HP's Blackbird 002 gaming rig up close

Here it is, the HP Blackbird 002 we've been hearing about. Built with "Voodoo DNA" (marketing term for love), this all-metal monster is ready to rumble in a variety of user-specified hardware configurations, and with options for air or liquid cooling (either CPU or CPU and GPU). Highlights you'll want to scope out in our gallery include easy access everything, the mood-lit aluminum foot, and the pop-up media reader.

Gallery: HP's Blackbird 002 gaming rig up close

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[Elisha Adeagbo @ Sep 5th 2007 7:34PM]

first

niiice

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Sep 5th 2007 11:34PM]

Nice, but NOT FIRST. ;)

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Sep 6th 2007 2:13AM]

Official Website for the HP Black Bird with full specs

The PSU is 1.1KW


http://h20435.www2.hp.com/



Processor
AMD® X2 Dual Core Architecture

* 64 bit data paths and registers
* Hypertransport™ I/O Bus
* 16 128-bit SSE/SSE2/SSE3 registers
* Integrated DDR2 memory Controler


Configurations

* Athelon™ AMD X2 6000+ 30GHz
o 1MB of L2 cache per processor


Intel® Core™ Micro architecture

* 128-bit SSE3 vector engine
* 64-bit data paths and registers
* Energy efficiency optimization
* Thermal cut-outs to mitigate damage from system overclocking


Configurations

* Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz
o 4MB of L2 cache per processor (8MB total)
* Intel® Core2™ Duo E6750 2.66GHz
o 4MB of L2 cache per processor (8MB total)
* Intel® Core2™ Duo E6850 3.0GHz
o 4MB of L2 cache per processor (8MB total)
* Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core QX6850 3.0GHz
o 8MB of L2 cache per processor (16MB total)

1.33 GHz, 64-bit front side bus


Memory

* 1GB 667 MHz DDR2 PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM
* 1GB 800 MHz CORSAIR PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM
* 1GB 1GHz CORSAIR PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM SLI enabled

Four FSB-DIMM slots supporting up to 8 GB of main memory

256-bit-wide memory architecture


Communications

Two independent 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45) ports that can support jumbo frames
Graphics and Displays

Two Doublewide, 16-lane PCI Express graphics slot with one or more of the following graphic cards installed:

* NVIDIA® GeF® 8600 GT with 256MB of GDDR2 SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port
* NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS with 640MB of GDDR2 SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port (available with liquid cooling)
* NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX, with 756MB of GDDR2 SDRAM one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port (available with liquid cooling)
* ATI RADEON&trade X2900 XT 512MB, with 512MB of GDDR2 SDRAM, (available with liquid-cooling)
* ATI RADEON X2900&trade XT 1GB, with 1GB of GDDR2 SDRAM, (available with liquid-cooling)
* ATI RADEON™ HD 2600 XT, with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, Dual configuration only.



Ageia PhysX™ PCI-E GFX Accelerator Card

Four slots for up to two PCIe graphics cards

Dual-link DVI ports support up to 2560 by 1600 pixels.

Support for analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels at 85HZ

DVI to VGA adapter included

Dual-display support for extended desktops and video mirroring modes


Storage

Five independent Serial ATA slot loading hard drive bays

Up to 4TB of internal storage using drives with the following capacities:

Hard drive bays 1 – 5

* 160GB 10,000 rpm SATA (Western Digital Raptor)
* 320GB 7200 rpm SATA
* 500GB 7200 rpm SATA
* 750GB 7200 rpm SATA

Two Super multi-drive, slim slots with Lightscribe (DVD+/-R/RW+/-DL)

* Writes DVD-R discs at up to 16x speed
* Writes DVD+R DL discs at up to 4x speed
* Reads DVDs at up to 8x speed
* Writes CD-R discs at up to 40x speed
* Writes CD-RW discs at up to 24x speed
* Reads CDs at up to 24x speed


A single 5 1/4 bay for Blu-ray Rewriter and HD DVD-ROM Super multi-drive with LightScribe

* CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW/RAM, +R/RW, +/- R DL
* BD-R/RE SL/DL read and write compatible
* CD Family, DVD-ROM read compatible
* HD DVD-ROM/R read compatible

