gaming-rig
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MSI's GX680 laptop gets GeForce GT 555M graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3
Mobile gaming rigs don't tend to be particularly upgradeable, so it's important to get all the horsepower you can up front. With that in mind, MSI's latest is delivering a little more oomph than its last lap-warmer. It's the GX680 and it's rocking an Intel Core i7 2630QM processor paired with GeForce GT 555M graphics, NVIDIA's latest bid at laptop pixel-pushing supremacy. That card has 1GB of GDDR5 memory onboard, while the system itself can be configured with up to 16GB of DDR3 -- rather a lot for a laptop. A 15.6-inch, 1080p display is available, along with dual 750GB HDDs, which can be configured in RAID 0 if you like living dangerously. Blu-ray is also on offer, along with a THX certified Dynaudio sound system that is said to deliver audio "heretofore found only in cinemas." No price yet, but as always with MSI that kind of hyperbole comes for free.
Intel Core i7-990X stealthily hits shelves, Origin PC overclocks one to a lap-melting 4.6GHz
These days it's less about the megahertz and more about the cores, but custom PC maker Origin isn't leaving either benchmark untouched. It's taken the as-yet-unannounced six-core, 3.46GHz Intel Core i7-990X processor and pushed it up to 4.6GHz -- a full 200 hertz more than the company's previous hotness, a 4.4GHZ Core i7-980X. The 990X is now available in the company's desktops as well as the EON-17 laptop -- which is honestly pushing the boundaries of lapablity. Think you can do better than that -- say, with a little LN2? You'll find the Core i7-990X at the likes of Mwave and Newegg for what we're sure is a perfectly reasonable $1,050 right now. [Thanks, Travis]
iBuyPower's Chimera XLC sports Core i7, 240mm liquid cooling system: FarmVille will never be the same
iBuyPower's ironic Chimera line is back with the Chimera XLC. First seen at CES, this bad boy features an extreme! flame motif on the outside of the box -- in addition to the 240mm liquid cooling system in the box. That's right: 240mm radiator, a 200mm fan, and five (count 'em!) 120mm fans. This bad boy also packs an Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU, and support for Level 3 Power Drive Overclocking service. Not bad for $1,599, eh? And it's available now. PR after the break.
DARWINmachine Hammerhead HMR989 gaming rig looks ferocious, can attack your desk for $2,900
The giant PC gaming rigs of the last decade are so passé. Hot this year are sleeker, more cut models, models like the DARWINmachine Hammerhead HMR989. It looks like a crazy casemod but it's actually a custom-built rig you can order, priced at $2,899 and sporting a vertically mounted NVIDIA GTX460 graphics accelerator, a 2.8Ghz Core i7-860 processor, a combination of SSD and platter-based storage, and a power supply left hanging on the side. It's all aluminum and resin sheets and lovely, though we could probably do without the blue LEDs. %Gallery-114947%
Wings Over Atreia: Out with the old, in with the new
New year, new rig. Yup, you got it folks. I had the lucky chance to start the new year in Aion with a spiffylicious new gaming computer. As a disclaimer, it is very possible to play and enjoy Aion on lower-end machines; I know, because I have friends who play on laptops (although most do not participate in sieges) and I myself enjoyed the game using my less-than-stellar rig with the graphics set to just one notch below max. However, in order to participate in large-scale PvP and sieges, I was forced to lower all settings to rock-bottom and use shift+F12 to remove all enemy and ally rendering (remember folks, when you do this always have enemy names turned on!). Even with these measures, I would often still have difficulty moving -- not the best situation for an assassin who depends on quick strikes and even quicker evasions. I could still sorta do my job (scouting was best) and enjoy the fights, although I would often find myself dead before I even knew I was being hit. I have experienced Atreia this way for the past year, but there just comes a time in a Daeva's life when you want to participate more fully in sieges -- to see the battles as well as fight. After saving, I came to the conclusion last fall that I was able to go ahead and put together a new gaming rig (and yes folks, a girl can build her own machine!). While not top-of-the-line, it was a still a decent upgrade and would provide a new gaming experience. In true gamer's style, I sat down New Year's Eve and assembled my new toy. So, what difference does the new rig make while playing? Jump past the cut to see what I have pulsing in my case and just how much of a difference it has made.
