well to protect the SATA connectors inside, though we had consistent trouble closing that door all the way.

Our V3 Gaming PC Avenger also game with a peripheral pack to help round out your gaming experience. It includes two items by Razer, a Death Adder mouse and a Lycosa keyboard, as well as a Fatal1ty Professional Gaming Headset MK II; these are all basic, few-frills offerings, but if you need to augment your setup, they're a decent way to go. (If you already have pieces you're happy with, you can get the system itself for $100 less.) The Avenger's warranty covers parts for three years and labor for life, and provides lifetime technical support as well.

Performance
V3 Gaming PC AvengerYou rarely have to worry much about performance with a serious gaming machine, and that remains true of the V3 Gaming PC Avenger. It delivered dazzling results in all our productivity tests: 2 minutes 17 seconds to apply a dozen filters and effects in Adobe Photoshop CS5, 54 seconds to convert a video in Handbrake, and scores of 13.62 on CineBench R11.5 and 6,348 on Futuremark PCMark 7 respectively. But none of these was a record setter: The latest Origin Genesis (which was overclocked to 4.9GHz) surpassed the V3 in Photoshop (2:12), CineBench (14.23), and Handbrake (51 seconds); and the Editors' Choice Maingear Shift Super Stock delivered a stronger PCMark 7 score (6,501).

Raspberry Pi

• Pros

  Amazingly inexpensive. Outstanding for educational purposes. Strong community support.

• Cons

  Potentially challenging setup. Demands knowledge of Linux. You get the performance you pay for.

• Bottom Line

  Aimed at the adventurous or the learning oriented, the Raspberry Pi provides an outstanding platform for the small-scale system or other project of your dreams.

• 

• Back in personal technology prehistory—you know, before computers were idiot-proof enough to grace any living room—it was tough to use a PC without possessing an intimate understanding of how and why it worked. The advent of prefabricated machines and graphical operating systems has helped the industry explode like those of us who witnessed its birth could never have dreamed of, but that remarkable success has come at the cost of the pioneering spirit that started it all. But all hope of regaining that foundational force it is not lost.

  The Raspberry Pi ($35, as tested), a tiny and brilliantly inexpensive proto-computer, encourages exactly the kind of exploration and tinkering that are nowadays often relegated to even the fringes of the DIY and enthusiast communities, and demands your active participation and intellectual engagement. But be forewarned: You cannot be a passive user. From the instant you pull it out of its box, you're fully committed, and if you don't know what you're doing, you're going to have to learn quickly. If you think that sounds like fun for you and your family, the Raspberry Pi is one computer-project you'll love sinking your teeth into.

• Features
  Before getting into what the Raspberry Pi can do, we need to examine what you get with it. The system comes in two different flavors: Model A (for $25) and Model B ($35). The main differences between the two are USB ports (Model A has one, Model B has two), Ethernet (Model A doesn't have it, model B does), and power usage (in no small part because of that Ethernet jack, Model B uses almost half again as much power as the Model A). But in most other respects, the hardware is the same.
  
  And what hardware it is! The Raspberry Pi is a Broadcom BCM2835 system on a chip (meaning, for these purposes, a bare circuit board), which unites a 700MHz ARM1176JZF-S CPU with a Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU, and 256MB of SDRAM. Those USB 2.0 ports are your only external data connectivity options, although there are two video outputs in the form of composite RCA and HDMI ports, a 3.5mm audio output, and an SD/MMC/SDIO card slot that is the extent of how you can access storage. The Raspberry Pi draws its power from a micro USB adapter, with minimum ratings of 500mA (2.5 watts) for the Model A and 700 mA (3.5 watts) for the Model B—but you'll need to provide it for yourself, as one does not come with the Raspberry Pi. (Chances are you'll be able to repurpose the charger for your mobile phone or tablet.) Oh yeah, and did we mention that, measuring about 0.6 by 2.1 by 3.4 inches (HWD), it's not much bigger than a credit card?
• 

n other words, the Raspberry Pi is as basic as basic can be. And that's exactly the point. It's not designed for performance—more on that in a minute—it's designed as a platform: for education, for expansion, for technological enlightenment. And at that it succeeds. But its bare nature and lack of even rudimentary features—in addition to the lack of an included power cable or even case, there's no off button; plugging or unplugging the micro USB cable turns it on or off—mean that it isn't remotely for everyone. But even the adventurous types who are likely its target audience will need to approach it cautiously and be aware of the challenges it presents, particularly at the very start.

