Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Most everyone digs a surprise, but the novelty tends to wear off after the third or fourth iteration of the same trick, wouldn’t you say? Rather than just coming right out and showing us the wares, Voodoo’s Rahul Sood is playing the tease card again with an obviously undisclosed new product. In an apparent attempt to keep the wave (started by the Omen and Envy 133, by the way) rolling, Mr. Sood has dropped a sliver of a hint on The Next Bench. He states that “there’s also this other thing [Voodoo is] working on right now,” but he very purposefully fails to elaborate. Just keep it sexy and overpowered and we won’t kvetch about the build up… too much.

[Thanks, William]

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Filed under: Desktops

British computer maker Scan is mighty, mighty proud of its 3X Great White. Aside from blasting a Silverstone TJ07B case with an astonishingly corny logo, the outfit is also charging a staggering £11,171.18 ($20,225) for the soon-to-be-outdated rig. Granted, it does pack an impressive amount of cutting-edge hardware — three 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 HDDs (alongside two 64GB OCZ SSDs), a 4.4GHz overclocked Core 2 Quad Q9650 CPU, 2GB of Corsair DDR3 RAM, three 1GB NVIDIA GTX 280 GPUs and enough LEDs to light up a small basement (among other things) — but we still can’t justify trading out a good portion of your kid’s college education for a machine very capable of dominating Crysis. But if you can, the buy link is just a few clicks away. Just don’t tell the wife, nor anyone that we told you not to tell the wife.

[Via WebCrunchDeals]

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Filed under: Desktops

There was no shortage of case mods at NVIDIA’s NVISION conference, but this one in particular managed to snag the majority of the spotlight. Created by Richard “DarthBeavis” Surroz, the Blade-themed DayWalker actually houses three separate computer systems; two are for playing games, while the other acts as a server. Conceptually, at least, the rig is designed to enable two users to play against one another, and given the “50+ fans” and triple SLI GTX 280 GPU setups (among other things), it’s no shock to hear that it’d cost around $18,000 to $20,000 to build again. ‘Course, that’s chump change when you’re stuffing away millions of dollars owed to the government — just ask Snipes… oh, wait.

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Filed under: Laptops

Anyone remotely familiar with the Zepto brand understands that it doesn’t mess around when it comes to PC gaming, and anyone (in the UK, at least) remotely interested in treating themselves to an all new machine should certainly give this one a glance. The 15.4-inch Nexus A15 arrives in a fairly respectable £599 ($1,181) / £699 ($1,378) base configuration, but things get entirely more exciting when adding in the 2.53GHz Intel P9500 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive (or 32GB SSD, if that’s your thing), a Blu-ray optical drive and a 6-cell battery sure to wither away in no time flat. All the regulars are on board too: WiFi, NVIDIA’s GeForce 9600M GT, Windows Vista, audio in / out, a multicard reader, Ethernet and a few USB ports for good measure. Have fun making those previously mentioned price points look absurdly small.

[Via PCLaunches, thanks vinit]

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Filed under: Desktops

Apparently some folks have $6,600 to toss on a gaming PC, and thankfully, those folks — we won’t mention names — invested in a camera to let us all live vicariously. HP’s Blackbird 002 Exhilaration Edition, which packs a pair of NVIDIA’s potent GeForce GTX 280 cards, has landed in the home of one lucky gamer, and there’s a good selection of pictures to prove it. You know where to head from here.

[Thanks, bioender]

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Filed under: Laptops

For those who won’t even glance in the general direction of a gaming laptop unless it weighs in at 12+ pounds, you’ll probably be unable to take your retinas off of Maingear’s forthcoming beast. Word on the street has it that the aptly-titled eX-L will posses a potent 3.06GHz Core 2 Extreme X9100 CPU, which will predictably be overclocked by an undisclosed amount. Graphically, we’re told to expect a couple of ATI GPUs or a single NVIDIA unit, while the 17-inch display, built-in speakers (with subwoofer) and 802.11n WiFi are pretty much par for the course. Pricing and availability details are still being withheld, but it sounds like this one won’t be coming your way cheap.

