Touch-screens are at a bit of a cross-roads. Gadgets are a logical place for the functionality given their user-friendly approach but in the PC realm there aren’t exactly many shining examples of the technology being implemented.

The MSI Wind-Top AE2220-25SUS hopes to change all of that with its All-in-One design sporting a peppy Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and that touch-screen you’ve been pining for. Benchmark Reviews has the full story:

The small footprint doesn’t just shelter a 1080p HDTV LCD display, it also incorporates touch-screen functionality along with an integrated HD web cam and high-fidelity 5.1-channel SRS Premium Sound. Blu-ray Discs can be played back from the MSI Wind Top AE2220, and a digital tuner is also built-in for receiving over-the-air HD broadcasts allowing the DVR functionality within Microsoft Windows 7. Ideal for every workspace conceivable, the dual-core 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor handles compute tasks and 4GB of DDR2 system memory ensure there’s no delay in program responsiveness, while a 500GB hard drive offers high-capacity storage space for saved data and recorded audio or video multimedia.

Quite nifty specs wise with the distinctive feel of a PC for the study/office.

Optimizing system performance used to be about defragmenting every so often and limiting the number of applications you’re running. Unfortunately, today’s modern PC needs a whole host of support applications doing their own thing in the background in order to maintain a usable system.

TuneUp Utilities 2010 attempts to corral your PC and whip it into shape with its extensive suite of tools designed around improving performance. Does it succeed? We’ll be taking a look at how the software goes about doing its thing and its benefit to you as a user.
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It’s not a knock on cases with see through side panels but the vast majority tend to limit the amount of cooling potential given the lack of side fan mounts which are becoming increasingly important in systems with MOSFETs, northbridges, and memory pumping out more and more heat.

The Akasa Freedom Xone has more than a few fan mounts to properly cool your important system components. DriverHeaven has the full review:

As we mentioned before, the side panel of the Freedom Xone case has no window. There are two 120mm slots for cooling fans however, both of which come unoccupied. Two large intake fans will greatly enhance the thermal performance of the case, but you will need to buy them separately. Another slot for a cooling fan is present at the top of the case, which is meant for a 140mm fan. A simple black 140mm fan comes preinstalled from the factory, which is not too powerful but its size allows it to quietly exhaust large masses of air.

A case with a simple design but is capable of handling your next high end rig.

If you’ve priced out a new ATX computer case you’ve likely run into more than a few models that offer up insane amounts of airflow but they come with an equally large price tag… fortunately at least one company is looking to save you some cash.

The NZXT M59 sports some rather extreme angles and more than enough fan mounting spots all at a very reasonable price tag. Benchmark Reviews has the details:

The interior of the NZXT M59 is where you really begin to realize how well NZXT has done with this low-cost design. The first thing you notice is that the entire interior of the case is painted black! Yep, no bare metal here. I’ve seen cases costing over $250 that don’t finish the interior; this is a real surprise in this level of case. All sharp metal edges are neatly rolled, and there are no “punch-out” panels for the 5.25″ bays or the rear card slot covers (I hate punch-out panels). At the bottom right are bays for 5 hard drives; just above those are two other 3.5″ bays (but they are not front-accessible), and at the top are the four 5.25″ bays.

An extremely nice case which may just make you question the higher priced alternatives.

A quality headset allows you to listen to those enemy agents sneaking up on you and saves you the considerable noise complaints when all you want is to hear stuff blowing up really loudly. Though that won’t stop them from hearing you if you are the yelling type.

The Logitech ClearChat PC Wireless Headset allows you to do your serious communicating, be it gaming or otherwise. Benchmark Reviews has a look:

For casual users and hardcore gamers alike, headsets are becoming some of the most heavily used peripherals on any PC. Voice chat is a standard feature for any instant messaging client, Ventrilo and Teamspeak are a staple of online gaming and Skype is quickly becoming a preferred choice for many users making long distance calls. However, unlike almost every other peripheral on the PC these days, most headsets are still wired. The options are very limited for demanding, nomadic computer users. Bluetooth headsets designed for cell phones can work on a PC (provided your machine has a bluetooth adapter), but they are designed strictly for voice chat and have limited range, without delivering the high-quality stereo sound of a wired headset.

