Hardware

We've already seen Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture offer compelling performance gains on the desktop. But can the fastest second-gen Core i7 beat Intel's 130 W desktop-oriented six-core Core i7-980X in games? We set up a couple systems to find out.

Mini-ITX-based systems are attractive because they generally combine low-power operation and decent performance in a small package. But you need a good case to accommodate the restrictions of compact hardware. Today we try five different Mini-ITX cases.

Are you ready for the modern-day compendium on the state of hardware-accelerated transcoding performance and video quality? We decided to take an in-depth look after a few bad experiences, and you'll be surprised at how deep the rabbit hole really goes.

If you're looking for a budget-level Netbook with a long battery life, the HP Mini 1103 offers a very affordable package compared with other HP Netbooks. Just be forewarned: there isn't anything here you haven't seen before.

Looking for a crazy or unique desktop peripheral? We have 20 interesting devices, some of which you can buy, some of which aren't ready yet, and others that seemingly died during development. At the very least, they all make for entertaining conversation.

We know that adding drives to a RAID array can help improve performance. But does adding storage to a NAS device really help push throughput higher? We put four-bay and five-bay units from Qnap up against each other and benchmark their transfer rates.

The Asus U41JF is a workmanlike but uninspiring 14-inch laptop that offers decent performance and graphics and excellent battery life, but costs nearly as much as a MacBook.

How do you set your graphics driver to get the highest-quality video playback? We scrutinize a wide variety of Radeon and GeForce cards to find the settings that deliver the highest HQV 2.0 results, and then break down the entire metric, test by test.

Most of Intel's Core i5 and i7 CPUs lock out overclocking enthusiasts, which we hate. But the K-series chips win us back over with insane scalability. Would you believe that cranking the dial on performance doesn't necessarily tank overall efficiency?

AMD’s Mobility Radeon HD 6970 in CrossFire mode forges ahead in mobile gaming with stunning “Full HD” 3D performance. But can it stand up to Nvidia’s high-end GeForce GTX 470M and 480M in SLI? Eurocom's 17.3” Panther 2.0 gives us its answer.

We were impressed with Sandy Bridge's performance on the desktop, but how does it behave in a notebook? Today we break down performance, including surprising power consumption results. The new Core i7s even use less power than older Core i5s in daily use.

The thin, powerful Asus U36JC-A1 packs a lot of computer under its slim 13-inch hood, but some might want to wait for next-gen Intel processors to sweeten the deal.

Hard drives aren’t dead yet! And they won’t die out anytime soon. The latest 2.5” drives for notebooks deliver relatively high performance and ample storage for little money.