Editors Choice Awards 2008

Benchmark Reviews tests a lot of very good computer hardware, which is a result of our selection process for product reviews. Although it would be most ideal for a hardware review website to test each and every item sold on the retail market, it's just not feasible due to limited staff and purchasing budget. As a result, many of the products featured here are among the best consumers will find. In this article Benchmark Reviews Executive Editor Olin Coles delivers his nominations for the 2008 Editors Choice Awards.

Since our inceptions on March of 2007, Benchmark Reviews has published over 230 product reviews. If one of the many of the products we test in our review articles earn an award, it usually receives the Seal of Approval, Silver Tachometer, or our the Golden Tachometer Award. However, being very good is different from being the best. That's where the Editors Choice Award comes in.

This year Benchmark Reviews will select one Editors Choice Award for each category: CPU Coolers, Desktop Processors, Solid State Drives, Desktop Graphics Cards, Computer Cases, System Memory, and Desktop Motherboards. As a benefit to readers, we will also list the products receiving honorable mention and those who deserve shame.

As a special note, Benchmark Reviews does not receive compensation for, or benefit from, the awards given to products in this article. The purpose of this article is to give consumers an insight into which products receive our highest recommendation. Unfortunately, because of the economic downturn in 2008, many review websites have started to charge fees for the use of their awards, which in turn leads to a vested interest in giving awards for the benefit of payment. Benchmark Reviews does not associate with these schemes and discourages them entirely. This allows us to remain unbiased towards manufacturers, and give a fair evaluation of the product.

CPU Coolers

For anyone who doesn't already know, Benchmark Reviews offers a quarterly series where we test the Best CPU Cooler Performance. With coolers, there's no way to play favorites. Either the CPU cooler performs better than the rest, or it's less than great. This series takes a wide-angle view of cooling products for desktop processors with both the casual computer user and hardcore overclocker in mind.

For anyone who already knows of this series, the writing has been on the wall for many months. Since launching back in March of 2008, OCZ Technology has enjoyed a fast-growing reputation as the leader in thermal management. The OCZTVEND2, or Vendetta 2 as it's commonly known, has been topping our charts test after test. The best part about this cooler is its performance, but at $49.99 the OCZTVEND2 really does deliver more than you pay for. Benchmark Reviews is proud to award the OCZ Vendetta 2 our 2008 Editors Choice Award.

There are several other products which could have stepped in to take this award, but the combination of price and performance kept them just a notch below our first choice. For the category of CPU Coolers, the Noctua NH-U12P, Cooler Master Hyper Z600 and Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme receive our honorable mention.

The list of products that give shame to the manufacturer is actually quite long this year. I don't want to lend myself to calling these project junk, but they are certainly what I consider impractical, under-performing, and over-priced by comparison. The list of dishonorable mentions could be pages if I allowed it, but for this article it includes the Thermaltake DuOrb CL-P0464, Gigabyte G-Power II Pro, and Zaward Gyre ZCJ010. You won't be seeing these products in our tests for 2009.

Desktop Processors

Processors have been making plenty of news this year, just not any headlines. We were happy to see the VIA Nano CPU - Codename Isaiah receive proper attention back in February, but not much later NVIDIA came calling with their Tegra 650 Mobile Processor. These are both great innovations for 2008, but neither of these processors are destined for consumer desktop computers.

Other than a few revisions of the AMD X2 and Intel Core 2 series, there hasn't been much news in regard to desktop processors. but nothing compares to the nature of progress we witnessed only a few months ago during the Intel Core i7 CPU launch.

The one product in the desktop processor category that earns our Benchmark Reviews Editors Choice Award for 2008 is the Intel Core i7-920 BX80601920. At the time of this writing the Core i7-920 processor is being sold at NewEgg for $299.99, making it tough to ignore for bargain shoppers. This quad-core can puff-up to eight cores with the re-introduction of Hyper Threading, and media encoding has never been faster. I could suggest the Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition as a runner-up, but the $1029.99 price tag seems a bit steep for the extra 10% of performance. Either way, the Core i7 platform has re-invented desktop processors, and 2009 looks like a good year for Intel.