Electrical and environmental requirements

* Line voltage: 100-120V AC or 200-240V AC (wide-range power supply input voltage)
* Frequency: 50GHz to 60Hz single phase
* Current: Maximum of 12A (low-voltage range) or 6A (high-voltage range)
* Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
* Storage temperature: -40° to 116° F (-40° to 47° C)
* Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
* Maximum altitude: 10,000 feet


Peripherals and audio
Back panel:

* One PS/2 mouse port
* One PS/2 keyboard port
* Two eSATA ports
* One IEEE1394 port
* LCD screen (for diagnostics and status)
* LCD back light button (some boards only)
* SPDIF out and optical out port
* Two RJ-45 (Gigabit Ethernet) ports (number depends on MB)
* Four USB 2.0 ports (number depends on MB)


Top panel:

* 15 in 1 multi-card reader
* One IEEE1394 port
* Two USB 2.0 ports
* One 1/8" microphone jack
* One 1/8" headphone jack


Optional audio cards:

* Creative Audio Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer
* Creative Audio Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional

Features

* Speaker and Headphone connections: Stereo to 7.1 (Line Out via three 3.5mm mini jacks)
* Flexijack: Line In / Microphone In / Digital Out / Digital I/O via shared 3.5mm mini jack
* Auxiliary Line level Input: 4-pin Molex connector

Expansion slots

* 3 PCIe x16 slots (The two blue PCIe x16 slots operate with a full compliment of 16 PCI Express lanes, while the third white slot operates with only 8)
* 1 PCIe x1 slot
* 2 PCI v2.2 slots


Operating System and Software

* Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate
* Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium Security

Security

* AVG Anti-Virus


Productivity

* Adobe® Reader®
* Microsoft® Office Pro 2007
* Microsoft® Office Small Business Edition 2007
* Microsoft® Office Basic


Burning

* CyberLink DVDPlay
* PowerProducer
* Power2Go


Size and weight

* Height: 598.64 mm (23.5 inches)
* Width: 266.96 mm (9 inches)
* Length: 557.23 mm (22 inches)
* Weight (full configuration): 72 pounds (32.659 kg)

[Joe Marriott @ Sep 5th 2007 7:35PM]

I for one welcome our household name built gaming rig overlords.

[kyle1193 @ Sep 5th 2007 7:36PM]

sweeeeey

[Kris S. @ Sep 5th 2007 7:42PM]

Nothing like a custom home built gaming rig.

[nryder @ Sep 5th 2007 7:42PM]

Who FU@# uses PS/2 ports for their mouse and keyboard?

[Fruition @ Sep 5th 2007 7:49PM]

Um... Apparently not the people who took the pictures???

They still make mice and keyboards with the PS/2 interface you know. You have to stop making the peripherals before you can stop making the port for them.

[Ebzy @ Sep 5th 2007 8:57PM]

I actually prefer using a USB Mouse and Keyboard with a ps/2 converter. It saves USB Ports.

I know I can get many USB hubs etc, but I still prefer doing this.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Sep 5th 2007 11:43PM]

There are still a ton of vintage keyboard buffs that still rely on PS/2 for their good old truty boards with out that damn Windows key that always gets in the way at the most inopportune times.

Since PS/2 relies on a hardware controller, I have found that my mouse does not stutter as much during periods of frame drops.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Sep 6th 2007 7:27AM]

Will it blend? Pidgeon says it will....


http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-19375707.htm

[Fruition @ Sep 5th 2007 7:43PM]

Ever since I learned how to build a desktop, I've never even thought about buying a desktop through one of the major companies. But this, this could change that.

[Matt @ Sep 5th 2007 7:44PM]

ohh jesus i want one. that thing's pretty slick

[scribes @ Sep 5th 2007 7:44PM]

badass!

[socko @ Sep 5th 2007 7:44PM]

I am glad HP spent some time on this designing it to look good instead of cheesy!

[Tensaikamen @ Sep 5th 2007 7:45PM]

The case look cool, brainchild of that voodoo pc guy maybe.

[m16 @ Sep 5th 2007 7:46PM]

damn....looks like a real gaming machine! congrats HP

[simon.nutsy @ Sep 5th 2007 7:48PM]

Wow what a nice over priced gaming rig... And look it comes with free smudge and dust magnets too... Those Ribs will be a pain to clean and all the clear purspex fan are going to look nasty after a month of running...

Is it worth it? No... Are you still better off building your own rig? Yes.

Nice design though shame it wasnt thought through.

