Computer Ed Radio

Golden Mic Awards 2012

For a long time I have resisted giving out awards. I see this way overdone and in the end lets face it most of the so called awards earned by hardware are tripe and next to meaningless considering about 30 other products of the same type and in the same year win the same award. I wanted to do this right, to let these awards mean something and not last until the next great product.  With that in mind we are proud to present the Computer Ed Golden Mike Awards.

The awards are given to products we have seen over the last year of Computer Ed Radio. The cut off this year was June 1st which means products we have had time to go through the review process with by June 1st, thus a lot of the products we have recently received were not eligible for these awards. However they will be eligible for next year as will this years winners.

The criteria for these awards are not based on performance but a combination of price, real world benefit and quality. The sections were very hard as we have seen some outstanding products over the last year and new ones come in each day. However we have never wimped out on you before and we will not start now, we will make the tough call and name one winner in each of the following categories.

This years awards will be announced on our show live, July 28th so be sure to tune in

Awards show segments as aired live 27 July 2012

Computer Case

Thermaltake Overseer RX1: A full tower case with a great price point the Overseer brings outstanding stock cooling to the party along with options to give some of the best case cooling potential in the market.

Mouse

Steelseries Ikari: Designed for right handed gamers the Ikari brings basic functions with solid construction at a reasonable price. While it might lack the extra buttons, it has enough to give a great gaming experience and performs as well as much more expensive mice.

Keyboard

Deck Legend: Sometimes it is just worth paying extra for the best and the Deck legend is one of those times. With dual injection molded keys, cherry clear mechanical switches and individually backlight keys with LEDs the Legend is worth of it’s name. Deck brags it could be the last keyboard you ever own, they could very well be right.

Headset

Corsair Vengeance 1500:  The 50mm drivers in this headset deliver amazing sound and can simulate 7.1 sound to near perfection. By using a USB sound solution Corsair ensures the sound dynamics of the headset fit exactly were they should. Add to this the best mic we have tested to date and you have a great headset for those late gaming session online with friend.

SSD

Kingston HyperX 3K SSD:  Take the best features of the HyperX SSD and then use a lower cost memory to reduce the cost of the SSD and you get one of the fastest SSDs out for a reasonable price. Throw in the amazing quality Kingston brings to the table and a package with everything you need for an SSD upgrade and you have one of the best SSD deals on the market.

CPU

Intel i5 2400: It might not the fastest or newest CPU on the market but this little chip is a hidden gem that the enthusiast world has overlooked. At stock speeds it is so close to the 2500K that it is hard to tell the difference between the two chip. When it comes to overclocking it may not be unlocked but it can still reach 3.9 Ghz with ease and puts it right in the range of typical 2500K overclocks, only the extreme users pass it. Less cost and nearly same speed in all but extreme cases, what is not to love here?

CPU Cooler

Antec H2O 620:  Traditional air coolers can be big and bulky, making it hard to work in your PC. Plus they end up just pushing the CPU heat away from the CPU into the case. Liquid coolers move the heat out of the case and the low profile design means working in the PC is much easier. The 620 delivers a solid cooling solution, easy installation and a reasonable price.

Power Supply

Thermaltake TR2 600: A power supply can make or break a great system. Bad power supplies can cause system instability or even damage. The TR2 is a budget oriented PSU that delivers clean, solid power. Thermaltake believes in this PSU so much they gave it a 5 year warrenty. Of note, we made a mistake in our discussion of this PSU, the model we looked at did not have the 80+ certifcation sticker on it. This PSU is 80+ Bronze rated, making this buy even better.

Video Card

Sapphire HD7850 OC:  what happens when you take the power of one of last generations top end video cards, reduce it’s power usage under load to a trickle and then price it at around $250? You get an amazing gaming card that will deliver a great experience at 1080 for pretty much any game out there. Bring that card together with Sapphire quality and you have this incredible little card.

I wish to extend a special thank you to all the companies that sent us review samples over the last year. We have gotten to see some great products and look forward to seeing more in the coming year.