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Filed under: Desktops

Wait a second — are absurdly large, overdecorated gaming desktops making a comeback? With Acer’s Aspire Predator and ASUS’ ARES CG6155 lighting up eyes everywhere, we’re beginning to think yes — particularly when you take one glance at Packard Bell’s elephantine ipower X2.0. Revealed at the Electronic Sports World Cup in Paris, this beast features a tremendously large, high-gloss chassis, a liquid cooling system, a dedicated lock to keep PCB snatchers at bay and a nice array of components including Intel’s Core 2 Quad / Extreme processor, a Blu-ray optical drive, hybrid TV tuner, up to 3TB of storage, a NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2, a 21-in-1 card reader and a gaming keyboard / mouse. Somehow, Packard Bell is managing to offer this thing up for anywhere between £999 ($1,979) and £infinity, but don’t count on securing one ’til Christmas. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via Trusted Reviews]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

We’re tempted to wonder if this Mousse Computer outfit is related to Mouse Computer (or if someone’s S key was just acting up), but nevertheless, the Masterpiece V960XV1 is just one of the few rigs out right now with NVIDIA’s potent GeForce GTX280 within. Aside from that gem, you’ll also find a 3.2GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 1.3TB of SATA hard drive space, a Blu-ray burner and an 11-in-1 multicard reader. Early estimates peg this one at €3,500 ($5,427), which is probably a fair price to pay to have your face melted completely off.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

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Filed under: Desktops

What’s that, Acer? Your vicious Predator not feel so dominant now? ASUS just dropped a bombshell with the official release of the ARES CG6150 that first surfaced at CeBIT, and for gamers who accept nothing less than cutting edge, this is your rig. From the top, we’ve got an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (overclockable to 4.0GHz) processor, NVIDIA’s nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 3-way SLI setup with GeForce GTX280s, up to 4TB of HDD space, a Blu-ray optical drive, twin gigabit Ethernet jacks, two power supplies and a custom liquid cooling arrangement. ASUS is being tight-lipped (as usual) with pricing / release information, but let’s just assume you’ll need a serious stack of Benjamins to even sniff this beast.

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Filed under: Laptops

Wait a second — you mean ASUS actually had something other than subnotes at Computex? Tucked away in some surely obscure corner were these two gems: the 15.6-inch G50V and 17-inch G71V. The first of the two rigs was packing a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT graphics card, a WXGA “3D display,” Intel’s Centrino 2 platform, support for 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a pair of 320GB SATA drives and a sturdy keyboard built for gamers. The larger sibling was said to posses the same GPU and platform, though it was sporting twin 500GB drives and support for DDR3 memory / CPU overclocking. Beyond that, we’re left to wonder what on Earth could be hiding behind those somewhat unsightly shells, but hopefully ASUS won’t keep us wondering for long.

[Thanks, David]

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Filed under: Desktops

Aw, snap. Our Chinese branch just happened upon Acer’s totally unmistakable new gaming rig at Computex, and while they couldn’t spend enough time with it to confirm or deny whether it really was faster, better, stronger or longer than anything else, they did manage to capture a few shots. Granted, that little “Don’t Touch” sign technically makes this a hands-off, but either way, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the close-ups found in the read link below.

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Filed under: Desktops

Look out, Alienware — your fancy new Area-51 ALX has a carnivore hot on its trail. The Acer Aspire Predator, which was officially unveiled yesterday, has already found its way into the loving arms of Bit-Tech. Over there, folks were able to spend a good bit of time with the rig, snap a smattering of photos and dish out some initial impressions. There’s some pretty interesting tidbits to be had (for example, every single part possesses its own bar code, the motherboard is a customized MSI nForce 780i SLI, etc.), so be sure and tap the read link to get their view on how this beast will likely shake out.

[Thanks, Daren]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Hot on the heels of the news that Dell is axing its XPS gaming line to focus attention on Alienware, we’ve got word that Alienware will intro a new, low-end model soon. Clearly aiming for a bigger chunk of the market, the eyeball-shattering-system makers will offer a $1,699, AMD-powered desktop, featuring 4GB of RAM, a 2.2GHz quad-core 9550 Phenom X4 CPU, and two ATI HD 3870 X2 graphics cards. The system will be based around the AMD 790FX chipset, which will be served up on an ASUS motherboard. In a feat of absurd cliché, Alienware spokesman Marc Diana claimed, “It’s not your granddaddy’s AMD system. We’re talking top-of-the-line quad core.” The PC will be available sometime in the next two weeks, so stay alert.