[Fruition @ Sep 5th 2007 7:53PM]

Those ribs won't be hard to clean, what good computer geek doesn't have a can of compressed air within a few feet of their machine?

[Frankenstein Black @ Sep 5th 2007 7:56PM]

As a long time Waterbending Master I was ready to give this thing (cause it was from HP) the Big MEH! But know what? I can't. Well done Sirs, Well done!

----------
FB a.k.a LDM
Water-bending Master
http://www.eternal-champions.com/images/ldm_master_builder!.jpg

[Rev. Matt oxley @ Sep 5th 2007 8:01PM]

im actually impressed


i mean, i hate HP, and now that Voodoo is owned by them, i hate Voodoo...but this kinda makes me want to like them


and when i say i hate HP, i mean i love the fact that they keep my repair business IN business....

anyway, i can still beat the price on the custom gaming rigs...so everything should be good.

[St. Stephen @ Sep 5th 2007 8:06PM]

this could very well be the greatest pc ever built by mankind.. i would whore out my girlfriend for one of these.

[palehorse @ Sep 6th 2007 10:27AM]

How much? Do I have to pay extra for her basket trick again?

This system LOOKS decent, but there is nothing like the satisfaction of building your own...for almost half the price!

[Homeboy @ Sep 5th 2007 8:06PM]

Stunning design. Nice to see that at least one of the big computer manufacturers are getting their act together and battles with Apple in the design department.

I love it. Looks just like a hardcore gaming computer should look like.

[nine9nin @ Sep 6th 2007 3:29AM]

How is this in any way beautiful, modern, simple or in fact powerful with off the shelf parts? It looks cheap and at best like a adolescent version of its idol a MAC Pro which is in fact beautiful, modern, simple and powerful and don't give me that crap of upgradeable at leas it works flawless with its installed OS and with no encrypted error messages.

[peternj @ Sep 9th 2007 2:45PM]

I'm looking to buy instead of a macPro. The reason, I can upgrade everything as the powersupply is more than robust enough. Also I could in the future reverse learn and install a new motherboard.
I am so fed up with Apple products, cool macPro but only 3 expansion slots if you discount the graphics card slot. And you're stuck with a closed platform in terms of parts. See where they put the cpu x2 and compare to the ease of HP Blacbird 002? Yeah it looks pretty but until Leopard everything in real life is hindered by OSX, which is a slug and utter bloat-ware.
My MacBookPro can only be used as a desktop as the MagSafe takes forever to connect and recharge my battery.
HP sadly is limited to XP or Vista but once I'm using Adobe products it really does not matter which OS I use.
The other sad thing is that Adobe codes better for Windows but they might have instruction from Jobs to make their Apple products need a new Apple computer. As for Apple's own software it's utter bloat always have to upgrade.
I like the Blackbird, yes its only rival really is the macPro but I'll be so happy to go with a grown up company. No more "one dollar" Jobs hype telling us how much faster, really, really the G4 was?
I'm switching if the real hands on reviews match up o.k. against the MacPro

[LEXX911 @ Sep 5th 2007 8:10PM]

Definitly an attractive looking case by HP. I'm impressed. Dell and HP used to have butt ugly cases for their rig but they finally realize this is what people wants.

[John @ Sep 5th 2007 8:10PM]

she looks pretty enough, but can she cook?

[RedBull Runner @ Sep 6th 2007 2:19AM]

Most likely... 1.1KW PSU..

makes my power bill cry.

[Bigsby @ Sep 5th 2007 8:18PM]

I think it's a nicely designed computer, though I think that the bottom stand is a bit weird and could possibly break. I'm definitely liking their cable management skills, everything's perfect except for the cpu watercooling hoses. I also think the pop up card reader is pretty swank.

[flyy @ Sep 5th 2007 9:00PM]

"The stand can also support up to 600 pounds, allowing users to stand on the system or set a couple concrete blocks on it." Hahah it's hardcore.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8691

And I think that water-cooling is pretty snazzily done, would at least take me a lot more effort than I'd care to put in.

[brokenkeyboard @ Sep 6th 2007 12:21AM]

That foot is pretty neat. Considering how much crap my comp sucks out of the carpet, maybe it even has some practical value?

[David Clawson @ Sep 5th 2007 8:20PM]

Ughh. Give me an iMac any day. Retracting ports? That's so 10 years ago. Wires? I guess they have all you'd want strewn about. Seriously, how is this cool? Oh yeah, and just because someone makes a cheap PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard does NOT mean you have to put the ports on your comp. I hear some people still use zip drives, where's the slot for my old 100MB diskette?

