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• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 7 reviews

The Bottom Line: Thanks to an expensive new motherboard requirement, Intel's new Core i7 desktop processors will remain enthusiast and professional-level parts until more affordable complementary hardware comes out later next year. Speed never comes cheap, however, and if you're willing to spend for it now, you'll find yourself in possession of the fastest CPU on the market. Read review

Specs: Processor, Intel Core i7 965

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: AMD's new Phenom quad-core CPU has little to recommend it over competing chips from Intel. The Phenom is marginally less expensive, but not enough to make up for its subpar performance. Unless AMD drops prices more aggressively, it looks like Intel will maintain its grasp on the CPU market for the foreseeable future. Read review

Specs: Processor, AMD Phenom X4 9500

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 4 reviews

The Bottom Line: Nvidia's new GeForce 9600 GT graphics chip gives the Asus EN9600 GT some of the best bang-for-the-buck we've seen in a midrange 3D card. If your goal is reliable frame rates in the latest PC games, you should pick this card up as soon as you can. Read review

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC, 2

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 8 reviews

Specs: 8 GB

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 24 reviews

The Bottom Line: If you don't mind sacrificing a few convenient features for truly portable design, Creative's Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook turns your laptop into a bona fide sound system. Read review

Specs: PC Card, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, 7.1 channel surround, PC Card

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: SDHC Memory Card, 16 GB

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 2 reviews

The Bottom Line: If you're looking to build a home theater PC, we recommend ATI's Radeon HD 2600 XT as the midrange card to use, thanks to its nearly perfect HD video image and its no-fuss installation. But for 3D gaming, you'd be much better off looking for a good deal on a faster, older graphics card. Read review

Specs: ATI Radeon HD 2600XT, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC, 2

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 21 reviews

The Bottom Line: Creative's new Sound Blaster X-Fi cards impress with their audio quality and feature sets, but they don't come cheap. Read review

Specs: PCI, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, 7.1 channel surround, PCI

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 5 reviews

The Bottom Line: AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4850 is a solid midrange 3D card that will run pretty much anything, and it boasts some forward-looking features to boot. It might be worth waiting for the price to drop just a bit, at which point this card will become much more attractive. Read review

Specs: ATI Radeon HD 4850, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC, 2

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 11 reviews

The Bottom Line: The combination of built-in wireless and limited Windows Media Center integration makes the Pinnacle PCTV To Go HD Wireless one of the more promising Slingbox competitors for advanced users. Read review

Specs: Pinnacle PCTV To Go

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.5 stars Spectacular
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 27 reviews

The Bottom Line: Intel's Core 2 Duo E6700 offers the best price-to-performance ratio we've seen in a desktop chip. For half the cost of AMD's top-of-the-line chip, you get identical if not superior performance and better power efficiency. AMD surprised us last year with its completely dominant dual-core chips, but Intel regains the crown with Core 2 Duo. Read review

Specs: Processor, Intel Core 2 Duo E6700

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 reviews

Specs: Processor, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 1 review

Specs: Notebook battery

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 16 GB

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 1 review

Specs: WD TV WDAVN00

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 10 reviews

The Bottom Line: If you care more about HD movie watching than gaming and you need a new video card for the task today, we recommend a 3D card like this EVGA with Nvidia's newest mainstream graphics chip. Gamers can get more performance value from Nvidia's higher-end 8800 cards, but for anyone, it would be a good idea to wait to see what's new from ATI in just a few short weeks. Read review

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS, 2560 x 1600 / 60 Hz, 256 MB, PC

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 21 reviews

The Bottom Line: ATI's flagship TV tuner card offers the best image quality we've seen from a TV tuner card and includes over-the-air HDTV support, but it's still not as good as a direct cable-box-to-TV signal. Read review

Specs: PC

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 26 reviews

The Bottom Line: The ATI Radeon 9200 redefines the level of 3D performance for budget graphics cards, but it still trails the competition. Read review

Specs: ATI Radeon 9200, 2048 x 1536 / 85 Hz, 128 MB / 128 MB (max), PC, 2

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 20 reviews

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 1 review

Specs: SD Memory Card, 1 GB

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 47 reviews

The Bottom Line: The well-designed and inexpensive SanDisk Cruzer Micro comes with great software, but it's marred by its incredibly slow write speeds. Read review

Specs: 2 GB

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: Motherboard, Micro ATX, NVIDIA GeForce 6100 / NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP, 1000 MHz, 8.1 in x 9.6 in

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 1 review

Specs: Motherboard, Micro ATX, AMD 780G / AMD SB700, 2600 MHz, 9.6 in x 9.6 in

• CNET Editor rating:
  Not yet rated
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: ATI Radeon HD 4870, 512 MB, PC, 2