Falcon Northwest's portable FragBox 8500 gaming rig gets reviewed

Oh yeah, you've options oozing everywhere for a bona fide gaming desktop that takes up some serious square footage in your domicile, but what about those looking for a potent portable? And we're not talking laptops, either. Falcon Northwest's FragBox 8500 -- which sports a chassis that hasn't changed much in years -- was recently reviewed by the folks over at PC Magazine, and put simply, it was deemed a "game system without apologies." Checking in at $1,895, critics found the internals to be "neatly put together," the unit as a whole satisfactorily mobile and yes, they confirmed that "you will definitely be able to play the DX10-heavy versions of Crysis and World in Conflict at very decent frame rates." Did you hear that? They said Crysis. Head on down to the read link for the full review of the Editors' Choice-awarded machine.

[Byzil Mystwing @ Apr 26th 2008 8:23PM]

I like it, but I don't like the skull on the front.. lotsa people seem to do that these days. maybe I'm just odd, but I really don't want skulls on all my equipment.

[strangemusician @ Apr 26th 2008 8:32PM]

You can order them with the Falcon logo as opposed to the skull last time I checked... much more tasteful and less redolent of caffeine-fuelled Haloz archetypes.

[Aguiluz @ Apr 27th 2008 12:46AM]

@Mark

It looks like a floppy/card reader combo.

[Flashpoint @ Apr 27th 2008 9:04AM]

I don't know about the rest of you, but there are some people who see
"being able to play crysis" as a litmus test as to how powerful a computer is.

The simple fact is that Crysis won't run at good frame rates - or in high detail on most off the shelf PC's - so, many people would perfer to buy a computer that reviewers have claimed is CRYSIS CERTIFIED. The thought is, if the machine can run Crysis, it can run everything else.

I bought a HP Quad Core with 4GB Ram and a Geforce with the sole intention of getting Crysis up and running. On the side, I'm a Falcon 5.0 nut.

[kastonie @ Apr 27th 2008 10:43AM]

but will it blend? that is the question...

[Nick M. @ Apr 27th 2008 6:53PM]

Flashpoint.. was there a point to your rambling.. or did you just feel like stating the obvious to everyone on the techblog?

[Jason @ Apr 28th 2008 6:09AM]

Skulls are in... along with knives, hearts, and other dramatic artwork. Just take a look at your local mall and see what's on all the clothes.

[chewie1890 @ Apr 26th 2008 8:27PM]

I suppose it would be pointless to say, "But does it play Crysis" then eh?

[andres @ Apr 26th 2008 8:31PM]

and yet you still did

[Moo2 @ Apr 26th 2008 9:16PM]

thats what she said

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Apr 26th 2008 10:58PM]

Where's the obligatory DOOM question that always gets asked and always gets low ranked?

[Greg @ Apr 27th 2008 2:53AM]

Years from now, the question will no longer be "Can it play Doom", but "Can it play Crysis"?

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Apr 27th 2008 4:32AM]

This whole doom crud got it's start when the news was announced that someone had installed and managed to run DOOM on the OLPC. From that point on every computer related enagadget post has had at least on person ask the question. "But Will it play....."


http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/29/olpc-xo-yes-it-plays-doom/

[Viakenny @ Apr 27th 2008 11:52AM]

but will it blend?

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Apr 27th 2008 12:53PM]

the real question is, can it play pong? :P

[MARSHAK @ Apr 27th 2008 10:42PM]

@ capslock guy

no, actually it was when someone ported doom to ipod linux.

[Yevon @ Apr 26th 2008 8:30PM]

Does that thing really have a floppy drive on the front? Really??

[wing @ Apr 26th 2008 8:40PM]

i was gonna say that too! Floppy drive in a 2008 PC, Below a card reader.

[jaalin @ Apr 26th 2008 9:39PM]

card reader or even another hard drive slot would've been great...

[dog @ Apr 26th 2008 9:51PM]

hey that looks like the exact same unit i have
mitsumi 7-in-1 card reader with floppy (FA404M)

[John @ Apr 27th 2008 1:13AM]

It's a gaming PC - and by god, that includes The Oregon Trail.

[tb @ Apr 27th 2008 1:42AM]

the floppy is to load doom 1.0

[Christian Martin @ Apr 27th 2008 2:04AM]

I have that same drive, actually. I wanted a card reader but wanted to read my old floppy collection for the DOS VM.

[strangemusician @ Apr 26th 2008 8:30PM]

The Fragbox is a fantastic system indeed, I own one, and it's lovely having the small size in a university environment where space is at a premium... while also being able to play Assassin's Creed and Bioshock and others at maximum graphics settings. Despite this... my Box is a few years old, and was dying for a graphics upgrade recently. I just installed an 8800GTS exactly like the one they mentioned in the review, and as such am enjoying the lush framerates that go with it, but this was only after purchasing, and failing(!), to install, a 9800 GTX which I fortunately was able to get a refund for from my local shop. So... I don't know what this review is talking about when they mention the new cards like the GX2, which is gigantic was well and would bump up against a metal bracket in the Fragbox. Perhaps Falcon have changed their case layout in the couple years since I bought my system, but those newer cards simply won't fit. Even installing the 88 was tight. Despite this, it's a damn nice computer, even in an older AMD configuration! The new Intel ones must be silly fast.

