Hardware Guides

July Entry-Level Gaming PC Guide

From case to CPU, our guide shows you how to build a perfectly capable PC gaming system for less than a $1,000.

ATI & NVIDIA Video Card Tweak Guide

The first stage in achieving high framerates is finding the right 3D video card. After that comes the real work, as gamers attempt to squeeze out as much juice as possible from their super-charged video cards. Basic driver and BIOS options, registry additions and even 3rd-party tweak programs are all very viable options, and in our ATI & NVIDIA Video Card Tweak Guide, we give some System BIOS performance advice, along with a basic run-down on the features of NVIDIA Coolbits, Rage3D Tweak and Rivatuner.

Pentium 4 Northwood Overclocking Guide

The Pentium 4 Northwood is certainly the most popular overclocking option for high-end gaming use, and has eclipsed the Athlon XP as the CPU of choice for many hardcore tweakers. Our Pentium 4 Northwood Overclocking Guide covers off the required elements such as choosing the best processor, motherboard and cooling combinations, while taking a few Pentium 4 CPUs through the overclocking wringer and mailing the benchmarks home to momma.

GeForce4 Ti and MX Overclocking Guide

Overclocking a graphics card can make as significant an impact on overall performance as increasing the core speed on a CPU. The NVIDIA GeForce4 lines both seem primed for overclocking, and in our Overclocking Guide we take a couple of GeForce4 cards through their paces. We check out both sides of the equation, using a GeForce4 Ti 4400 to try and attain Ti 4600 speeds, as well as hitting the value sector to see how high we can take a GeForce4 MX 440.

Athlon XP Overclocking Guide

The AMD Athlon XP represents an excellent combination of price and performance, but even then, some may not be satisfied running at stock processor speeds. Overclocking is the natural solution, and in our Athlon XP Overclocking Guide, we cover the two primary methods of achieving a higher CPU core speed along a few benchmarks to seal the deal.

Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide

Fresh on the heels of yesterday's Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide, where he delivered our highest-end recommendation to PC buyer's with cash to burn, Vince Freeman is back to make sure that those with less to spend, but still wanting a good solid PC gaming platform, don't feel left out. Find out just how much you can get for around $1000 in this latest Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide.

A Beginner's Guide to Benchmarking Video Cards

So you read our articles, looking to find out which video card or CPU or drive or whatever is fastest, right? But how do you then compare our scores to your own system's performance? Many of you, no doubt, benchmark your stuff so much you could teach us a thing or two. But enough of you send us emails or post in our forums, asking how to go about doing it. So we've decided to create a series of articles/guides, this being the first, which let you know what you can do to benchmark your systems, yourselves.

High-end PC Buyer's Guide

High-end - the phrase implies the same nose-bleeding performance one would expect from a Jaguar XJ220, once the fastest car in the world. Unlike the XJ220 (which can cost more than $700,000), we've got roughly $3,500 for a top-end, hotrod of a computer. After the recent price drops in the processor and memory arenas, however, the buying power of the consumers' (your) dollar has just shot through the roof.