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Desktop Gaming PCs<br />
It’s no secret: These systems contain enough hot<br />
hardware to frag a n00b five times over before he faceplants<br />
on the ground. Mad skillz not included. —C.M.<br />
Dell XPS 720 H2C<br />
$7,879 • dell.com<br />
An overclocker’s unicorn. This<br />
monster devours games with its<br />
dual Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX<br />
graphics cards and an Intel Core 2<br />
Extreme quad-core processor<br />
revved to 3.46 GHz. Knocking performance<br />
up to exospheric heights,<br />
the XPS 720 packs 4 gigs of overclocked<br />
memory and a droolinducing<br />
Ageia PhysX card. Plus,<br />
the hyperefficient H2C watercooling<br />
system keeps the CPU<br />
chilled and the noise low. Any<br />
game is toast on this machine.<br />
WIRED Further overclockable<br />
to a near-ridiculous 4 GHz. Front<br />
and rear LEDs can be tweaked<br />
to display cool, eerie effects.<br />
Blu-ray burner, baby!<br />
TIRED Oof. Eighty pounds of<br />
backbreaking hardware. Cramped<br />
interior screams “back off” to<br />
would-be modders. Yep, that price<br />
tag is in US dollars.<br />
Gaming Gear<br />
1 4 0 WIRED TEST<br />
Gateway<br />
FX530XT<br />
$4,408 • gateway.com<br />
Gateway does gaming? You<br />
betcha. With a factory-overclocked<br />
Intel Core 2 Extreme quad churning<br />
at 3.2 GHz, the FX530XT<br />
kicked out <strong>sm</strong>ooth gameplay in<br />
our benchmark tests, even at<br />
1,920 x 1,200 resolution. Though<br />
its single Nvidia 8800 GTX card<br />
can’t compete with a pair of<br />
Ultras, the 8800 is still one badass<br />
graphics unit, able to handle any<br />
of today’s games flying solo. For<br />
casual gamers, this rig should be<br />
the system of choice.<br />
WIRED Factory-overclocked<br />
CPU, covered by warranty, provides<br />
peace of mind. Blu-ray drive. Two<br />
500-GB hard drives. Nine-in-one<br />
memory card reader.<br />
TIRED Case is far from ugly, but<br />
it ain’t hot—and gamers want<br />
hardware that’ll trigger Pavlovian<br />
responses in friends and enemies.<br />
Velocity Micro<br />
Raptor DCX<br />
Custom<br />
$5,510 • velocitymicro.com<br />
The Velocity Raptor is a graphics<br />
powerhouse, shredding through<br />
PREY at an amazing 169 frames<br />
per second at 1,920 x 1,200 resolution.<br />
The muscle behind those<br />
numbers comes from an Intel<br />
Core 2 Extreme Duo overclocked<br />
from 3 to 3.75 GHz and a pair of<br />
Nvidia 8800 Ultras. We dig the<br />
classic mod look of the case, as<br />
well as its side window for peeking<br />
at the primo components.<br />
WIRED Ultraclean, spacious<br />
interior with plenty of room to<br />
tinker. Performance (thankfully)<br />
matches price. Wheels help<br />
when accessing the rear panel.<br />
TIRED Where’s the HD optical<br />
drive? Blu-ray? OK, what have you<br />
got? A DVD-RW and DVD-ROM<br />
combo drive ... Come on, Velocity,<br />
you’re wasting space at this point.<br />
How We Tested<br />
Gaming Gear<br />
DESKTOP GAMING PCS<br />
We plugged each<br />
PC into a hi-def LCD,<br />
slapped PREY into<br />
the optical drive, and<br />
took the fight online.<br />
Scores reflect frame<br />
rates, online ping<br />
benchmarks, design<br />
aesthetics, internal<br />
components, and<br />
expansion options.<br />
CONSOLES<br />
We spent hours—<br />
more than we’d care<br />
to admit—playing a<br />
variety of games on<br />
each system, rating<br />
performance, online<br />
play, multimedia<br />
options, and quality<br />
of available titles.<br />
LCD MONITORS<br />
LAN party! We hooked<br />
up each display to an<br />
overclocked gaming<br />
PC, popped in Doom 3,<br />
and pwn3d some<br />
suckers—uh, friends<br />
—while recording<br />
resolution, response<br />
time, input options,<br />
and portability.<br />
HANDHELDS<br />
The two units were<br />
assessed for game<br />
immersion, battery<br />
life, and tote-ability.<br />
Effortless Web surfing<br />
and multimedia<br />
functions netted<br />
bonus points.<br />
GENE LEE, STYLED BY ROB OXENHAM/ARTIST UNTIED
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