A solid looking headset which should keep up with your hectic fragging and quaint calls back home.

The the ever shrinking computer got a little more stylish today with Dell’s launch of the Inspiron Zino HD in the US. While you might mistake it as some Intel Atom sporting nettop the machine actually sports much more robust AMD processor options.

The machine offers up configuration options of single or dual core chips, integrated ATI graphics or a dedicated GPU with 512MB of video memory for those Blu-ray playing builds, two eSATA ports, and a slew of colors to choose from.

Their pricing starts at $229 which is a bargain for a PC you can stick just about anywhere.

Source: Dell

Gaming requires a whole host of skill sets if you want to last even a few minutes against your opponent. You’ve got your hand-eye coordination, strategic mindset, and when you’ve exhausted all possible avenues to victory the good old kamikaze mission is in order. With so much to practice your skills on who has time to build their own PC?

PureOC has a look at the iBUYPOWER Paladin XLC V2 gaming system that pairs together some modest gaming hardware which results in a rather speedy system to plow through games with:

A closer look reveals the motherboard is a LGA1156 Gigabyte P55-UD5, a very nice choice, with solid BIOS features and enough slots and overclocking/tweaking options to keep an enthusiast pleased. The Gigabyte board houses a Core i7 870, the flagship Socket 1156 CPU offered by Intel. This chip is not cheap, and it is fast. In fact, iBUYPOWER has overclocked the i7 870 here to an impressive 3.8GHz from a stock 2.93GHz. The CPU is cooled by an Asetek LCLC 240mm radiator (slim profile) liquid cooling setup, an excellent choice, offering a much quieter setup than a high performance air cooler. Seeing a liquid cooling setup in a custom-painted case, particularly when you bring it to a LAN party, is pretty special. You’ll be sure to get all the attention with this combination.

Perhaps a single, more powerful, graphics card in the build would’ve sufficed but it’s a slick gaming computer for a low price.

As far as boutique gaming systems are concerned there’s no one more famous than Alienware and their pursuit of the high end. Of course they’re only a choice if you don’t have the time and patience to build your own gaming system, but you’re an enthusiast and want things built your way right?

HotHardware has a review of the Alienware Aurora ALX and its Radeon HD 5870 CrossFire graphics crunching setup. It’s mighty fast:

As we saw in our preview article, the Aurora ALX is powered by Intel’s Core i7 975 processor running at 3.33GHz and features a custom X58 microATX motherboard. The 975 is Intel’s fastest and most powerful desktop CPU in its entire line up, though it is also the most expensive. For cooling duties, Alienware installed a 120mm singe radiator liquid cooling solution on top of the processor. And installed on the board is 6GB of Corsair Dominator memory running at DDR3-1600MHz at 8-8-8-24 timings. There is a ton of fast storage available as we find two 1TB 7200 RPM hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration at the bottom of the case. Last but not least, the highlight of the system are the dual ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards running in CrossFire.

It’s on the pricey side so you’re going to have to pay for that performance, on the other hand you won’t have to tweak it in order to get the speed.

While we’re all, mostly, keen on keeping our computing hardware nice and safe in your preferred aluminum, steel, or other clad PC case there are many situations where you need to test hardware before you deploy it to their final resting place.

Enter the Cooler Master Lab Test Bench which sets you up with a nice platform to try out your hardware. techPowerUp has a review:

The Cooler Master Lab is an interesting entry into the test bench market, which is lead by brands like Danger Den or DimasTech. Those are generally fairly expensive and may suffer from limited availability, while the Lab clocks in under 90 US Dollars and should be available everywhere Cooler Master products are sold.

If you’re in the market for a test bench or you just want an open air rig it looks like a good option.

With Windows 7 just around the corner you’re bound to be hit with the deluge of new computing hardware hitting the market that makes use of many of the operating system’s features.

The Dell Studio One goes for the all-in-one approach and tosses in a touchscreen so you can smudge your screen and not get so worked up about it. It even packs an Intel Pentium E5200 processor paired along side Nvidia’s GeForce 9400M so you can expect decent performance…just not anything ground breaking.

A nifty machine that mixes decent hardware which makes it a nice office/productivity/stick in the kitchen PC.

Source: PC Perspective