iBuyPower revamps Gamer Mage / Paladin desktops with Radeon HD 6800 GPUs
You're already sold on ATI's new Radeon HD 6800 series, but your existing motherboard and CPU just feel too aged to become home to such a shiny, fresh piece of silicon. We hear you. So does iBuyPower. Rather than forking out and upgrading just your GPU, these guys are hoping you'll ogle the newly revised Gamer Mage D295, Gamer Mage D355, and Gamer Paladin F820, all three of which are available with the HD 6870 and HD 6850. The Gamer Mage D295 gets housed in a Thermaltake V9 enclosure and ships with a liquid cooled Athlon II X4 640 quad-core CPU, 4GB of RAM, a Radeon HD 6850 (1GB), LG Blu-ray reader / DVD combo drive, 1TB of HDD space and a 700 watt power supply -- all for the low, low price of $899. The D335 (starts at $1,239) steps up to a liquid cool Phenom II X6 1055T, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a Radeon HD 6870 GPU, 64GB SSD and an 800 watt PSU, while the F280 (starts at $1,369) goes all-out with a liquid cooled Core i7 950, 6GB of DDR3 memory, an HD 6870 GPU and NZXT's Guardian 921 R case. Hit the links below to get your customization on. %Gallery-106087%
CyberPower gets diminutive with LAN Party EVO SFF desktop family
Look out, Shuttle -- CyberPower's getting all up in your territory with its new LAN Party EVO series. Introduced today, this foursome of minuscule monsters relies on mITX and mATX motherboards and plenty of high-end internals to deliver solid gaming performance in a desktop that's at least somewhat portable. The Party EVO Mini is wrapped in a Silverstone SG-07B enclosure, while the Xtreme, Commander, and Ultra tout In-Win's Dragonslayer. Aside from integrating its Max Airflow Package to keep things a couple of notches below "Molten Lava," the whole crew is equipped with a 64-bit copy of Windows 7, a three-year warranty and free lifetime phone support. As for specs, the Mini ($1,079) gets a Core i7-870 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 GPU and a 1TB HDD, while the Xtreme ($799) steps down (oddly enough) to a Core i5-760 and an HD 5670 on the graphics front. The Commander ($999) includes a Core i7-950, 6GB of DDR3 RAM and NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 450 (1GB), and finally, the Ultra ($759) branches out with an AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 memory, ATI's Radeon HD 5670 GPU (1GB) and a full terabyte of hard drive space. So, which is going to be, buster?
Origin PC's Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle
Oh, sure -- we've seen an Xbox 360 enclosure stuffed with x86 innards, but we can't say we've ever seen anything quite like this. Gaming upstart Origin PC has just shattered every preconceived notion about its potential with the Big O, an appropriately titled luxury machine that combines a liquid-cooled gaming PC with a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 Slim. In one box. A pair of base configurations are available (though customizations are limitless), with both of 'em rigged up to run the PC and Xbox concurrently. In other words, these bad boys can actually crunch SETI@home data while you explore the vastness of Halo: Reach. The $7,669 build includes an overclocked 4.0GHz Core i7-930 CPU, Rampage III Extreme mobo, twin NVIDIA GTX480 graphics cards, 6GB of Corsair memory, a 1,500 watt power support, 12x Pioneer Blu-ray burner, two 50GB OCZ SSDs wired up as a boot drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 and bragging rights the size of Texas Alaska. For those still unsatisfied, there's a $16,999 version that's frankly too lust-worthy to spell out here (but is in the gallery below). Hit the source link if you're feeling ambitious, but don't blame us for blowing your kid's college fund in one fell swoop. %Gallery-101543%
Digital Storm Black|OPS series brings NVIDIA 3D Vision for triple-headed 3D gameplay
It's time to step up to triple-screen 3D gaming, son. NVIDIA has been teasing us with 3D Vision Surround capability in its GPUs for months, and now Digital Storm wants to put it on your desk with its latest Black|OPS line of gaming rigs. For a starting price of $2,670 you can get yourself a rig with dual NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 graphics cards in SLI powering three 23-inch 3D LCDs from Asus. Naturally, though, the price goes way up from there with just a few clicks on those customization boxes. Can you resist their siren call?
Acer Aspire Predator AG7750 available, currently trying to kill Adrien Brody
If you've seen this bad boy there's no way you can forget it: from the DeLorean-esque cover to the two-tone paint job, the Aspire Predator AG7750 is the gaming desktop you don't want to leave alone with your children or small pets. Starting at $1999, you get Windows 7 Home Premium, an Intel Core i7-930 CPU, 12GB SDRAM, NVIDIA GTX 470 graphics card, all sorts of storage options, and more. Is it just us, or are these things getting progressively sillier as time goes on? Available now at "select retail outlets" (that would be "select" as in "selected," not as in "privileged"). PR after the break.
