Playing high-end games like Halo 2 on your PC isn't as simple as popping in the disc, installing the game, and running it. A lot of times, you need to have the best hardware possible to run the application smoothly.

This can be quite tricky for the non-tech savvy crowd because of the ever-evolving specs of today's computers. Fortunately, there are people who care about guys like that.

A-Power has taken the liberty of custom-building the best possible system to run Halo 2 and making it available to the market. The machine is loaded with some pretty big specs, which will ensure that you can run pretty much everything currently on the market. What's more, even the case is customized to feed that Halo craving. These are the complete specs of their offered bundle:

• Processor: Intel Pentium CORE 2 DUO E6600 2.4GHz 4MB
• Memory: OCZ Gold XTC OCZ2G8002GK 2x1GB DDR2 800Mhz
• Mainboard: ASUS P5K Deluxe P35 Chipset DDR2 S/PDIF Out (Coaxial + Optical), DTS Connect & IEEE1394 Firewire
• Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S182F/BEBN Black 18x18 DL DVD Writer
• Hard Drive: Seagate 320GB 7200RPM SATA-II 16MB
• Video: eVGA E-GEFORCE 8600GTS 256M DDR3 PCI-E
• Audio: Realtek ALC883 6-channel (5.1) CODEC
• Network: Marvell 88E1116 PHY Gigabit LAN controller
• Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black 18.4" Ultimate Gamer Case
• Power: OCZ 700W GameXStream SLI Power Supply
• Keyboard: Microsoft Reclusa Gaming Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Habu Gaming Mouse
• Included OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Direct X 10 Supported!!)
• FREE GAME! Halo 2 PC Edition (Limited Quantity)
  

This hotrod starts selling on May 22. The price is still unrevealed, but it obviously won't come cheap. We'll keep you posted for more on this dream machine.

Leave it to the folks at NVidia to make life better for notebook users everywhere. That's what will happen when they release their upcoming SLI Power GPU solution. As it stands, the new system will allow notebooks to autonomously switch back and forth between an integrated graphics solution, to save power when less graphics horsepower is needed, and a higher power discreet graphics processor, that kicks in when you are gaming or doing other graphically demanding tasks.

The new SLI Power solution from NVidia will produce less heat overall than similar independent processors alone, while still maintaining the option to take advantage of higher performance when necessary. The system will also increase battery life, and contribute to a longer lasting system by only using parts when they are needed.

While there are many laptops already in existence that have both a discreet GPU and an integrated one, the product coming from nVidia will be the only one that will allow you to switch between the two processing units automatically without rebooting or otherwise interrupting an ongoing task. Through a system of hardware logic and course clock gating, the system will be able to cut power to unused devices while switching seamlessly between the two processors.

While getting this system to work seamlessly is not going to be an easy task for nVidia to complete (especially considering Windows-related driver and compatibility issues), the market is expecting a release that will coincide with the upcoming launch of Microsoft Vista (whenever that is).