Setup and Software
From the hardware standpoint, setting up the Raspberry Pi could not be easier. Connect your USB keyboard and mouse, your display, your Ethernet cable (if you have a Model B), headphones or speakers if you want, then plugging in the micro USB cable to power it all up. Anyone, regardless of computer experience, will be able to get this far in seconds.

Software is another matter. Because there's no storage to speak of, your only recourse is the card slot—and that means loading a bootable operating system onto the card you're planning to use. Windows, of course, is out (it's too big, and no currently available version works with ARM chips anyway), but the Raspberry Pi website suggests and provides for download three Linux distros you can use instead: Debian "squeeze" (the recommended choice), Arch Linux ARM, and QtonPi, all of which have been optimized for use with the Raspberry Pi. After you select one, you'll need to write it (not just copy it) to an SD card using an application like Win32 Disk Imager. If this whole process is less brainless than configuring your average Windows or Mac operating system, it's still something that will not trouble most average users.

That might change once you turn on the Raspberry Pi. When you log in (with a default user name and password you can easily find online), don't be shocked if your first view is of an honest-to-goodness, mouse cursor–free command line. Believe it or not, it's easiest to do most setup tasks here, but if you're not fluent in Linux you may stumped trying to do anything as simple as change the time (which should be your first course of action—there's no battery for storing that information on the Raspberry Pi itself). If you're in desperate want of a desktop, you're a few keystrokes away from it, and installing new software to complement the bare-bones offerings on your OS isn't much more difficult.

However you look at it, it's an old-school way of thinking that might trip up those who've been out of the groove for a while (or were never in it in the first place). Even if you do run into trouble, there's a robust online community (including an official forum) where you'll be able to track down answers to even your most vexing questions in relatively short order.

Asus ET2701INKI-B046C

• Pros

  Large, clear screen. HD video. Blu-ray. USB 3.0 and eSATA. Has VGA-in and HDMI-in ports. Nice Price. Speedy 3rd generation quad core processor. Good 3D graphics.

• Cons

  Subwoofer must be plugged into side panel with exposed wiring. Audio is low out of box, even at "maximum" volume. Cluttered desktop shortcuts. Confusing sound settings.

• Bottom Line

  If you can forgive the Asus ET2701INKI-B046C a few quirks in its audio setup, you'll find an all-in-one desktop that can compete with systems costing $600 more.

• Design and Features
  The ET2701INKI-B046C's $1,281.92 at Amazon Marketplace design mirrors that of the HDTV-like styling of the previous model, the Asus ET2700INKS-B062C ($1,499 list, 3.5 stars), down to the 27-inch panel and row of I/O ports on the left side. The 27-inch panel dominates the system's looks, so it's a good thing that the display is bright and clear, with vibrant colors. The display is 1,920 by 1,080 (full 1080p), which is fine for watching movies, but for Web page creation and design work, a 2,560 by 1,440 screen—as seen on the high-end all-in-one desktop Editors' Choice Apple iMac 27-inch (Thunderbolt) ($1,999 list, 4 stars) or Dell XPS One 27 ($1,999 list, 4.5 stars)—makes better sense. You get more pixel real estate to work with on the Dell One or Apple iMac, which makes a difference if you're creating rather than just enjoying entertainment.
  

Gateway DX4870-UR11P

• Pros

  Robust quad core processor power. USB 3.0. Integrated Wi-Fi. Decent expandability.

• Cons

  300W PSU limits GPU upgradeability. Heavy on the bloatware. Somewhat pricey for its class.

• Bottom Line

  While it could have benefited from a stronger GPU, the Gateway DX4870-UR11P breezes past its mainstream consumer desktop peers thanks to its mighty processor, all while nipping at the heels of beefier entry-level gaming desktops.

• While it may look fairly unremarkable, the Gateway DX4870-UR11P ($849 list) packs a solid punch beneath the surface, mostly due to its mighty 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-3770 processor. Given the fact that it nips at the heels of beefier, more expensive entry-level gaming desktops despite its not-as-impressive integrated Intel HD graphics processor, it comes as no surprise that the Gateway DX4870-UR11P $799.99 at Amazon towers above the rest of its mainstream desktop class. Although it had a good run as our Editors' Choice for mainstream consumer desktops, the Gateway DX4860-UB33P ($599.99 list, 4 stars), can't measure up to the performance of the DX4870. Despite a few shortcomings, the DX4870-UR11P earns its place at the head of the table, and is our new Editors' Choice for midrange desktop PCs.
  