[fuma @ Sep 5th 2007 8:20PM]

cooks, cleans, and mops up!

[fuma @ Sep 5th 2007 8:22PM]

ROTFLcopter - An iMac over this? Are you on crack?

[Matt @ Sep 5th 2007 8:25PM]

Just ignore him, probably mad about the iPod fun today.

[Matt @ Sep 5th 2007 8:23PM]

For those wanting more:

•The case is all aluminum and the large pieces are stamped from a single sheet—only one factory in the whole of China can do this, and they usually do car doors.
•The foot cal holds 800 pounds and is lit by an array of LEDs.
•The back panel has LEDs
•To help deaden the sound of fans, they're mounted deep in the front of the case.
•There is a card reader and front mounted ports on the top. Click on the case to have it soft-open.
•The front of the machine has
•All components are tool-less. Except the back panel. Lo, there is a built-in tool kit for this! (Allen wrench)
•The sixth side, the bottom, is an air intake. It has a mesh grill, but won't stop dust. This thing needs filters, in my opinion. Dust is everywhere, on every floor!
•The graphics cards and other cards are in their own channel for cold air, and are secured by a single lid with springs and a latch. Card ends seem to be customized for this case, which is weird. Do you have you upgrade to HP cards later on?
•The graphics cards and CPU are watercooled, but no peltiers, as they tend to add too much heat to the case, says Rahul Sood. The radiator and output fans, which look like 12cm fans (two of em) are roof mounted.
•The VoodooDNA is their "ingredient brand".
•The 5 drive slots for 3.5 inch HDDs are tool free, as well.

[Hao @ Sep 5th 2007 8:38PM]

wow 800 pound, so 5 of me can sit on top of the case and the feet still won't bend, awesome!

[TriZz @ Sep 5th 2007 8:33PM]

It's too bad that such a beautiful machine would have to be modded immediately after purchase...

...it only comes with Vista. Horrible.

[Hao @ Sep 5th 2007 8:41PM]

changing operation system is not modding! And although Vista is not perfect, it's far from been horrible!

[[e-mail] @ Sep 5th 2007 8:58PM]

Its still not a mac http://www.apple.com/macpro/gallery/

Stick your finger in your eye & visit www.hatejeff.com

[vladsinger @ Sep 5th 2007 9:14PM]

Looks very nicely built. Wish it wasn't quite so curvy though...and that foot thing could be subtler.

[Matt @ Sep 5th 2007 9:31PM]

Apparently only 518 are going to be made of this revision.
If you want more information than here, visit hp.com/blackbird

The website list tech specs, air design, case design, etc.

[Mike @ Sep 5th 2007 9:36PM]

Cool so ill make my own brand of custom gaming PC's.

Grab a set of high-end parts, and put them in a custom case that can't be bought off the shelf, then add on 500+$ to the price...

[strider_mt2k @ Sep 5th 2007 9:37PM]

I kinda dig it.

Let's make it a firm, "we'll see."

[Typhoid Mary @ Sep 5th 2007 9:56PM]

Now if only HP didnt bundle their crapware into every machine they make I would buy one of these.

I miss the old VooDoo...

[Josh @ Sep 5th 2007 9:57PM]

HP didn't do anything but buy voodoo PC. This is just an extension of the voodoo line in my eyes (some of the best built - and most expensive - computers on the market)

Looks nice.

[jptech @ Sep 5th 2007 10:22PM]

I think it's a nice design overall.
The case is nice and clean. Reminiscent of an accordion or an old camera.

I guess I'm an early adopter. I had cold cathodes in 1999, water in 2000, and dual CPUs in 2001. Now I'm a bit more modern, but still, all these designs seem a bit tame.

Now I'm married, so I can't realistically spend money on my PC. :(

[HineyWipe @ Sep 5th 2007 10:29PM]

How freakin hard is it for your picture-taking guy to have a good macro lens and learn how to focus? Ugh...

And HP, Blue LEDs are yesterday. Give me Red or atleast a choice of "infinitely-variable" multi-colour LEDs...

Good night.

[RyanTV @ Sep 5th 2007 11:14PM]

Looks WAAAAY nicer than the Dell XPS line. HP has been coming correct with their machines lately!