The TouchSmart 520 is a 23-inch multi-touch AIO powered by a 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2600S processor, Radeon HD 6450A graphics and Beats Audio. Additional perks include a built-in TV tuner and HDMI-in, essentially transforming the 520 into a venerable entertainment / gaming station.

The old HD 5750 and 5770 were popular Crossfire candidates and the same could be true of the HD 7700 series if it's priced right. We're testing the HD 7750 and HD 7770 in Crossfire across more than a dozen games to see how well they scale and compare against cards such as the HD 6870 and GTX 560 Ti.

Mass Effect 3 benchmarks and performance analysis -- We've benchmarked Mass Effect 3 across three different resolutions with two dozen GPU configurations -- including AMD's new Radeon HD 7000 series. We'll also see how the performance scales when overclocking an eight-core FX-8150, along with benching a handful of other Intel and AMD processors.

Mass Effect 3 is, at its core, an emotional story. No matter the choices that have come before, and no matter the choices made in this game, the toll of the conflict weighs heavily on Shepard at this point. The consequences of a galactic-scale war are staggering, and in many cases for the Commander, the best available option is only marginally less dreadful than the path not taken.

Today marks the release of the 'Pitcairn' GPUs which make up the the Radeon HD 7800 series. As you would expect the series consists of two GPUs: the Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 7850, designed to occupy the ample $200 to $400 range.

Gigabyte's offering carries a redesigned the PCB and upgraded cooler that is meant to lower temperatures and improve overclocking. Considering the HD 7970's respectable performance, we expect a solid showing from the HD 7950.

The PlayStation Vita is Sony's second portable gaming system and easily its better one. It arrives on something of a timer, as the rise of gaming on iOS and Android devices threatens the relevance of dedicated handhelds much the way Sony itself threatened the dominance of Nintendo's near-monopoly on dedicated handhelds more than half a decade ago.

Samsung's new Galaxy Note is a unique device in the smartphone market. Straddling the line between a smartphone and a tablet, the Note features a massive 5.3-inch display, which is considerably larger than the screen on any other smartphone available today. Because of this, the Note is rather unwieldy in the hand, and nearly impossible to use one handed.

The new Radeon HD 7770 and 7750 use the same 28nm design process and Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture as the 7000 series flagship, albeit in more affordable configurations. AMD is pricing the HD 7770 at $159 -- in line with the GeForce GTX 560 -- while the HD 7750 is even cheaper at $109, combating the GTX 550 Ti.

The Intel Core i7-3820 is particularly intriguing because of its sub-$300 retail price -- far less than other chips in the Sandy Bridge-E family. With that in mind we expected Intel to butcher this chip, but the 3820 remains an impressive specimen with four cores at 3.6GHz, a 10MB L3 cache and HT support.

The Intel SSD 520 Series is aimed at performance buffs with initial models offering capacities of 60GB, 120GB, 180GB, 240GB and 480GB. If it is maximum performance you seek then the SF-2281 based SSDs are hard to go by and the new Intel SSD 520 Series has to have the best support of any SandForce drive out there.

Multi-monitor technology was originally designed for productivity and it's still the driving force behind such technology today. With that in mind, Nvidia board partner Galaxy recently launched its affordable MDT X4 card, supporting four screens using the low-end GeForce GT 520.

We have hand-picked three graphics cards that represent select price ranges to see just how much extra value can be obtained through overclocking. For the $100+ range we have the Radeon HD 6750, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti has been used to represent the $200+ market. Then at the top of the food chain we have the Radeon HD 6970 going for $300 and up.

As you've surely noticed, mobile tech consumed the event with seemingly every major company unveiling smartphones, tablets or ultrabooks. Nonetheless, we managed to lay hands on plenty of awesome PC hardware, from NZXT's massive Switch chassis to Razer's Hydra gaming controller.

The Lumia 710 represents Nokia's first Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone in the U.S. Thanks to a fast processor and Windows Phone's attractive and snappy interface, the Lumia 710 is no slouch when you use it, and the phone benefits from solid call quality, decent battery life, and a usable camera.

More than ever we expect motherboard manufacturers deliver the goods with their X79 offerings as the platform will only be attractive to the most demanding of PC enthusiasts and gamers building heavily packed machines -- you know, those who will be paying ~$300 for a motherboard on top of a very expensive processor.

The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show kicked off this week in Las Vegas and we've been hard at work bringing you the most prominent product launches and announcements through our daily news stream. As it's become tradition, here's our own take on CES, in pictures...

HP's 2011 Envy 14 picks up right where last year's model left off by beefing up the internals, adding modern connectivity options like USB 3.0 and DisplayPort and greatly improving the touchpad.

The Radeon HD 7970 has earned its status as the world's fastest single-GPU card. AMD's new flagship offers huge performance gains over the HD 6970 -- a tad over 40% in the dozen games we tested. Unfortunately, AMD also plans to charge quite handsomely for the HD 7970's pixel-crunching prowess.

As the current Google flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung is the first device to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Although it's not without flaw, the Galaxy Nexus is every bit the hero smartphone that Google needs it to be to move Android to the next stage of its evolution.

The Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and 8.2 tablets pick up where the original Xoom tablet left off. They both offer Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE data speeds, large displays, and a stealth black finish that has been updated to feel better in the hand.

Without question one of the most affordable and thus commonly upgraded components by PC builders and enthusiasts alike is the CPU cooler. Included in the comparison are the Thermalright True Spirit 140, Prolimatech Panther, Thermaltake Frio Advanced and Noctua NH-C14.

The Samsung Focus S is one of the two new Windows Phone 7.5 smartphones for AT&T. Where the original Focus had a strong resemblance to the Samsung Galaxy S running Android, the Focus S is as close to a Windows Phone 7.5 version of the Galaxy S II as one can get.

The new LG Nitro HD represents the company's premier Android smartphone in the United States. It has a stellar spec sheet that includes 4G LTE data (AT&T), a 4.5-inch 720p HD display, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and a 1080p HD video-capable 8 megapixel camera.

It's been a year since the HAF X's arrival, and Cooler Master may have already outdone itself... The Storm Trooper packs several new features: 90-degree rotatable 4-in-3 HDD modules, an easy-to-carry handle, a built-in fan controller, an external 2.5-inch storage drive X-dock and the ability to support up to 14 internal hard drives.

The PC-Q25 vows to be Lian-Li's most advanced Mini-ITX offering yet. The case has plenty of room for high-end hardware so it can be enjoyed by gamers or media buffs, it supports up to five 3.5-inch HDDs and some impressive cooling options.

Amazon sent a wave crashing through the mobile industry when it announced its Kindle Fire would land with a price of $199. This is likely the best value in a tablet on the market, and will make tablet computing accessible to many people that either couldn't afford an iPad or couldn't tolerate Honeycomb tablets.

The foundation for Lenovo's ThinkPad line has been a uniform style that's stood the test of time quite well. It's simple, practical, recognizable and instills the value of quality in the minds of many. It will be interesting to see how that tradition has carried on to their first ThinkPad tablet running Android.

Skyrim benchmarks and performance analysis -- Although its popularity is undoubtedly aided by the cult-like status of the Elder Scrolls franchise, Skyrim isn't just a clone of its predecessors. Bethesda has made many gameplay refinements, especially to the graphics and animations -- our area of interest.

The tantalizingly brief Skyrim teaser trailer debuted by Bethesda Softworks late last year filled my mind with visions of titanic battles between man and beast; of shining steel bathed in ancient flames; of a champion rising from humble origins, prepared to sacrifice everything for the fate of the world.