  Design and Features
  The DX4870 comes in an unassuming and relatively modest metallic chassis. Like the Acer Aspire AM3970-UR11P ($699.99 list, 3 stars), it has a side-mounted release for accessing a 16X DVD+R/RW SuperMulti optical drive. Similarly, the release, an additional side-mounted button also releases a removable 3.5-inch bay that can accommodate an additional internal drive to supplement the system's 2TB SATA hard drive. A curved lip protrudes from the top of the tower, wherein you'll find two USB 2.0 ports, a reader (SD/xD/MMC/MSmulticard reader), and microphone and headphone jacks. Beyond these flourishes and a silver Gateway logo on the front of the system, there's not much else to look at.
  
  The DX4870's minimalist design doesn't scream for attention, and it's a low-key affair for the most part. As with most mainstream consumer desktops, the majority of the DX4870's ports are located in the rear. There, you'll find four additional USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI- and VGA- out, audio ports, Ethernet, and PS/2 ports (for mice and keyboards, even though the ones bundled with the system are USB 2.0). One of the system's three PCIe x1 slots is occupied by the built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi card. The other two PCIe x slots are available, as well as a free PCIe x16 slot, bringing the total number of free PCI slots to three. As far as expandability goes, the DX4870's 10GB DDR3 RAM occupies three of the four DIMM slots on the motherboard, leaving a single vacant slot for RAM upgrades.
  
  The DX4870's minimalist design doesn't scream for attention, and it's a low-key affair for the most part. As with most mainstream consumer desktops, the majority of the DX4870's ports are located in the rear. There, you'll find four additional USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI- and VGA- out, audio ports, Ethernet, and PS/2 ports (for mice and keyboards, even though the ones bundled with the system are USB 2.0). One of the system's three PCIe x1 slots is occupied by the built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi card. The other two PCIe x slots are available, as well as a free PCIe x16 slot, bringing the total number of free PCI slots to three. As far as expandability goes, the DX4870's 10GB DDR3 RAM occupies three of the four DIMM slots on the motherboard, leaving a single vacant slot for RAM upgrades.
  
  
  

Acer Aspire AM3970G-UW10P

• Pros

  Included monitor makes for a great value. Built-in Wi-Fi. USB 3.0. Some room for expansion.

• Cons

  Not so great for gaming. Lots of bloatware.

• Bottom Line

  The Acer Aspire AM3970G-UW10P is a fairly average desktop, with a good dose of positive features, including a bundled monitor and two USB 3.0 ports.

• Design and Features
  The AM3970G's metallic black chassis is scarcely distinguishable from that of the Acer Aspire AM3970-UR11P ($699.99 list, 3 stars). Design-wise, the AM3970G-UW10P $688.97 at Walmart.com straddles the line between utilitarian and flashy, sporting a side-mounted power button and optical drive housed behind a glossy plastic face on the front of the system. There's also a removable 3.5-inch bay for internal drive expansion as well as a multicard reader encased within this section.
  
  The top of the system has a flat indented surface where peripherals can be placed alongside four USB 2.0 ports and headphone and microphone inputs. The majority of ports are at the rear, where you'll find eight additional USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports. HDMI-out, audio ports, PS/2 ports (for mouse and keyboard, although the included ones utilize USB 2.0), a DVI port, and Ethernet. There are three empty PCI-E x1 slots, whereas the system's sole PCIe x16 slot is occupied by its 1GB ATI Radon HD7350 discrete GPU. While this GPU is on par with entry-level graphics cards, it has the advantage of being DX11-compliant, giving it an edge over DX10-compliant Intel HD Graphics 2000 built into the Intel Core i5-2320 processor. There's decent room for expansion, including an empty drive bay, allowing for a second drive in addition to the included 1TB hard drive, although the 8GB DDR3 RAM occupies all four of the motherboard's DIMM slots.
  
  Unlike the Gateway DX4860, the AM3970G comes loaded with a fair amount of software. Although some of these programs are useful, particularly Office Starter 2010 and the Nero suite (there's an included 16X DVD+R/RW SuperMulti Drive), most of them can be classified as bloatware. Included in this latter category are the usual suspects, like Bing Bar; desktop links to eBay, Skype, and Netflix; Evernote; the Times Reader; Wild Tangent games suite; and a slew of proprietary software of varying usefulness, ranging from Acer Games to Acer eRecovery Management.
  
  Performance
  Acer Aspire AM3970G-UW10P As one would expect, the AM3970G doesn't so much blow the competition out of the water as much as float somewhere in the middle of the pack, buoyed by its 3.0GHz Intel Core i5-2320 CPU and 1GB ATI Radeon HD7350 GPU combination, yielding fairly average results in our benchmark tests.
  
