Intel’s Haswell chip easily handles intense PC games

ATLANTA — PC gaming has been a withering entity lately. Consoles rule, and game makers primarily target Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox as the game systems of choice. That hasn’t stopped PC gaming specialists from trying their best, though.

Intel’s latest processing chips, known as Haswell, easily handle the rigors of the most demanding PC games.

Here’s a look at a new gaming laptop and a desktop tower, both running Windows 8. They come from MSI and Digital Storm, two strong builders of high-quality gaming PCs:

MSI GT70 laptop ($2,799 for configuration with 3.4 gigahertz processor, 32 gigabytes of RAM):

Calling MSI’s GT70 a laptop is technically true, but it’s a beast.

The configuration I tested weighs 8.6 pounds and boasts a 17.3-inch screen, measured diagonally, with a resolution of 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels for highdefinition graphics. It has plenty of ports for accessories.

Under the hood is an Intel Core i7 3.4 gigahertz quad-core processor. Coupled with 32 gigabytes of internal memory, the maximum this processor can use, the GT70 handles a demanding blend of titles without a hitch. There’s a generous 1 terabytes of hard drive space to store your games and 128 gigabytes of solid-state storage for faster access to data.

“Wolfenstein” recommends systems with at least at a 2.4 gigahertz processor and 2 gigabytes of memory. The GT70 essentially stomps all over these recommendations. That’s the case with all the other titles I tested, including “Far Cry 3,” ‘’Crysis Warhead,” and “Risen.” The GT70 laughs at recommended specs.

I couldn’t make this laptop wilt even after toggling the screen resolution, shadows and graphics options to the highest settings. There was no buffering, lagging or glitches.

If I were to ding the GT70 for anything, it would be its size and heft. It’s a lot of laptop, but it is really meant to be a portable high-powered gaming PC, without having to lug an actual PC. So it’s hard to criticize MSI for delivering power to that genre of consumers who require it most, the gamers.

The GT70 model I tried was built well beyond the base model, which starts at $1,599, but runs on Windows 7 and not Windows 8 and has only half as much RAM. But the base model specs are strong as well.

Digital Storm Virtue desktop PC ($2,174 for configuration with 3.5 gigahertz processor, 16 gigabytes of RAM):

If you a purist gamer, you’re likely in the market for a liquid-cooled PC running a quad-core Intel chip with enough fans to dissipate the heat of your overclocked microprocessor. Overclocking lets your processor perform faster than the manufacturer’s specifications, but it also generates more heat.

The Virtue is a black obelisk of a gaming tower power. The build I tried had an Intel Core i7 3.5 gigahertz processor that is unlocked, meaning I could overclock it to up to 4.2 gigahertz to target higher performance if I chose to. I didn’t need to, though.

My model came with 16 gigabytes of internal memory, a 1 terabyte hard drive and 120 gigabytes of solid-state storage. This build also comes with a Corsair liquid-cooling system with a radiator that is easily more advanced than the ones in my cars.

Running the maximum shadow and detail settings while playing “Crysis” in full-screen mode, I still breezed up to 95 frames per second during full melee action. This is solid considering the detailed graphics that must be rendered during play to keep the surroundings realistic.

I got a lower frame rate while playing “Far Cry 3” on the Virtue, but it’s a newer game with higher system recommendations.

The base price for the Digital Storm Virtue is $1,509.