
By MaximumPC, published 16-05-2011
From the caliber of their parts to the breadth of their abilities to their unconventional shapes and sizes, today's small form factor PCs are a tasty treat for power users It has long been considered common wisdom that the smaller the size of a PC, the greater its compromises. Notebooks, no matter how fat, for example, will never touch the power of a desktop machine. The same held true for small form factor rigs. But is that still the case? To find out how today’s SFF rigs compare with their full-size desktop brethren, we tasked five top PC makers with sending us their best and brightest, and, well, smallest machines. We didn’t put any hard and fast limits on size or price. Instead, we wanted the vendors to go nuts with the definition of “small form factor rig.” As a result, what ...

By MaximumPC, published 04-11-2011
Can we build an AMD machine—any AMD machine—that can compete with an Intel-powered rig? In the forever war between CPU vendors, AMD and Intel have traded places many times—one leads, then the other. Since the advent of Intel’s Core i7, though, AMD hasn’t been able to touch the performance of Intel’s high end, and Sandy Bridge further increases the gap. But, well, you couldn't buy Sandy Bridge motherboards when I wrote this build-it story in February for the May print issue—something about a bad chipset—and I’d been meaning to build an AMD-powered machine for a while now—with CrossFire, even. Why? Partially because I can, but I also want to witness the performance delta firsthand. Just for kicks, I’m also going to put some effort—and money—into making this system p...

By TechRadar, published 29-01-2011
Good news for iPhone and iPad owners – an official BBC iPlayer app is (probably) on its way.And the treat for Android fans is that the HTC Desire 2 has leaked ahead of Mobile World Congress 2011.This was also the week where the successor to the PSP2 – codenamed the Sony NGP – was announced. Read on for this week's most popular stories on TechRadar…Top five news storiesHas Nintendo really blown its Wii 2 strategy?While Nintendo has recently announced its plans for the 3DS release across Europe, there are still questions to be answered about its – still to be revealed - strategy for 'Wii 2', with some observers questioning whether a 'two console strategy' could work in the future.One analyst in particular that seems to be gunning for Nintendo is Wedbush Securities analyst Micheal P...

By MaximumPC, published 26-01-2011
Hexa-core’s white knight? Ever since the appearance of Intel’s smoking-fast second-gen Core i7 processor in January, we’ve been wondering if Intel’s hexa-cores still have a purpose. When iBuypower’s Paladin XLC strode into town with a hearty Intel six-core inside its shining white armor, we expected an epic battle. And we got one. Outfitted with Intel’s priciest hexa-core, the 3.33GHz Core i7-980X, the Paladin XLC seemed destined to take on Falcon Northwest’s black-clad Mach V system that we reviewed in February. Using NZXT’s excellent Phantom case, the Paladin XLC certainly strikes an impressive pose. Along with 12GB of DDR3/1600, a 128GB A-Data SSD, a 2TB hard drive, and a 10x Blu-ray burner, the Paladin XLC fields an imposing collection of hardware, and at a decent pric...