  Its PCMark 7 score of 2,611 edged past both the Acer Aspire AX1930-UR10P ($499 list, 3 stars) (2,371) and the Acer Aspire AM3970-UR11P $709.99 at TheNerds.net (2,371), while only falling slightly behind the Gateway DX4860 (2,660) and, to a greater extent, the Asus Essentio CM6870 ($999 direct, 4 stars) (3,304). And, notwithstanding the fact that the AM3970G couldn't complete the 3DMark 11 test in Extreme mode, its Entry-level score of 709 may have come up short of the Esssentio CM6870 $999.00 at Amazon.com by a wide margin (2,832) but was within striking distance of the Aspire AM3970 (944). Moreover, it's worth noting that the AM3970G's DX11 compliance did, at the very minimum, allow it to actually complete this test, unlike both the Aspire AX1930 and the Gateway DX4860.
  

Acer Predator AG3620-UR21P

• Pros

  Decent all-around performance. Includes hefty multithreading processor, lots of RAM. Utilizes SSD for speedy booting and program launching.

• Cons

  Less-expensive computers perform better in many areas. Middling discrete video card.

• Bottom Line

  The Acer Predator AG3620-UR21P looks like a gaming computer, but don't be fooled?it's better suited for more serious processing tasks.

• 
• Finding the perfect desktop PC for you is more difficult if you’re not sure exactly what you need; it can be easy to buy too much hardware or the wrong hardware, or pay too much. That’s a risk wrapped up in the Acer Predator AG3620-UR21P: Priced at $1,199 (direct), it offers a number of useful, high-end–mainstream performance features that will make the day of those who deal with seriously weighty applications. But because that isn’t everyone, this computer might fail to live up to your full expectations if you plan to use it for other things. It’s a fine number-cruncher, but its deceptive packaging might convince you you’re getting a powerful gaming machine you aren’t quite.
  
  Design and Features
  Gaming-styled cases for more expensive desktops can get pretty extravagant, but this Predator exercises relative self-control—the first clue it might not be exactly what it seems. Orange racing stripes line either side of the front panel and zoom across the top, and glossy plastic coverings also add a bit of extra sheen to the system’s face and its two 5.25-inch drive bays. Rounded and flared corners give it a vaguely sci-fi look beyond that of a typical black box, but there’s nothing like the wackiness you can sometimes see on higher-end PCs (with higher-end prices).
  
  View Slideshow See all (4) slides
  Acer Predator AG3600
  Acer Predator AG3600
  Acer Predator AG3600
  Acer Aspire Predator AG7750-U2222 : Without Cover
  
• 
  The Predator’s $1,149.99 at CompUSA.com components generally fall along the same upper-midrange line. The Intel Core i7-3770 processor is fairly hefty, with a clock speed of 3.4GHz and four processing cores capable of functioning as eight thanks to Hyper-Threading technology; overclocking potential is limited due to the chip’s locked multiplier (the 3.5GHz Intel Core i7-3770K $344.99 at RAM Experts is the tweakable version), but there’s a firm performance basis here. Nicely matching the CPU is 16GB of RAM, but because it’s spread across four DIMMs you shouldn’t expect to be able to upgrade it more later. Data performance gets a nice boost from the 128GB solid-state drive used for the 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium operating system, and is augmented with a 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive for those times when slower storage will do. The most pedestrian of the internal hardware is the Nvidia GeForce GT 630 video card—it’s part of Nvidia’s up-to-the-minute series of releases, but despite its 2GB of video memory falls on the low end of the scale.
  
  A DVD burner and a multiformat card reader provide additional external storage options. Connectivity potential is ripe, with two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and headphone and microphone jacks on the front panel; on the rear panel you’ll find two PS/2 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, and basic audio. Video outputs comprise DVI and HDMI on the video card. Wi-Fi comes courtesy of a PCI Express (PCIe) x1 card; there are two other PCIe x1 slots free for future expansion.
  
  The Predator is covered by a one-year parts-and-labor limited warranty with toll-free tech support, and a basic keyboard and mouse also come as part of the package. Unfortunately, there’s also a fair amount of bloatware: Microsoft Office Starter 2010, Adobe Reader, Netflix, Skype, Nook for PC, Acer clear.fi, and so on, so don’t expect to find a pristine desktop the first time you boot up the computer.
  
