Through its September 2009 System Builder’s Marathon (SBM), Tom’s Hardware has managed to build a pretty powerful gaming PC—for only $650. That price doesn’t include a display, keyboard, and mouse, but it still represents significant value for money, especially when you consider the use of two ATI Radeon HD 4850s.

Here are the parts used in this build, all available from NewEgg. Prices are current as of this writing (September 24, 2009):

	Type	Component	Price
	CPU	AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor	$102
	Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P ATX AMD Motherboard	$110
	Memory	OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) OCZ2G10664GK	$70
	Video Card	Two (2) SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 100245HDMI Video Cards	$100 each
	Hard Disk	Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive	$57
	Power Supply	Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power “compatible with Core i7″ Power Supply	$85
	Optical Drive	SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223B	$32
	Case	Rosewill Wind Ryder Black Dual 120mm Fans Computer Case	$40
Total			$696

Yes, I said Tom’s set out to build the PC with a $650 budget, but it seems prices have changed, bumping up the total of the parts above to $700—a figure exclusive of any relevant shipping charges and taxes. However, seven hundred dollars is still a very affordable figure for quality gaming. The two ATI Radeon HD 4850s were able to achieve a 3DMark Vantage 1.02 GPU score of 12,470. Compare that figure to the 16,813 score of the GeForce GTX 295, a high-end video card that costs at least $500.

In other words, for significantly less, this $700 PC represents enough power for the latest and next-generation PC video games. As the folks from Tom’s conclude:

If you look over our SBM articles from the past year, you’ll notice we continually strive to add more graphics muscle to our budget gaming rig. As prices drop, we have stepped up from the GeForce 8800 GT to the Radeon HD 4850, the Radeon HD 4870 512MB, and the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216, and now finally to a pair of HD 4850 512MB cards. While we did see instances where more graphics memory would have been useful, this was still by far the most potent graphics solution we have squeezed into our lowest SBM budget.

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Post from: The Gadget Blog

Resort hotels can be one of the best places to stay if you know what to look for. No matter if you’re looking at the Pechanga, California resort or a resort in Northern Michigan, the same things should apply to find the best overall experience. Since the gaming laws have been lowered in several places, hotel resorts and casinos are springing up everywhere. Choosing the right one can add to our overall vacation experience.

Look at the reviews of the place online. There are several places where you can find in-depth reviews and recommendations for various different resorts and casinos. If several people have all had the same bad experiences at a place, then you might want to look elsewhere. A few bad reviews aren’t bad. Everyplace will get those because you simply can’t satisfy everyone, but more bad than good is a definite red flag.

Check the website and see how many different resorts there are under the same chain. For example, the Pechanga Casino and Resort Hotel has several different locations throughout the country. The one thing to look for is if they are all rated equally or if one is worse than the other. If you want to stay with a particular brand, then you can alter vacation plans, or destinations, to accommodate.

Next, check out the amenities. The whole reason to stay at a luxurious, and expensive, resort and casino in the first place is for the different ways they can pamper you. Is there poolside service? Are there restaurants on the premises? Can you shop luxurious shops without leaving? Can you gamble on site? Are there rewards and incentives for guests?

If you don’t find anyplace that suits your needs and still want to play casino games and risk winning cash and prizes, you can also do the same thing at home. Of course, you won’t get the same level of customer service and pampering, but PC video games have come a long way in the casino game department. In fact, most online casino gaming sites will allow you to download software onto your computer to play different video style casino games. Using your PC to transport you thousands of miles to a resort hotel might not work in real life, but you can achieve top level gaming with video poker, video roulette, video jackpot, and several other casino games.

Resorts are great places to unwind. But, you might not be able to find the one you want to stay in before you leave for your trip. That’s OK. Just download some games onto your PC and you can have some of the experience.

I missed my demo of Mafia II at E3, which I’m still bummed out about, but 2K has a released a 15-minute walk through voiced over by producer Denby Grace. It looks quite good. What do you guys think? Due out later this year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Mafia II