September 22, 2014 Corsair Force LX (256GB)
Aside from ho-hum sequential-write speeds at the 256GB capacity, the Force LX is a solid-performing SSD at a reasonable price.
September 18, 2014 Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
Nvidia’s high-end, Maxwell-based card delivers the best performance available from a single-chip gaming graphics card to date, while sipping much less power than the current competition. Just as nice: Its price is competitive with AMD’s hotter Radeon R9 290X.
September 17, 2014 Lenovo Horizon 2
Lenovo's Horizon 2 is an attractive, futuristic desktop/"table PC" with a large screen and unique features. But this configuration is hampered by a slow hard drive. And don't expect more than two to three hours of battery life.
September 8, 2014 AMD Radeon R9 285
AMD’s $249 Radeon R9 285 delivers modern features (such as support for TrueAudio and FreeSync) found on other AMD cards, and performance that edges out Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 760. But given its familiar specs, it won’t significantly outpace the Radeon R9 280 card it’s replacing.
September 2, 2014 Asus X99-Deluxe
For those looking to drop as many high-end graphics cards as possible into a new X99-based PC build, Asus’ X99-Deluxe is an excellent option. It has lots of forward-looking features, a bushel of accessories, and loads of SATA III and USB 3.0 ports.
August 28, 2014 Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition
With a bump up to eight cores (and 16 threads), Intel’s top Extreme Edition processor for 2014 is stunningly speedy in multi-threaded workloads, making it a good choice for media-production professionals and well-heeled others for whom raw CPU power is king.
September 4, 2014 SilverStone Raven RV05
PC builders seeking quiet air cooling and room for large graphics cards, and not intimidated by a unique PC-building experience, will find a lot to like in the Raven RV05 tower chassis. Just don’t expect to drop in lots of drives or a standard optical drive.
August 19, 2014 AMD Radeon R7 Series SSD (240GB)
AMD’s first entry into the SSD market uses OCZ/Toshiba components and lands in a unique spot between mainstream and enthusiast drives, thanks in part to a four-year warranty. It’s a solid option for gamers, but without a price drop, it’s not the best balance of price and performance available.
August 14, 2014 Gigabyte Brix Projector
Gigabyte marries a solidly performing compact PC with a tiny LED projector. It's an idea with promise, but the projector's low resolution and weak output limit the system's usefulness.
August 13, 2014 Crucial MX100
An excellent mainstream SSD, the MX100 has a performance-for-price equation that tops today's field. For 256GB and higher capacities, this is the SSD most mainstream buyers should get.
Matt Safford
Contributing Writer