Acer's updated Predator gaming desktop swoops down from the trees to decapitate the competition
When launched back in 2008, Acer's Predator desktop was a mean gaming rig -- and we don't just mean because it had a tendency to actually set things on fire. We're pretty sure the new, just announced revision of the desktop won't suffer the same ailment, a non-customizable update that sports a 2.8GHz Core i7 930 CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 GPU, 1.5TB of storage, 12GB of DDR3 RAM, and an asking price of one buck under $2,000. That's a solid deal, and the new black and orange case design looks solid too, every bit as loud as old orange and black one. It's just perfect for showing your opponents just how serious you are about your gaming, though we're thinking it might have been even more popular if the Stanley Cup had gone the other way.
MSI ships 17-inch GX740, complete with Core i7 and Radeon HD 5870
Jonesing for a new gaming laptop, are you? We're sure you've already spent far too many hours browsing your options, but MSI's hoping that it can grab a moment of your time to demonstrate the merits of the GX740. This 17-inch beast measures a full 1.5-inches thick and weighs just over seven pounds, but all that heft nabs you a great deal of potency. Within, you'll find a 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPU (1GB DDR5), gigabit Ethernet, WiFi and Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) running the show. The panel tops out at 1,680 x 1,050, but you will get an ExpressCard slot, a trio of USB sockets as well as VGA and HDMI outputs. If your mind has been made up, you can get this one headed your way now for the tidy sum of $1,399.99.
iBuyPower compromises on nothing with Lan Warrior II
Desktop case connoisseurs will recognize the above as NZXT's Vulcan enclosure, and they'll also know it comes with two 120mm fans, at front and top, plus the option to add in a 200mm (that's eight inches, folks!) blower under the mesh side panel. Mind you, you'll be needing all the cooling you can get if you opt to run two of either the Radeon HD 5970 or GeForce GTX 480 in tandem, which this beastie can handle with its 1,200 Watt PSU. In terms of other specs, the Lan Warrior part deux will service you with anything up to an Intel Core i7-980X, 24GB of DDR3 RAM, and up to two terabytes of SSD storage. We decided we'd max those options out and got ourselves a blood-chilling $11,658 quote. Hit the source below to try and spec out a more reasonable rig, we're sure it's possible.
Maingear, iBuyPower and CyberPower reveal Phenom II X6 1090T-based bargain desktops
It's akin to clockwork, as they say -- Maingear, iBuyPower and CyberPower have all decided to pump out new and / or revised gaming desktops based on AMD's latest and greatest (and cheapest, some would argue) six-core processor, barely waiting 24 hours to do the honors. The Phenom II X6 1090T certainly has the whole low-price thing going for it, enabling this trio of PC builders to offer up complete systems starting at under $1,000. Maingear's new Limited Edition Vybe packs a $999 price tag, USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps support, ATI's Radeon 5000 series graphics, a DVD burner, 640GB WD Caviar Black SATA 6G hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Over in CyperPower land, users can select a variety of 1090T-based rigs starting at just $699, while iBuyPower is revamping the Chimera 2-Q, Gamer Fire and Gamer HAF systems to include the new silicon and an all-too-tempting sub-$1k starting point. The whole lot is available to be customized right this moment, but we're in no position to help you choose between options A, B, C, D, E or F. And G is looking mighty promising, too.
CyberPower, Digital Storm and Maingear add NVIDIA Fermi GPUs to flagship gaming PCs
Origin PC kicked things off on Friday by shoving NVIDIA's latest and greatest into its Genesis desktop, and now a few more in the custom PC game have upped the ante by offering a similarly delectable taste of Fermi. NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 470 and 480 have been all the rage over the weekend, and if those raucous benchmarks have you convinced that the time to buy is now, a trio of system builders are here vying for your attention. Digital Storm's Black|OPS rig can now be ordered with a GTX 480 (starts at $2,891), while CyberPower is giving prospective customers the ability to add the latest Fermi GPUs into a smattering of towers. Maingear's formidable SHIFT supercomputer is also seeing the update, but it's really asking for trouble with a triple GTX 480 configuration that demands a minimum investment of $6,199. In related news, ASUS, Zotac and a slew of other GPU makers are cranking out new boards based on the minty fresh core, so you shouldn't have a difficult time finding one if the rest of your rig is a-okay for now.