Aside from bugs in the core architecture, AMD's launch of the Spider platform heading into this year could have gone much smoother. While it may seem like Benchmark Reviews caters primarily to the Intel enthusiast, this is really only a by-product of two things: poor marketing efforts and weak competition. AMD hosted a Phenom launch event in Lake Tahoe, a location twenty minutes from Benchmark Reviews HQ, and yet when I asked the marketing staff if I could attend without the need for travel assistance or lodging, I was turned away.

This was an unwelcome change of attitude for me, since I have operated an AMD-friendly computer company for several years. Benchmark Reviews didn't want free products, we only wanted to be included in press release distribution for our manufacturer news section; but we couldn't even the industry underdog to muster up this minimal effort. So with a combination of poor marketing efforts and miserable launch success, AMD has earned a contemptible reputation this year. Heading into 2009, Benchmark Reviews has scheduled sit-down time with AMD at the upcoming CES, but I have a feeling that we should prepare for the worst.

Solid State Drives

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. With virtually no delay in response time, these nonvolatile flash memory-based drives were quick to promise a more reliable storage media with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. I suppose it's been a slow ramp-up for consumers to accept Solid State Drive technology, similar to the struggle DDR3 SDRAM has seen, since the prices early-on were incredibly high.

But 2008 has been an impressive year for SSD technology. Solid State Drives have been an inspiration for me, and our Storage Section is filled with SSD reviews to prove it. This is also proof of how difficult it can be to weed out the good from the bad, because even I have problems recommending one product over another. Because of the fast-paced changes to DRAM technology, my favorite SSD products today may literally not be the same tomorrow. But in the effort of living in the moment, there is one particular Solid State Drive that deserves top recognition.

The Benchmark Reviews 2008 Editors Choice Award for Solid State Drives goes to the Patriot Warp v2, for offering an extremely durable product at a very affordable price. Costing $2.64 per gigabyte going into 2009, the 128GB Patriot Warp v2 is the best value of its series, and can be purchased for $339 ($319 after rebate). If you're not going to need that much storage space, the 64GB PE64GS25SSDR is sold for the more affordable price of $169 ($149 after rebate). I currently use a 32GB SSD on my notebook, which means that you can, too. NewEgg also sells the 32GB Patriot Warp PE32GS25SSDR for $88 ($68 after rebate). On the other hand it might be wiser to wait, since Patriot has just announced their Warp v3 Solid State Drive.

There are a few products that easily deserve honorable mention in this category, such as the G.Skill FM-25S2S Series MLC SSD. The performance may only reach #3 in our comprehensive list of products, but price and value are the best we've found so far. At a very-reasonable cost of $2.17 per gigabyte of SSD storage space (compared to $1.13 for the VelociRaptor), the 64GB G.Skill SSD can costs a mere $139 while the 128GB version sells for $255. Once you go SSD, you don't turn back. The only downside with this drive is the lack of customer support; every other aspect is top rate.

Of all the SSD products I've seen in 2008, only one had poor performance and an absurd price tag. The Silicon Power SATA Solid State Drive was launched public in June, but days later into July they began to offer their SLC SATA-II SSD to the open market, thereby shaming their name with a full line of now-obsolete products that were probably still inside of the return-policy period with most retailers. Even though the SATA-II version came back and performed quite well, I can't get over how poorly Silicon Power executed their product roadmap; and how consumers suffered as a result.

Desktop Graphics Cards

Video cards are part of an industry that must frequently produce new product in order to stay competitive, and not necessarily because a new product is needed. This factor notwithstanding, there have been a few very important developments in the desktop graphics segment for 2008. So while most video games have actually started to rest on their laurels and essentially require the same hardware today that they did three years ago, the GPU industry has forged ahead month after month.

For the sake of argument, there have really only been three players in the discrete graphics sector: NVIDIA, ATI/AMD, and Silicon Graphics. Silicon Graphics have carved a niche in the low-end segment, which sell well in South America and developing nations. But for gamers, only NVIDIA or ATI products will do; and both companies have had a convincing argument to use their products at one point or another in 2008.

