HP Pavilion Elite HPE-500f PC (Black) review

Here is a little overview of modest HP home computer. This HP Pavilion is not exactly a gaming desktop, but it seems to be very popular for some reason. It doesn't have a fancy computer case with led lights or an expensive high-end graphics card like most gaming desktops. HP Pavilion Elite HPE-500f PC (Black) is a solid computer with six-core processor and lots of RAM, that can also handle some less demanding games like The Sims 3, Left 4 Dead 2 and World of Warcraft.  
Graphics card: This HP has AMD Radeon HD 6450 graphics card with 512MB DDR3 of video memory. HD 6450 is pretty weak, even DDR5 version of this card is more than 2 times slower than ATI HD 5670. It is sufficient for casual gamers, but too weak for people who want to play DirectX 11 games like Metro 2033. Although most games can be played with lowered details.
Processor: HP Pavilion Elite HPE-500f is equipped with a 2.7GHz, six-core AMD Phenom II 1045T. It's great for multi-threaded applications and video editing, but most programs don't benefit of having 6 cores. Additionally, higher clocked Phenom II X4's are better in gaming.
Other specs: This HP Pavilion has generous amount of RAM (4x 2GB DDR3 sticks), large but slow hard drive (1.5TB 5400RPM), Wireless LAN, 15-in-1 card reader and DVD burner with LightScribe. Like most computers, HP HPE-500f PC uses Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
Conclusion: HP Pavilion Elite HPE-500f PC is a great home computer that has things that most gaming computers don't have. But it is not suitable for serious gamer, who plays latest games.
Alternative for gamers: Titanium Gamer AMTI7007 has 7x faster video card for $12 more, but weaker processor and smaller hard drive, Titanium Gamer AMTI7009 is a good choice for $900.

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-500f PC (Black)

Pros:

 Wireless

 8GB RAM

 Six-core CPU

Cons:

 Bad graphics card
 Only 300W power supply

Specifications:

• 2.7GHz AMD Phenom II 1045T
• 8GB DDR3  RAM
• 1.5TB hard drive
• AMD Radeon HD 6450 512MB DDR3 
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme AMD AM573D3 Review

Everyone likes to play newest computer games maxed out with high frames per second. But running latest titles at high settings requires something better than a $399 computer with a integrated graphics card. Thankfully, you don't have to buy a $1500-$2000 gaming computer to play high graphic games, $800-$900 gaming desktops with AMD HD 6850 or Nvidia GTX 460 will do the job fine. Obviously you can't get a brand computer (HP, Dell, Alienware) with HD 6850 or any other fast DirectX 11 card for under $900. This is why I review this iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme AMD AM573D3, which has very decent specifications for a sub-$900 gaming desktop.
Graphics card: This iBUYPOWER uses the powerful 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6850, its performance is similar to Nvidia's 1GB GTX 460. The AMD HD 6850 is powerful enough for playing most games at max settings. Remember that HD 6850 and HD 6870 are upper mid-range video cards of the Radeon 6000 series, HD 6950 / HD 6970 / HD 6990 are the new high-end.
Processor: CPU is also an important component in a gaming computer, decent gaming PC should at least have a good quad-core processor. Lower clocked AMD six-cores are not really good for gaming. iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme AMD AM573D3 Gaming Desktop Computer - Black has one of the fastest AMD quad-core processors, the 3.4GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965. It is a great processor, but it's much slower than more expensive Intel's Sandy Bridge i5 and i7.
Other specs: The other specifications of this computer are pretty standard for this price range: 4GB of dual channel DDR3 memory, 1TB SATA III HDD and Windows 7 Home Premium.
Conclusion: iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme AMD AM573D3 is a nearly perfect gaming PC that offers great value for money, but there are couple slightly better alternatives.
Alternatives: similar desktop with same price, but with 8GB RAM - Titanium Gamer AMTI9098, minimally slower processor, better video card - Titanium Gamer AMTI7009, more future proof computer with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5-2500K - CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme GXi220.

Pros:

 Very fast graphics card

 Balanced build

 

Cons:

 None 

Specifications:

• 3.4GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965 processor
• 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
• 1TB SATA III hard drive
• 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6850
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Systemax Gaming PC SG-1010 MMO review

Systemax Gaming PC SG-1010 MMO is a powerful gaming computer that has fairly good specs for the price. Most importantly it has a fast graphics card and a quad-core AMD Athlon II. However this PC doesn't have the fastest quad-core, it's only clocked at 2.6 GHz, a little low for games that doesn't use all 4 cores. But its DirectX 11 graphics card - ATI HD 5770 can play every game with ease, HD 5770 also has relatively low power consumption. Let's take a look at other main specifications of this gaming computer. This Systemax has 500GB hard drive, 4GB

Microtel AM6025 Gaming Computer review

If you are looking for computer around $700 that plays most games released today, then this Microtel is is worth a look. The Microtel AM6025 Gaming Computer comes with a 3.4GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965 quad-core processor which offers excellent gaming value, and ATI Radeon 5670 1GB graphics card which is sufficient for most today's games. If you want more future-proof gaming computer, then I suggest getting some other desktop. You can't expect playing future games at high settings with a $75 graphics card. Hard drive and RAM are both pretty average for this price range, good enough for most people.

iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme A928i review

iBUYPOWER is pretty famous for budget gaming computers, let's see what this mid-range gaming desktop has to offer. iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme A928i is equipped with powerful Intel i5 760 (not latest Sandy Bridge architecture) quad-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz, which is paired with reasonably fast 1GB ATI HD 5750 DirectX 11 graphics card. Other specifications are pretty low for this price: 4GB of RAM and 500GB SATA hard drive. One interesting thing about this computer is the 700W power supply, which will give you headroom for future upgrades (if it's