The Radeon HD 7850 has great performance for the price, but it also currently comes with Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which would cost about $125 separately and are all pretty good games. Jackpot!
The Samsung 840 Pro is the definition of Kick Ass, as it's the fastest SSD we've ever tested in not just one or two but seven out of nine benchmarks. The Samsung 840 Pro replaces the Samsung 830 Series as our Best of the Best SSD, continuing a legacy of domianance by Samsung in this still-nascent hardware category.
Seagate's 3TB Barracuda is the first from their 1-terabyte-per-platter series of Barracudas, and it's fast, with read and write speeds averaging above 150MB/s. Given the relative pokiness of the only 4TB drives on the market, the Barracuda offers the best combination of speed and performance.
Yes, we've been in love with Cooler Master's Hyper 212-series of CPU coolers. And why not? Each new model has been better than the last, and each one has been incredibly affordable. We don't see a big reason to switch from the older Hyper 212 Plus, but if you're building anew or need to upgrade from a stock cooler that's not getting the job done, this is our pick.
The Noctua-alike that out-Noctua'd Noctua, Phanteks only makes one air cooler: the PH-TC14PE, but it makes it well. The massive cooler is the best-performing air cooler we've ever tested, and it ships with two 14cm fans. It even comes in your choice of white/aluminum, red, blue, or orange. The huge heatsink does interfere with tall RAM heatspreaders, but if you need best-in-class air cooling, try Phanteks.
The H80i is the best-performing, coolest cooler we've reviewed yet. Yes, this includes double radiator coolers like the original Corsair H100. Even more impressive is that it works with Corsair's Link cooling software, which allows you to customize the cool LED light based on temperatures and adjust fan RPMs on the fly. It is indeed one Kick Ass cooler!
With support for up to four graphics cards, nine fan or three radiators, and 11 hard drive bays (not even counting the two hot-swap bays), the Cosmos II can handle all the hardware you care to throw at it. It's a thoroughly modern case, with a four-channel fan controller, internal USB 3.0 headers, and plenty of cable-routing options. It's also enormous, but if you've got it, flaunt it!
Chassis fans running at high RPMs can get loud, but the Kick Ass Thermaltake New Soprano case does a great job with soundproofing. The chassis also offers good cooling, easy installation, and slick aesthetics. It's also very affordable to boot.
It took a while, but we finally found a 30-inch monitor capable of knocking HP's ZR30w display off its perch on our best-of-the-best list: Dell's U3011 produced some of the crispest text we’ve seen in tests that examine font clarity and readability. The monitor also did well on pixel-tracking tests that expose digital noise, and it produced stellar results in color-ramp tests that evaluate the display’s ability to produce smooth color gradations.
It's almost astonishing that Asus can deliver such a crisp and beautiful IPS panel for so little money. The PA238Q is gorgeous and well-built, comes with good color calibration and a great chassis. It's simply stunning.