The product which has most-impressed me is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 video card. NVIDIA created a monster with thsi single-GPU display adapter, and ATI was forced to fight it with their 4870 X2 dual-GPU space heater. Partners such as ZOTAC later released their GTX 280 AMP! Edition graphics card, which to this day has offered the best performance of any single-GPU solution we've tested. For this, the GTX 280 has earned the Benchmark Reviews Editors Choice Award for 2008.

I would be remiss to exclude ATI's efforts, however. The Radeon HD 4850 may not pack the hardest punch, but it sure delivers a whole lot for only $159.99 and deserves an honorable mention. If it weren't for the scorching hot RV770 it try's to domesticate with a single-slot cooler, this might have been our top choice. The Radeon HD 4870 has also been quite the performer, but GDDR5 hasn't caught on like it should have with manufacturers, and the bandwidth hasn't been cause for demand.

So what was less than worthwhile this year? The GeForce 9500 GT G96 Video Card. The 9500 series should be sold for the price of shipping, because it performs on par with integrated graphics. Ultimately, this insults the good name of GT's everywhere, and NVIDIA should be ashamed of offering such a pathetic video card to the discrete graphics market. With 256 and 512MB GDDR3 versions available, I question the engineers who decided it was better to choke this little bugger with vRAM than to give it a native HDMI port.

Computer Cases

If there was ever one item that connected enthusiasts to one another, it's the computer case. There's a size for everyone, with a myriad of configurations and colors to please the most finicky builder. Regardless of personal choice, these enclosures become a shrine to the hardware that lines their chassis. Once you've used a custom after-market case, you've joined the ranks of system builders worldwide.

So it can be argued that no computer case can ever really be 'the best' when there are so many different varieties for just as many applications. Argue if you must, but after seeing the features on Cooler Master's recent ATCS 840 the choice was clear. The most popular computer case designs get licensed out to other manufacturers all the time, so it's not surprising that Cooler Master has re-launched the ATCS 840 after their own previously modeled design. This full-tower RC-840 chassis is built on the principal of cooling performance, which is where it receives the Advanced Thermal Cooling Solution (ATCS) name. This chassis has more than enough room inside to accommodate a large collection of hardware, and a knock-out in the motherboard which allows CPU cooler bolt-through kits to be mounted without removing the system. Benchmark Reviews is pleased with the black aluminum-alloy RC-840-KKN1-GP model, and commend this refined enclosure with our 2008 Editors Choice Award.

The competition is fierce in the computer enclosure industry, and there were plenty of runner-up products that made my list. Among them was the Silverstone Kublai KL03B-W and Hiper Osiris HTC-1K514, both of which were top performers and offered excellent features for the price. The Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Case may have only earned our Silver Tachometer Award, but it offers excellent cooling and ample working space for SLI or CrossFireX configurations. The real sleeper was the NZXT Rogue that packed a full-size ATX motherboard inside a SFF computer chassis.

Of course, we had some thorns among the roses, and one of my favorite manufacturers was to blame. When Lian Li contacted me for a review, I was pleased to set aside other projects and give them my full attention. So a few weeks later when I was ready to publish the PC-A58B Mid-Tower Case review, it broke my heart to hear that it wasn't going to be produced and that I shouldn't post the article. Bah! What a sweet waste of many hours spent on this aluminum case, only to learn it will never see the light of day. Limited Edition computer case don't have anything on the PC-A58 series, which is why it earns a mark of shame.

System Memory

It's not easy to pin down which of the three memory technologies deserve top attention over the past year. DDR2 System memory is still alive and well, with speeds reaching new highs and prices reaching new lows. If you don't mind the heat these parts produce as a by-product of their operating voltage, then there's a lot of value to be had for these memory kits. Of course, if you're forward thinking, then the choice narrows to DDR3-based memory. In my article DDR3 RAM: System Memory Technology Explained, I reveal that these are simply a higher-speed version of DDR2; they are a whole new architecture. Making the decision even tougher is how DDR3 evolved from dual-channel into triple-channel bandwidth only a month ago.