  Performance
  Acer Aspire AM3970G-UW10PGiven its processor, the Predator will fare best with applications that can take advantage of its multithreading capabilities. In our testing, that proved to be Futuremark's PCMark 7 test, which the Acer rode to a new high score for a system in this price range (4,551). But aside from eking out a win with CineBench R11.5 (7.52, the nearest competitor being the Asus Essentio CM6870 $999.00 at Amazon.com with its score of 7.50), the Predator never otherwise came out on top in either productivity or gaming applications.
  

Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition (2012)

• Pros

  Fine overall performance. Includes discrete video card. Arrives bloatware free.

• Cons

  Limited hard drive space. No front-panel USB 3.0 ports.

• 
• Bottom Line

  Whether it's for home or school, the Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition is a fine general-purpose desktop at an attractive price.

• We all know that absolutely no one purchasing a computer for school would dare consider its prowess at anything other than strictly academic tasks. All that matters is a healthy processor and lots of memory—the very notion of also having a discrete video card capable of enhancing games (only after all the schoolwork is done, naturally) would never cross anyone’s mind. So we’re positive that most serious students will be scandalized by the 2012 revamp of the Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition, which for $999 (direct) bridges the gap between those two worlds in a way that would do any teen or parent proud. So if you can see past your outrage at this fusion of gaming and processing prowess, you might just see an impressive everyday system. All this earns it our Editors' Choice for midrange desktops.
  
  Design and Features
  Like most Velocity Micro systems (such as the latest Raptor Z90 and last winter’s Vector Holiday Edition ), this latest Vector Campus Edition uses a variation on the company’s classic MX2-W chassis: brushed-aluminum exterior, crisp edges, windowed side panel, and striking blue interior lighting. It’s a familiar look, but it’s one that quietly allures and one that works. The aesthetic doesn’t carry over to the included keyboard and mouse, alas—they’re both basic black plastic—but you can’t have everything.
  
  View Slideshow See all (4) slides
  Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition (2012) : Top Front
  Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition (2012) : Front Panel
  Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition (2012) : Optical Drive
  Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition (2012) : Three-Quarters
  More
  On the component side, however, you can be forgiven for thinking you can. The Campus Edition is decently equipped with current midrange hardware that packs a punch without punching a hole in your budget. The processor is a 3.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K, which has four processing cores but no Hyper-Threading support to give it control over eight simultaneous threads, but it’s been overclocked to a healthy 4.3GHz. A nice 8GB of RAM comes preinstalled, with two of the four RAM slots remaining free so you can add more down the line if you want. The video card uses the relatively powerful mainstream AMD Radeon HD 7750 chipset. You don’t get a ton of hard drive space—a mere 1TB—but there are two 3.5-inch bays free for future expansion. A DVD burner and multiformat card reader round out the external storage options.
  
  Front-panel ports are fairly limited: the obligatory headphone and microphone, FireWire, and USB 2.0—unfortunately, no USB 3.0. You get a better selection on the rear panel, with two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, eight-channel analog audio, PS/2, and Ethernet joining the DisplayPort, HDMI, and two DVI ports on the video card. USB dongles granting 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity come pre-inserted as well.
  
  One thing you don’t get: bloatware. Like most boutique manufacturers, Velocity Micro ships its systems clean, so when you boot into the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Home Premium, you won’t find any clutter at all on your desktop. Open Office 3.4 and Microsoft Security Essentials are available as no-cost upgrades so you can also have basic productivity and malware-protection functionality right out of the box.
  
  The Campus Edition is covered by a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, and an extra $69 gets you a one-year VelocityCare warranty that also includes on-site service.

HP Pavilion HPE h9-1120t Phoenix

• Pros

  Quad-core Inte

  l Core i7-3770K (3.5GHz) processor. AMD Radeon HD 7950 with 3G

  B dedicated memory. Solid performance. 2TB hard drive offers plenty of storage space.

  Has 15-month subscription to Norton Internet Security 2012

  
• Cons

  Turbo Boost overclocking is crippled. Cheesy "window" is just a vent with plastic on it.

• Bottom Line

  The HP Pavilion HPE h9-1120t Phoenix is a great desktop for anyone looking to buy a ready-made gaming rig on the cheap, but with a little configuring, you can do just as well elsewhere for less.