[Bob @ Apr 26th 2008 8:36PM]

Is that really a 3.5" drive?

[andres @ Apr 26th 2008 8:37PM]

thats what she said

[Yevon @ Apr 26th 2008 8:57PM]

Andres, that was just weak. Thats what she said jokes are to be treated with respect. If you throw them around like that it just gets really old.

-This message was brought to you by the Thats What She Said awareness campaign of America.

[andres @ Apr 26th 2008 9:00PM]

@ yevon
and now i know

[lgndk11r @ Apr 26th 2008 9:13PM]

and knowing is half the battle.

[Ace b @ Apr 26th 2008 9:25PM]

@yevon
Thanks man!
Knowledge is Power!

[Ignatius @ Apr 26th 2008 10:38PM]

Information is strength.

[Gaz @ Apr 27th 2008 5:12AM]

Thats what she said was never funny but was

[craig#2 @ Apr 27th 2008 5:45AM]

@andreas: that was funny. I lol'd, so its official.

@ignkb and ace b: awesome. Well done.

@yevon: moo2 had a 'that's what she said' crack in one of the first few comments that was so tasteless it left a bad taste in my mouth. it didnt even make sense! I assume you had meant to direct your comment at moo2.

[Fernando @ Apr 26th 2008 9:01PM]

@yevon

treated with respect? that's what SHE said!

[craig#2 @ Apr 27th 2008 2:21AM]

haHAH!

Dangly parts.

[Fusion @ Apr 26th 2008 9:16PM]

Can this really be classed as a portable pc? its huge

[Bryan Thornsberry @ Apr 26th 2008 9:21PM]

Huge? Compared to what?





...thats what she said....




sigh.

[J. sykes @ Apr 26th 2008 9:26PM]

Idk...i rather just build it myself for that price...

~2k for that horrible looking case.

Rather go with the new Sugo cases or maybe possibly the Microfly cases. At least they dont have the fracking skulls and logos on top of it.

[Fusion @ Apr 26th 2008 9:35PM]

@brian thornsberry

a gaming laptop

[AJ @ Apr 27th 2008 12:18AM]

"... but what about those looking for a potent portable? And we're not talking laptops, either"

Did you read the entry?

[0megapart!cle @ Apr 26th 2008 9:41PM]

PCMag is such a joke. They say the system comes with a 3 year warranty, and cite that as a key reason why it would be a better choice than a comparable Dell, when it in fact only comes with the generic 1 year warranty.

[Kawaiipikachu @ Apr 26th 2008 9:44PM]

The floppy drive is required for installing Crysis floppy edition .

[Reader @ Apr 26th 2008 10:40PM]

Sweet, only around 8,572 floppies.

[Timmy @ Apr 28th 2008 8:59AM]

And dont lose you Disk 1 install disk or you will not be able to play.

(For all you younglings out there, in the day you would have to put in the first 5" Floppy disk to play some of your games.)

I remember:
The first pcs that came out with a CD Rom mulit media disk that would play mpeg1.

The first Pentium 60, with the floating point error.

When Dell and Apple both sold at Best Buy (The first time)

Whene you would have to pour printer toner in to a hopper on the top of your printer from a squeez bottle.

The first "Laptop" computer, which was the size of a small suitecase.

When 500megs of ram was 800.00 (if i remember it correctly.

I could go on for ever, them was the good old dayz.

[digitallysick @ Apr 26th 2008 9:51PM]

Now find the specs and build your own and save $800.00

[Eric @ Apr 26th 2008 11:33PM]

Lets see about that. Going by newegg prices for
http://www.falcon-nw.com/config/fragbox_preconfigured.asp
case - maybe $90
psu - $67
mobo - $130
proc - $290
cooler - included
memory - ~$75
video - $200
HD: $130
optical - $24
floppy drive - $20
os - $110
grand total of about 1136, so your estimate was right on. The price difference is the main reason why I don't buy desktops preassembled.

[Abuzar @ Apr 27th 2008 6:23AM]

Not to mention that a Decent CPU cooler and a Q6600 will cost less than a E8400 and will be a lot faster few months down the road because so many programs are starting to utilize all four cores.

Plus I just got a 8800GT 1GB from newegg for 190. You really will need to get a better PSU though, so about 97 for that.

Still comes out to almost the same thing.

[Kieran @ Oct 1st 2008 7:24PM]

Actually, it comes in at about $1280.
This
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=9060528&WishListTitle=FRAGBOX
is the closest I could get to the actual parts used by FNW to build the Fragbox 8500.

So for an extra $615, you get a handle, the FNW warranty/tech support, pre-overclocked system and video card, and logo. You could probably even make it cheaper, but this like I said is as close to the actual parts as I could find on Newegg. The exact memory they use is unknown.

[kieran @ Apr 27th 2008 3:21PM]

Actually, there are two mail-in rebates $30 on the video and $50 on the memory, so the total comes down to $1200 or so (tax if in CA, is applied before the rebates). Not bad.

[Zeus.:God @ Apr 26th 2008 10:29PM]

Ah the good ol' Fragbox... I remember when I was interested in buying one years ago.