So who makes the best system memory? Which memory kit is best? To believe my answer, you will have had to test dozens of memory kits. With so many kits tested, I can honestly say that there's no one memory kit that stands out on its own merit. There are however, manufacturers that make very affordable memory kits that perform well and seldom fail. That's where I place merit, because some of the fastest kits I've used tend to fall short at value and product longevity.

One memory kit has impressed me time and time again, with no concern that it would fail or overclocking performance would diminish, and that kit is made by Crucial, a division of Lexar. Crucial offers the Ballistix DDR3 memory kit for enthusiasts wanting a little more bandwidth and overclocking headroom, without the dangerous voltage required by other kits. It just so happens that the Crucial PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz BL2KIT12864BA1608 memory kit is the top-performer at JEDEC stated 1.5 volts, and overclocked from 1600 MHz to 1825 Mhz without any extra power. Crucial's Ballistix memory kit has earned our 2008 Editors Choice Award, and we have never been disappointed with their products.

But Crucial doesn't own the spotlight all to themselves, because the Aeneon DDR3-1600 4GB AXH860UD20-16H by Qimonda was a hard-working 4GB kit that stretched its limits without adding voltage. Another less popular name whos kit held its own was the A-Data Vitesta DDR3-1600X. Both of these DDR3 memory kits may be tough to locate, but neither will disappoint.

There were a few memory kits, and a few manufacturers, that disappointed me in 2008. First and foremost, it should be understood that I have proven the term 'gaming memory' to be a marketing term with no meaning. With less than 3 FPS separating 1066 MHz CL8 from 1800 MHz CL7, it's a real shame that manufacturers such as Kingston and OCZ can produce very good products yet still try to fool consumers with misleading product names. Worse than this are the elite high-speed kits that promise extreme speeds at low latency, such as the Corsair Dominator DDR3 memory kit, and months later cannot even operate at its default values. These are all minor disappointments from otherwise fine companies, but one product in particular should be avoided at all costs.

The worst memory product I've seen in 2008 was the SimpleTech PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz S1024R5NP2QA memory kit. With an extremely long 9-9-9-24 latency for a 1333 MHz DDR3 that has only 8% overclocking headroom and a price tag that would buy two of the leading kits, SimpleTech is going to have a tough time digging themselves out of the hole in 2009.

Desktop Motherboards

The Intel Core i7 CPU has opened the motherboard industry to three things: socket LGA1366 coolers, triple-channel DDR3 system memory, and X58-Express motherboards. Now obviously it helps that you're already building on top of Intel's most sophisticated processor every created, but you've got to enjoy that everything else comes with it as a by-product.

Benchmark Reviews has been hard at work testing a collection of X58 motherboards. We've covered the Intel DX58SO 'Smackover', tested the Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME, and reviewed the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition. But of all the motherboards articles we've already published, as well as those still awaiting final edit, only one is worthy of top-honors. Benchmark Reviews is pleased to award ASUS with our 2008 Editors Choice Award for their P6T Deluxe motherboard. This mainboard features everything that the more expensive OC Palm edition does, but the $299.99 price tag makes it one of the most durable X58 motherboards available.

Aside from the other X58 motherboards we've mentioned, the most deserving of honorable mention was the GA-EP45T-EXTREME P45-Express DDR3 motherboard from Gigabyte. This is one solid product, and for Core 2 owners there isn't much else that proves to be more durable for overclocking. The design proved so well, that Gigabyte modeled its X58 successor directly from it.

Of all the motherboard products making it to market in 2008, of which there were many... too many in fact, there was one particular disappointment. While certain models earned our Golden Tachometer Award because of the features and functionality built onto them, the collection of nForce 790i SLI motherboards seemed to offer very little more than the Intel competition, so long as they worked. The 790i chipset was generally a success, but not without plenty of bad experiences to help the negative press make headlines. It's a good thing for NVIDIA that AMD kept dropping the ball this past year, or else more people would still be talking about their unsuccessful chipset.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I am not proud of how difficult 2008 has been for the staff at Benchmark Reviews, and I suspect it has been equally challenging on our visitors. Although I revealed little about my personal doubts on the state of technology and how the economy affects us all, there have been revealing clues throughout my writing all year long. We've seen the computer hardware industry become cut-throat with dirty marketing tactics, made worse by the fact that software writers have reduced themselves to the same level. It's for this reason that I convinced myself to announce my top choices for the benefit of consumer awareness.

