HP Blackbird 002 gaming rig reviewed

If the HP Blackbird 002's good looks weren't enough to justify is sky high price tag for you, than perhaps HotHardware's review of the top-end gaming rig will be enough to push you over the edge. The folks there got their hands on a pre-release version of the system, loaded with a Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor factory overclocked to 3.67GHz, 4GB of Corsair dual channel DDR2-8500 RAM, and two GeForce 8800 Ultra cards running in SLI mode, among other desirable specs. Not surprisingly, with all that under hood the system couldn't help but impress, with it delivering a few benchmark scores higher than any other machine they've tested. They also, of course, dug the system's case design, which not only looks good but makes upgrading an ease (they replaced a hard drive in 12 seconds flat). On the downside, they found the system to be "somewhat noisy," and the slot-loading optical drives could limit upgradeability further on down the line. Then, of course, there is the price, which starts at $2,500 and tops out over $7,000 when packed to the gills.

[Arjy @ Sep 6th 2007 11:54AM]

I'm a diehard mac user and even I want to get my hands on one of those.

[jdrake90 @ Sep 6th 2007 2:53PM]

I agree with you!

[John B @ Sep 6th 2007 11:57AM]

I'd love to see how many thousands of dollars would be saved by someone who decided to buy the equivalent parts and -- horrors! -- put it together on his own.

[711 @ Sep 6th 2007 5:51PM]

Sans drives, case, and cooling, I get about $3500 on newegg, compared with the $6000 of the review model. Add about 200 for a decent home made liquid cooling setup (out of box for the lose, amirite?), 100-200 for a sexy case, 300 for hard drives, 100 for a power supply, and you get about $4200. Did I forget anything? Got to keep in mind, some this hardware is extremely expensive. The CPU is almost $1500, the GPUs are $1200 together, and the ram was over $400 itself.

[Pete @ Sep 23rd 2007 2:49PM]

Yes 711, you forgot a few things. Motherboard, Vista Premium, 2 DVD-R/W drives, Logitech keyboard and mouse. Final cost is more like $4,800 and the new price is $5,500

A much smaller gap

[Dave Carey @ Sep 6th 2007 11:58AM]

Very nice system indeed. But, I would imagine that you can easily build it yourself for much cheaper. It's conveience and turn key that you're paying for.

[Irwin @ Sep 6th 2007 12:03PM]

I'll pay top dollar for that case, holy shit. Just buy that thing for$2500 and go berzerk with the upgrading..*drool*

anyone know a case that is similar/has same kinda features(like the HDD tray mechanism)?

[halfeatenfish @ Sep 6th 2007 3:22PM]

See Mac Pro.

[Dave Altavilla @ Sep 6th 2007 12:05PM]

Check out the disassembly video on page 3:
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/HP_Blackbird_002_High_Performance_Gaming_System/?page=3

Pretty swank. ;)

[TeddyN @ Sep 6th 2007 12:16PM]

Am I the only one that doesn't think the case is that good looking? I'd rather be able to pick my own. Still, I'd take it for the specs :)

[Adam @ Sep 6th 2007 12:17PM]

I really don't see the point in these things. Like it says in the article PCs are made of components that are the same everywhere, the name on the [pretty in this case] box means nothing.

It's a nice computer, but I could make the same one for much less. Not that I would mind you, I'd build a £1000 machine that can play every game on the market right now then build another £1000 machine 3 years. Much cheaper.

[Magallanes @ Sep 6th 2007 1:55PM]

or you could buy a xbox360, wii and ps3 for the same price.

[Chris @ Sep 7th 2007 1:49PM]

Well it's factory overclocked with all the drivers and software installed. Saves a lot of setup time. If you have to money to spend then its a very nice computer.

[triple x @ Sep 6th 2007 12:17PM]

the case is hot! i wouldnt mind paying 300 for an empty good looking case.

[Silverfrog @ Sep 6th 2007 12:18PM]

I'd hate to have to take the motherboard out of this case. It'd probably take quite a while. But, they did a nice job hiding the wires. I suspect the cooling shroud hides much of them.

[barry.padgett @ Sep 6th 2007 12:46PM]

It looks like upgrades would be difficult with the additional internal covers.

[Philometalist @ Sep 6th 2007 1:13PM]

Reminds me of the Mac Pro... Even the way the site is setup just seems copied. That being said, this is a beautiful system and it's definitely the start of a greater presence in the gaming market by HP/VooDoo. Look out XPS!!

[NHAnimator @ Sep 6th 2007 1:35PM]

Oh, to have an endless supply of $.

Oh, to have the time to play games all day.

[Brian @ Sep 6th 2007 2:35PM]

Oh, to have recieved a multi-million settlement for being paralyzed from the waste down because your machinery malfunctioned and cracked your spine.

Wait... that's just my fantasy >.<
(Dear Karma: J/K... please don't hurt me)

[Loner45 @ Sep 6th 2007 2:01PM]

this is one of those things you wish the delivery man would accidentally leave at your house

[dbettes @ Sep 6th 2007 2:36PM]

I want to see one of these bad boys go up for giveaway on Engadget!

[jasonda @ Sep 6th 2007 10:18PM]

Let's see...Mac Pro, as close to spec as possible (even down to those drive trays) is $5200, plus $1200 for the two graphics cards (not available through Apple) totals $6300 vs $6000 for the as-tested price of the HP. Pretty close, the Mac price gap used to be a lot more than that.

Oh wait, that price is for the Mac Pro with the 8-core Xeon. My bad.

[Chris @ Sep 7th 2007 1:52PM]

With the overclocking and the new processors this makes that mack look like a Ford Pinto.

[Ricardo @ Sep 6th 2007 11:04PM]

Me!!!!

[purezerg @ Sep 7th 2007 1:51AM]

even my q6600 does 3.6Ghz.

i am sure qx6850 can do better


http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=236596
even this q6600 G0 stepping does 4753mhz quad core. i am so dead sure it beats a 8 core mac pro to the pulp.

[DaveG59 @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:31PM]

Hello..If you'd like to join a Blackbird 002 Community, check out the Facebook page at HP Blackbird http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4869167697 We'd love to have you share your comments and get some discussions started around this new gaming system. Thanks and enjoy...

[TrIpPeD @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:29AM]

I use mac's because of the business i work in but built a PC for my gaming needs , now that we have boot camp and an intel chip whooho..work and game on the flip side. So, Mac have given us the option to install XP or Vista..great but lets face it unless you own a Pro Mac with upgrade options (and not that much choice in the Graphics dept) you are stuck with the shite they give you.
Now if HP could somehow wrangle the same deal on the PC side (as in dual OS) i would buy this machine in a second.
But then i guess Apple would be just another software company and only sell hardware to style conscious no brainers with bling on their foreheads. ....osX on a HP blackbird..hmmmmm, now that would turn heads!