Engadget's summer gear guide 2012: gaming

June 3rd, 2012, 23:27

NVIDIA GTX 690

Looking for something to lord over the competition at your next LAN party? Try the GTX 690, NVIDIA's flagship Kepler graphics card. The epitome of overkill, this $999 beast features two chunks of silicone based on the firm's latest GPU architecture, giving users the benefits of running a dual-card, SLI configuration with a smaller energy footprint. Too rich for your blood? Take a look at the $499 GTX 680 and $399 GTX 670 to melt your eyes without liquefying your assets.

Price: $1,000 at Newegg
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Sony PlayStation Vita

If you're looking for the latest in console gaming, the PlayStation Vita is your ticket -- not to mention the industry's most powerful handheld to date. Dual-analog controls, a vivid, 5-inch OLED touchscreen and killer handheld graphics put the portable in a class of its own. Watch out for that battery life, though -- three hours isn't going to get you through even one state in that big cross-country road trip you were planning. If you're itching for a successor to the home consoles the Vita hopes to emulate, however, you'll need to wait for E3 and beyond. Until then, viva la Vita.

Price: $240 at Amazon
MSI GT70 / high-end gaming laptops

It may not be sporting NVIDIA's aforementioned Kepler silicone, but the MSI GT70 is still a heck of a gaming beast, flaunting an Intel Core i7-3610QM 2.3GHz processor, a luxurious 17.3-inch screen, an NVIDIA GTX 670M mobile GPU and one of the best keyboard and touchpad combos we've ever used. It's not the only game in town either -- PC manufacturers are building a new generation of gaming portables, from lightweight rigs like the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3, to oversized behemoths like MSI's latest number. Sure, you may miss out on the geek cred of building your own gaming setup, but there's something to be said for the portability of a laptop.

Price: $2,000 at Newegg

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