Awards are not a tool we like to use to thank the manufacturers for lending us test samples or donating hardware for review. These awards are meant to separate the good products from those which are great, and deserve the merit. My final list may not be a comprehensive collection of every consumer electronic and computer hardware component available, but it's better to offer validation on products I've personally tested and experience than suggest a name based on popularity.

The following products receive the 2008 Editors Choice Award from Benchmark Reviews:

CPU Coolers: OCZ Vendetta 2 OCZTVEND2

Our initial review of the Vendetta 2 has been complimented by the follow-up article Vendetta 2 vs TRUE vs HDT-S1283, and the ongoing Best CPU Cooler Performance series. Presently the OCZTVEND2 is available from NewEgg for $49.99 with an additional rebate offer for a limited time. Other online retailers have also offered excellent bargains on the Vendetta 2.

Desktop Processors: Intel Core i7-920 BX80601920

The in-depth testing we've conducted with the Intel Core i7-920 has cemented this quad-core CPU to be our finest choice for the desktop processor segment. Currently the best price on the BX80601920 retail set is $299.99 at NewEgg, while a large number of other retailers have also listed the Core i7-920 CPU for sell.

Solid State Drives: G.Skill FM-25S2S Series

For performance enthusiasts and casual users with a need for speed, the G.Skill FM-25S2S Series MLC SSD offers the very best price to performance ratio at the time of this writing. The 64GB G.Skill SSD can costs a mere $139 while the 128GB version sells for $255.

Desktop Graphics Cards: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

The entire year has been turbulent with graphics news, with the pendulum swinging back in forth between the two major manufacturers. Now that the dust has finally settled, at least until the 2009 CES, my vote goes for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 video card. Add-in card partners such as ZOTAC improve the position with their factory-overclocked GTX 280 AMP! Edition graphics card, which to this day has offered the best performance of any single-GPU solution we've tested. Several deals exist on the GTX 280, with models from MSI for $329 (after rebate) and eVGA as low as $389.

Computer Cases: Cooler Master ATCS 840

I'm not generally a fan of large computer cases, but when they're as feature-packed as the ATCS 840 it's hard to deny them their due praise. Currently the RC-800 model sells for $279.99, in either black or silver finish. For hardware enthusiasts this is the most convenient chassis I've found, and it deserves my vote of excellence.

System Memory: Crucial Ballistix DDR3

No system memory kit performed better than the Crucial PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz BL2KIT12864BA1608 we tested. Stretched from 1600 MHz to 1825 MHz without adding more voltage, this memory kit also offers excellent value with prices starting at Crucial for only $116.99 directly from Crucial, or $159.99 from NewEgg.

Desktop Motherboards: ASUS P6T Deluxe

Benchmark Reviews was thoroughly pleased with the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition we've tested, but take away the handheld gadget and you've got yourself a real performer with a competitive $299.99 price tag. If you're the type who stays ahead of the game, this is the motherboard that will take your Core i7 processor to new highs; especially if it's the unlocked Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition.

I hope that you find some useful level of value in the recommendations offered in this article. We all have our personally favorites, and it's always nice to hear from our readers. Please accept an open invitation to leave your remarks in our Discussion Forum. I salute this collection of the finest products for 2008, and sincerely thank every staff member and manufacturer who have donated time and goods towards our testing. My wishes are that 2009 become the year that 2008 should have been, and computer software gives us reason to rejoice in the technical developments of hardware.

Related Articles:

• OCZ Vendetta 2 HDT CPU Cooler OCZTVEND2
• Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008
• ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition X58 Motherboard
• Cooler Master ATCS 840 Computer Case RC-840
• NVIDIA Editors Day 2008
• Intel Core i7-920 Processor BX80601920
• Vendetta 2 vs TRUE vs HDT-S1283
• ZOTAC GeForce GTX 280 AMP! Edition Video Card
• Crucial PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz BL2KIT12864BA1608
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 Video Card