Get into the game with these high performance computers

Most people can do perfectly fine with a mainstream or budget computer costing $800 or less. However, for some, such as serious gamers, equally serious computing firepower is called for. The same is true for professional users, such as graphics designers and video editors. For them, the high-powered rigs profiled in our freshly-updated report on gaming computers are a better fit.

Higher power, of course, means higher prices, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to empty your checking account. Our report identifies several swanky gaming systems with enough firepower to please all but the most competitive gamers. The Micro Velocity Edge Z30 and the CyberPower Gamer Extreme 3000 can play with the best of them in configurations that come in at well under $2,000. If you need more horsepower, the Falcon Northwest Talon dials things up a notch in its mid-level configurations, and then essentially twists the knob as far as it can go with its top-end models. These cost a pretty penny, yet they're still priced at about half of what you'd  pay for other drool-worthy super rigs.

And the full report doesn't forget users looking for a just little more than what's found in a typical computer. That includes desktops that won't knock a gamer's socks off, but have tons of power for business and professional users. You'll also get the lowdown on the latest all-in-ones, such as the HP TouchSmart 600-1055, which critics say might be the best touch-capable computer to date, and the new 27-inch Quad Core Apple iMacs, which might be the fastest Mac computers of all.