Shuttle XPC goes 1337 with custom-painted SDXi gaming rig

Flame jobs on a PC most certainly aren't new, but we fear it's a fad that will always burn on in some regard, and its companies like Shuttle that keep on fanning it. While the rectangular-shaped box has made its way into a many of homes, gamers looking for some serious horsepower in a mobile rig can find a quite a potent system in the firm's forthcoming 1337 SDXi series desktops. While all the specifics aren't nailed down quite yet, the machine will boast an Intel X8600 or QX6700 quad-core processor, liquid-cooling system, unmistakable custom-paint job on the case, keyboard, and mouse, ATIs X1950 Pro CrossFire graphics cards, support for up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, gigabit Ethernet, and a hint of that early 90s vibe to boot. Unfortunately, such a flashy rig sports an equally stunning pricetag, as these bad boys will be "starting" at $4,999 when they land later this month.

[Thanks, Marshall W.]

[Lemmiwinks @ Dec 20th 2006 11:53AM]

Or reskin your own Cube PC: http://www.mini-itx.com/2006/07/13/nexus-launch-a-psile

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Dec 20th 2006 1:03PM]

Mini-ITX is cool. I'm planning to set up system this spring.

Most attractive part for me: availability of passive cooling. Including *external* power supply.

For e-mail/irc/forums/telnet and googling around - just perfect.

[azzemoto @ Dec 20th 2006 12:01PM]

first post! (my #17 for the year and #42 lifetime)

[Manuel @ Dec 20th 2006 2:18PM]

Get a life.

[Mike Bishop @ Dec 20th 2006 2:32PM]

It wasn't even the first comment.

Idiot.

[bazald @ Dec 20th 2006 12:23PM]

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/News_1337.aspx

[bazald @ Dec 20th 2006 12:24PM]

Ah, cut me off there...
Anyway, here is a more apt link:

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/News_1337.aspx

Comes out in the later part of December, starting at $4999. I just wish they would leave out the over-priced paint job and actually let us configure more than 2 gigs of ram...

[Ricky Bobby @ Dec 20th 2006 12:25PM]

There's nothing 1337 about Shutle computers, just ridiculously overpriced dookie. Configure your system in any RAID and they VOID your warranty. That's real 1337!! Get a fully-loaded Dell or Apple with an LCD for less $$$.

[Chase M. @ Dec 20th 2006 12:33PM]

lol....

[Ricky Bobby @ Dec 20th 2006 12:43PM]

No need to wait, I found the config on their site starting at a riduculous $3,450! Why so expensive?? It's low specs and no LCD and getting something hand painted in China can't cost more than $2. That company is high on dope! The sales manager is one dumb mofo with prices like that.

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/BuildXPC.aspx?id=1207

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Dec 20th 2006 12:59PM]

> QX6700 quad-core processor, liquid-cooling system, unmistakable custom-paint job on the case, keyboard, and mouse, ATIs X1950 Pro CrossFire graphics cards, support for up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, gigabit Ethernet

WOW!!!

Now question: what about a model for $400 for the rest of the world?

Never understood concept behind XPC: they are too limited to serve as main rig on one side and on other side they are too expensive for second PC. Even cheapest (utilitarian) MacMini looks better as choice of additional PC for home.

[Kevin @ Dec 20th 2006 1:03PM]

Actually its painted by SmoothCreations and the water is made byt CoolIt, both known to have expensive products.

[azzemoto @ Dec 20th 2006 2:46PM]

My bad, here are my stats for second post:

32 for the year and 65 lifetime!

[Manuel @ Dec 20th 2006 2:54PM]

Don´t worry you'll be always #1 looser.
and that's a real fact.

[azzemoto @ Dec 20th 2006 3:17PM]

Since you asked here they are:
#1 17 & 42
#2 32 & 65
#3 60 & 159
#4 75 & 140
#5 95 & 175

[Lt_Ladle @ Dec 20th 2006 4:15PM]

lol is the series literally the 1337 series?

[adelossa @ Dec 20th 2006 5:25PM]

for a moment there, I thought the SFF was on fire. LOL

[Mike Dellio @ Dec 20th 2006 10:00PM]

..Kevin Tu, Product Marketing Manager, “We made it our goal to extract the most performance from our existing XPCs… The Shuttle 1337 SDXi is the result, blending the best engineering we have to offer with the best technologies…”

Good job paring up the 1066MHz FSB CPUs with 667Mhz RAM. Did Shuttle engineer that oh so 1337 BOTTLENECK? There must be enough profit in the $4K-$5K price to offer RAM that matches the CPU FSB speeds. Just look at the $420 upgrade price to add 2GB of RAM. NewEgg sells the same 667MHz Crucial Ballistix DDR2 RAM (1GBx2) for only $275. There’s a ~50% markup FOR Shuttle right there. Does Shuttle markup all the components ~50% to make these systems so overpriced??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146567