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.
