Best Performance Desktop PCs

Best Desktop PCs Available for Over $1250 Without Monitor

Most people are looking to get strong performance but at a low cost. At $1300, the Gamer Supreme 928i from iBUYPOWER is certainly an excellent value for anyone wanting a performance system especially for gaming. It uses the Core i7 920 processor with 6GB of PC3-10600 DDR3 memory to provide it with very strong base performance. Gamers will be happy to see a very high end GeForce GTX 285 graphics card with 1GB of memory that allows it to easily play games at 1920x1200 and even up to 2560x1600 provided you have the monitor. Store is also quite good with a terabyte sized hard drive and 22x DVD burner. The only downsides are default cooling that won't really support much overclocking and some variation in parts between two of the same model.

For someone looking at a high performance system that might be used for just about anything, the Gateway FX6800-09 is a solid choice. It uses the Intel Core i7 920 processor with 6GB of DDR3 memory to provide it with a solid base. Graphics are also quite good thanks to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 graphics card. Gaming up to 1920x1200 is no problem for this rig. Storage is quite good with a one terabyte hard drive. One really great feature is the front access SATA drive bays that allows adding in two additional drives a breeze. About the only real drawback to the system is fewer internal card slot for expansion cards, either from a second graphics card for SLI or other items.

If money is no object and you just have to have the fastest gaming system around, then Falcon Northwest Mach V is my choice for the best system with the ultimate performance. With options to use the new Core i7 975 Extreme processor, Velociraptor 10,000rpm or 2TB hard drives, liquid cooling and GeForce 295 GTX SLI configurations, the system offers extremely high levels of performance with some superb service to back up the product. Of course, there are also options for custom paint jobs to give the system a personalized look as well. All of this comes with extremely high price tags that can quickly rise in to $4000 and higher. Still, its certainly a system for those wanting to have the best available.

Those looking to do lots of video editing need high performance systems. Video transcoding is some of the most memory and processor intensive tasks on the market. Because of this, a workstation class system is a much better choice than a traditional consumer desktop. Take for instance the Apple Mac Pro. With a two Intel Xeon 5500 class processors each with four cores on it and the ability to have up to 32GB of memory, this system will be able to tear through video editing tasks. Add to this the excellent Final Cut Pro software and the Mac Pro is one of the best available video editing platforms available on the market. It certainly doesn't come cheap though with the base eight core Mac Pro costing just over $3000.

Many people who are looking to spend over a thousand dollars for a desktop computer want to know exactly what they are getting. Whether it is a specific processors, motherboard, hard drive, video card, case or even a power supply it is important to get just the desktop you want. Those that want this exact level of choice but don't want to put the system together from parts should look into the Cyberpower Gamer Xtreme XT. It comes with a very reasonable price tag of just $1150 with some very solid features including Core i7 920 with liquid cooling, 6GB of DDR3 memory, one terabyte hard drive and even a Radeon HD 4870 graphics card. With all the upgrade and customization options though, there are thousands of possible systems to make.