Image Courtesy ASUS

The Intel P35 chipset has been out for a while but with its solid performance there are a large number of motherboards based on it to use. Of course, the features for the boards vary greatly along with the prices for them. Take for example ASUS. They produce a total of nine different motherboards using this chipset. How does one figure out which of these nine is best for them?

Today I take a look at the ASUS P5K-E, a mid-ranged P35 motherboard that offers a good balance of features. Find out in my review if this is a board you should consider for building your next desktop PC.

• ASUS P5K-E LGA775 Motherboard Review

Image Courtesy Western Digital

For those looking at purchase a desktop computer, one of the key numbers that you will be presented with is the hard drive. This is the primary method of data storage for the system and it has exploded over the past couple of years. How much space does one need? Does the type of interface really matter? Why does the system have two hard drives but only have the storage space of a single drive? These are some of the questions that you will have to answer when buying a desktop PC.

• Understanding Desktop Hard Drives

Image Courtesy ASUS

ASUS is a fairly new entry into the PC audio card market. Their Xonar product line has offered some extremely high quality PC audio that has rivaled such long time companies as Creative. Most sound cards are still based on the PCI interface standard but there are fewer of these slots available in the latest desktops. ASUS has released a new lower cost version of the Xonar that uses the new PCI-Express bus but still offers some of the great features introduced with the original Xonar. Find out in my review if this is an audio card you should consider for your desktop PC.

• ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-Express Audio Card Review

Acer may not be a household name when it comes to computers in the US market, but they are actually one of the largest for the Asian and European markets. While they do sell a few desktop computer systems, the majority of their PCs are notebook computers, including the highly stylish Acer Ferrari models. Find out what support they offer to customers in the US.

• Acer Support Profile

Included in the profile is a list the various avenues that users have for support, tips and advice with Acer computers. In addition to this, there is a survey on how readers feel Acer was able to resolve their computer problems. If you have used Acer's support in the past, be sure to vote in the survey and post your comments on your experiences.

How would you rate Acer's support?

• Excellent
• Above Average
• Average
• Below Average
• Poor

View Results

Image Courtesy Western Digital

Six months ago I did a review on the then recently released Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB hard drive. It was a very impressive drive for its price, offering a good mix between performance, capacity and noise. Now Western Digital has gone and reworked the platters they use in the Caviar SE16 lineup and released a smaller capacity 640GB model that promises to improve on this already outstanding drive lineup. Find out more in my review about how sacrificing a bit on storage gives this drive an edge on the higher capacity version.

• Western Digital 640GB Caviar SE16 SATA Hard Drive Review

Image Courtesy GeIL

Memory tends to fall into two different categories, value and performance. Value memory generally sticks to the JDEC standards and has limited performance potential. Performance memory generally looks to certified overclocking speeds. The GeIL 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 kit tries to offer extra performance through lower latencies but at a cost equivalent to value RAM. Does it really provide much extra performance or is it really just a glorified value memory kit? Find out in my review.

• GeIL Dual Channel 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory Review

Image Courtesy Seasonic

Seasonic is probably not an extremely well known company. They are one of the leading supplier of computer power supplies in the market and even produce units for other high-end companies such as Corsair. Of course, you can always skip getting one of their power supplies with another company name on it and get one directly from them.

The Seasonic M12II series is their latest generation of modular power supplies that offers up solid power with stable voltages, high efficiency and low noise operation. These are all great goals for a desktop power supply, but can they meet all these goals? Find out more in my review.

• Seasonic M12II-500 Modular Power Supply Review

Image Courtesy LG Electronics

Now that the Sony led Blu-ray format has won out over HD-DVD, consumers don't have to pick which next generation format they want to purchase. The problem is that stand alone players are still quite expensive. And what if you happen to be an unfortunate one that purchased HD-DVD and still want to watch your movies? LG Electronics has the answer with a Serial ATA desktop drive that plays both of the new generation of optional formats. It also supports playback and recording of DVD and CDs. All of this in a package that costs much less than a standard home theater player.

• LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD-DVD Reader and DVD Burner Review

Image Courtesy Acer

Notebook screen sizes have been standardized for some time. Most in and light systems use either a 14.1-inch of 15.4-inch wide screen display. This weeks deal is the new Acer Aspire AS6920-6621 notebook PC for $700 after savings from Circuit City. It is different from most thin and light notebooks because it uses a 16-inch display that features a more media oriented 1366x768 display. This gives it the 16:9 ratio that is typical of movies and HDTV video. It features a Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor, 3GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory, 320GB hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11a/b/g wireless and built-in webcam.

Disclaimer: All deals are those advertised by the retailer in question and may have rebates or other conditions of purchase for the products. Please be sure to read all disclaimers from the seller before purchasing.

With the US economy a concern for many people, consumers are looking to save some money on major purchases. Economic stimulus checks are going out to tax payers as a means to help boost the economy. If you happen to be in the market for a new computer, then maybe a budget desktop is just what you are looking for. These systems can general be found for under $650 without a monitor yet still provide plenty of performance for the majority of computing tasks.

Over the past two weeks, I've be reviewing a variety of desktop PC systems that cost less that $650. A few of them cost a bit more because they include a monitor with the PC. In these cases, the maximum price tag is $750. Now that all my reviews are done, find out which of these systems I feel is the best value for your dollar in these harder economic times.

• Best Budget Desktop PCs