Origin PC stuffs 4.4GHz Core i7-980X, Fermi-based GTX 470 and 480 into Genesis desktop
Hope you didn't just pull the trigger on a new Origin PC Genesis, else you'll be forced to know that your rig was made obsolete in record time. Okay, maybe not obsolete, but there's precisely no doubt that you'd rather be rocking a new Fermi card than whatever you've got now. Right on cue, NVIDIA has launched its latest pair of powerhouse graphics cards, and as of right now, prospective Origin PC buyers can opt for either the GTX 470 or GTX 480 on the Genesis desktop. Better still, you can buy 'em in single, dual or triple SLI configurations, and in case you're down for paying the premium, a 4.4GHz overclocked Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU can sit alongside of it (or them).
Intel's Core i7-980X Extreme Edition hits a slew of new gaming desktops
Intel's six-core, twelve-threaded Core i7-980X Extreme Edition has turned the hardcore gaming community on its head, and just about everyone is scrounging around in a (mostly futile) attempt to locate $999. For those in dire need of an entire system replacement, it seems that today's the day to start looking. Shortly after we heard that this 32nm Gulftown chip would be landing with Alienware and Origin PC rigs, a veritable plethora of other outfits have shown up to make similar announcements. Digital Storm has popped an overclocked (4.4GHz) version into its Black|OPS machine (which conveniently starts at $5,642, while CyberPower is now offering the silicon in its Black Mamba, Black Pearl and Gamer Xtreme 3D machines. Maingear's also sliding said CPU into its world-beating Shift "supercomputer," and anyone shopping a high-end Velocity Micro system will also see the option. We suspect most every other PC maker in existence will be following suit soon, so if your prefab PC builder hasn't yet jumped on the bandwagon, just hold tight. Real tight.
Digital Storm Black Ops gaming rig is exactly what you expect
Sure, there might not be too many surprises with a completely customizable gaming rig called "Black Ops" from high-end manufacturer Digital Storm, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. This latest rig naturally adds the latest Core i7 processors as options, along with ATI 5970 graphics, and Digital Storm's own Sub-Zero Liquid Cooling System, which promises to handle your overclocked processors and graphics cards with ease. You'll also get your choice of four different, equally intimidating-looking chassis, and a fairly generous three-year warranty (even on overclocked machines). Prices obviously vary quite a bit depending on the configuration, but the standard "Extreme" rig will set you back $3,102.
Origin's Genesis gaming desktop gets reviewed: blisteringly fast, but oh-so-pricey
The latest high-fashion gaming outfit (known as Origin 'round these parts) has just started shipping its beastly Genesis out, and if you've ever wondered what five large could get you in the land of desktops, wonder no more. The crew over at Hot Hardware managed to procure a darn-near-loaded machine, complete with a Core i7-920 CPU (overclocked from the factory to 3.8GHz), 6GB of Corsair DDR3 RAM, twin ATI Radeon HD 5970 GPUs, a liquid cooling system, 80GB SSD boot drive and pretty much every other top-of-the-line component you could imagine. How'd it stand up to testing? Well. Really well. It crushed every benchmark that dared get in its way, and we're told that when pressed, the company's explanation of its warranty was truly best in class. What's interesting is that the MSRP of the test unit can be halved by simply opting for a few marginally weaker pieces, and we're guessing that the overall performance wouldn't suffer a huge deal. Hit the source link for all the bars, charts and in-depth analysis you can handle.
Maingear introduces F1X gaming desktops with overclocked Core i7 CPUs
It's no Shift, but Maingear's new line of F1X gaming rigs are still delightfully potent in their own right. Starting at $2,249 (F1X 200) and sailing well north of $5,149 for the top-end F1X 500, this trio of desktops runs on a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 and packs an 80GB SSD boot drive, an overclocked Intel Core i7 CPU and an optional Blu-ray burner. The big fellow touts a 3.6GHz OC'd Core i7-975, 12GB of DDR3 memory, a 1.5TB Western Digital storage drive, 6x Blu-ray writer, a closed-loop watercooling system, 1,000 watt power supply and twin ATI Radeon HD 5870 GPUs (1GB). The other guys step things down just a wee bit, but you can rest assured that today's latest games will be handled with ease should you snag any of 'em. Speaking of which -- they're only available from Tiger Direct, Circuit City (the website) and CompUSA, so don't waste your time looking elsewhere for a better deal. %Gallery-83555%