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Filed under: Desktops

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.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

A district attorney in Rockwall County, Dallas, is under scrutiny from the FBI due to a PC he built as a backup server — using office money. Ray Sumrow claims he was using the system for business, but the “server” actually seems to be a tricked out gaming rig, featuring two hard drives, seven fans, high end graphics and sound cards, WiFi, and cables which “glow under ultraviolet light.” Rod Gregg, the FBI examiner on the case says, “I would not configure a backup computer in that way,” and added, “When I saw that, I did not think of anything related to a government agency.” Charges of forgery, theft, and records tampering have been made against Mr. Sumrow due to his use of the district attorney’s “fee fund,” which is meant to be used for office supplies or employee salaries. Testimony will take place through the week, and prosecutors expect to hear how it was imperative to Mr. Sumrow’s legal work that he, “Frag the crap out of dudes.”

[Via Penny Arcade]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Believe it or not, Alienware’s Aurora ALX rig was boasting quad SLI support two whole years ago. After yesterday’s official launch of ATI’s CrossFireX technology, now the ALX has another partner in quad GPU crime. Dubbed the Area-51 ALX CFX, this rig features a 3.0GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, a bevy of HDD choices, optional Blu-ray burner, a 1,000-watt power supply and of course, twin 1GB Radeon HD 3870 X2 cards (four GPUs in all). Granted, this thing will run you at least $5,649 as a CrossFireX-equipped rig, so think carefully if slicing into your son’s college fund is really worth 4x the graphical mayhem.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Hailed as a rig that “gamers won’t outgrow,” the XPS 630 that we originally peeked at CES is finally official. As expected, the tower is ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI-ready and will support Intel’s Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme processors on the nForce 650i SLI chipset. You can beef things up with 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 1TB of HDD space or an optional Blu-ray drive and AGEIA PhysX accelerator, and you’ll have plenty of room for all those peripherals thanks to six total USB 2.0 ports, an optional 19-in-1 media card reader, gigabit Ethernet, audio in / out, FireWire and even PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors. Also of note, it’s the first pre-fab PC to support the Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA), and you can snag your own for as little as $1,249 right now. Click on through for more of the breakdown. Oh, and if you’re interested to see how this beast stacks up, you can check out reviews from PC Mag, Hot Hardware and Computer Shopper.

Continue reading Dell’s XPS 630 gaming desktop gets official, reviewed

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Filed under: Desktops

We’re not going to set this one up with some creepy bedtime story like Vigor does on its own website, but seriously, this beast is kind of scary. The aptly-dubbed Colossus houses Intel’s Skulltrail platform along with two Core 2 Extreme QX9775 quad-core processors, and that’s just the beginning. You’ll also find a menacing (albeit somewhat unsightly) chassis, a 1,000-watt PSU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, twin 74GB Raptor hard drives, 2TB of storage on a pair of RAIDed SATA HDDs, dual 512MB GeForce 8800 GTS Xtremes, a dual-layer DVD burner (skimp much?) and a 3.5-inch floppy drive for loading up your tax template from 1998. As you can probably surmise, this one won’t run you cheap, so we’ll leave it to you to decide if forking out a small fortune $6,799 is worth it.

[Thanks, Zee]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Every so often, we get wind of a mysterious gaming rig that’s so powerful, so mighty, that the entire world just has to see it. Unfortunately for most, this particular one will remain a pipe dream, primarily due to the UK’s impeccably strong pound and America’s woefully weak dollar. Nevertheless, those shacked up on the other side of the pond can grab Computer Supermarket’s (we know, we know) Ultimate Gaming rig, which is home to an Intel Q6600 quad-core CPU, 8GB of DDR2 RAM, a 750GB SATA II hard drive, NVIDIA’s 512MB 8600GT graphics card, a dual-layer DVD burner, 22-inch LCD, Windows Vista, keyboard / mouse and a fairly decent assortment of ports. All this pizazz can be yours for just £938.83 if you’re in the right place, but for $1,829, we’ll probably look elsewhere over here.

[Via RandomlyAccessed]

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