The HP Pavilion HPE h9-1120t Phoenix ($1,838.99 direct) walks the tightrope between powerful but expensive gaming rigs and affordable desktops that don't cut it on the gaming grid. It's a smart move for HP to target the gamer who doesn't want to drop three or four grand on a tricked-out gaming rig, but wants a midrange desktop PC that will handle games and anything else that comes up in daily life. Unfortunately, HP has handicapped the Phoenix h9-1120t by removing Turbo Boost, and offers a rather cheap product without bringing the price down quite far enough. It's still a solid gamer, but it's not the best value you'll find for the price.

Design
The h9-1120t $1,149.99 at HP keeps the same stylized design seen on previous models in the h9 line-up, a jazzed-up version of the staid glossy black and matte grey plastics seen on HP's more mainstream towers. Measuring 16.22 by 6.89 by 16.34 inches (HWD), the regular-sized PC tower comes bundled with a wired premium HP keyboard and optical mouse. The glossy black front panel is highlighted by a metallic silver-colored plastic and glowing orange-red LED accents. The top of the tower has a curved surface for holding whatever peripherals you may want to connect through the two USB 3.0 ports or the headphone and microphone jacks on top of the tower.

The sides of the tower are basic black-painted stamped metal, so don't expect the brushed metals and large side-panel windows seen on gaming rigs from boutique vendors, like the Editors' Choice Cyberpower Zeus Thunder 3000SE ($2,299 direct, 4 stars). The h9-1120t does have perforated vents across both sides of the tower, letting the interior orange-red LEDs glow through in addition to providing plenty of air flow. One of those vents is covered with a layer of translucent glossy plastic, which mimics a regular window, but is really just a vent. Such are the compromises you make when purchasing a ready-made gaming PC.

Features
On the front of the tower you'll find a Blu-ray reader/DVD burner optical drive, four USB 2.0 ports and a handful of card reader slots that accommodate several memory formats. On the back of the tower you'll find two additional USB 3.0 ports and four more USB 2.0 ports. You'll also find both HDMI and DVI-D outputs for connecting to monitors or HDTVs, two mini DisplayPort connections (with bundled mini-to-full size adapters), and both regular audio outputs and an optical connection for digital 7.1 surround sound, taking full advantage of the h9-1120t's Beats Audio. With both Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n Wi-Fi, you should be able to get on the gaming grid whether the desktop is situated near your router or not.

Crack open the case—which is easy, thanks to a single thumb-tightened screw—and you'll find a liquid cooling system pumping fluid throughout the well-ordered tower. In addition to the quad-core Intel Core i7-3770k processor and the AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card you'll find a 600W power supply, and room for two additional hard drives and a second optical drive. There's also easy access to DIMM slots, so upgrading the 12GB of included DDR3 RAM to the maximum 32GB won't prove difficult.

Windows 7 Home Premium comes preinstalled on the Phoenix h9-1120t, but HP also shovels on the bloatware. Fresh out of the box, the desktop is crowded with icons for RaRa Music, Rift, Microsoft Office 2010 Starter, and a generous 15-month subscription to Norton Internet Security 2012. If it stopped there, we wouldn't have much to complain about, but HP also includes HP Magic Canvas (a UI layer better suited to all-in-one touchscreen desktops), a few Canvas Games in addition to the sample pack of WildTangent games, and a host of HP branded apps and utilities (RecipeBox, Weather, Picture Mover, etc.). Also included is HP LinkUp, which makes sharing and syncing between desktops and laptops a snap. HP also covers the Phoenix h9-1120t with a 2-year warranty with limited hardware support.

Performance
HP Pavilion HPE h9-1120t Phoenix The h9-1120t is outfitted with a quad-core Intel Core i7-3770k and 12GB of DDR3 RAM. It's the same third-generation processor found in the Cyberpower Gamer Xtreme 4000SE ($1,899 direct, 4 stars), but without any overclocking, thereby limiting the CPU to 3.5GHz instead of the 3.9GHz it could put out. As a result, the Phoenix h9-1120t produced a PCMark 7 score of only 3,808 points and a Handbrake time of 1 minute 5 seconds, 2:46 in Photoshop CS5, and a CineBench score of 7.29. The Cyberpower Gamer Xtreme 4000SE blew right past it using the same model processor, scoring 6,032 points in PCMark 7, 53 seconds in Handbrake, 2:17 in Photoshop, and 9.55 in Cinebench. By removing Turbo Boost from the h9-1120t, HP has handicapped the Phoenix h9-1120t from the starting gate. But even with the overclocking potential hobbled, the Phoenix h9-1120t did still put up a better score than the console-like Alienware X51 ($999.99 direct, 4 stars), which scored 3,055 points (PCMark) and 4.91 (Cinebench).