Velocity Micro has produced a highly capable mid range gaming desktop with their Micro Edge Z30. This $1,349 system has strong and stable performance and high build quality. The system features a Core i7 860 chip CPU overclocked at 3.2GHz, 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 1TB 7,200 rpm hard drive, and a 896MB Nvidia GeForce GTX video card. The machine comes with a second graphics slot which isn’t standard at the $1,300 price range.

Checkout this CNET review. They love the compact profile case, the expansion options, and lower power consumption scores. The biggest surprise is that Z30’s CPU outpaces systems from Asus and Maingear in at the $1,349  price. The Nvidia video card has enough power - Far Cry 2 runs at 60fps. The bottom line with this system is that you get the power of a $6,500 Alienware system with a budget of less than $1,400.

One of the hottest desktops on Newegg right now is the CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1030. If it wasn’t for the medium end video card you’d almost think the Gamer Xtreme 1030 was totally high end. The fact remains that the NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT video card is older and just not “top of the line.” If you’re craving high end intense games you can easily upgrade the card to make the system high end. The Gamer Xtreme comes with a super fast CPU (Intel Core i5 750 CPU running at 2.66GHz) and 4GB of (DDR3 1333) RAM. The 500GB hard drive is a super fast piece of hardware: SATA-II running at 3.0Gb/s and spins 7200RPM.  The machine comes with Windows 7 Home Premium – 64bit version. You can find the Gamer Xtreme 1030 priced $749.99 at Newegg. Read the rest of this entry »

The Gateway FX6801-03 is a great mid range gaming rig for under $1,150. It has a fast 4 core CPU that can act as 8 cores, a mid range performing graphics card, and 9GB of RAM. All these components give you a 5.9 on the Windows system index and a great overall gaming desktop.

The FX6801-03 comes loaded with the Intel Core i7-920 quad-core processor which runs 2.66GHz. This I7-920 CPU supports Hyper-Threading which means that each core represents two virtual CPUs so compatible software will run as if there were eight cores.

The PC currently goes for $999 at Newegg. Here’s the FX6801-03 on Gateway’s website; all the specs are here. Read the about the FX6801-03

iBUYPOWER is hoping you’ll be enticed to by their Gamer Supreme 928i (released this past April). The 928i was designed for the “recession-minded performance gamer” in mind. For $1,299 you get an Intel Core i7 920 CPU, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 285 1GB graphics card, 6GB of triple-channel DDR3-1333 memory and a 1TB SATA II hard drive. If you need more power you can add more powerful graphics cards to the open PCIe slots. This system is only available at Newegg.

Review Summaries

According to Computer Shopper this is capable (according to the manufacturer at least) of pushing World in Conflict at 60FPS in 1280×1024 on Very High detail settings while at the same time not running you a couple of grand. More on the iBUYPOWER 928i