Hasta La Gadget!

ASUS‘ ARES line of gaming PCs has been kicking for a few years now, but regardless of how many iterations we see, we’re still a wee bit terrified when approaching a chassis this gargantuan. Just after the outfit’s press conference in Taipei, we daintily hurried over to the newest member of the family in order to snag a few shots and get the low-down on what users could expect when it ships between now and next century. Aesthetically, we’re told that the CG8490 was inspired by “ancient and modern armor of both Eastern and Western cultures,” likely a politically correct statement with no actual meaning. Regardless, this monster can overclock itself by as much as 20 percent without boiling over, and the six-core Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU is suited for slicing up even the most complex of tasks. There’s also 12GB of DDR3 memory, 2TB of hard drive space, a standard DVD burner and a pair of overclocked ATI Radeon HD 5870 GPUs to handle DirectX 11 and Eyefinity duties. Mum’s the word on a price or release date, but we’re going with “too much” and “not soon enough.”

Oh, and be sure to peek the limited edition ARES GPU as well as the company’s Rampage III Extreme motherboard in the gallery below.

Continue reading ASUS showcases ROG CG8490 gaming desktop: Core i7-980X, dual OC’d Radeon HD 5870s

ASUS showcases ROG CG8490 gaming desktop: Core i7-980X, dual OC’d Radeon HD 5870s originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 May 2010 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  ASUS  | Email this | Comments

Typical, right? As the 3D craze flows from the cinema to the television and onto the PC, it was just a matter of time before one of MSI’s Wind Top all-in-ones shipped with support for the third dimension. By most accounts, the new Wind Top AE2420 3D looks like a mildly larger version of the AE2220 we peeked late last year, touting a 24-inch 1080p multitouch panel, support for shutter glasses (a single pair is included), Core i5 or i7 CPU options and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD5730 pushing the pixels. There’s also a pair of 5-watt speakers built-in, not to mention an Ethernet jack, VGA output and a handful of USB 2.0 sockets. Mum’s the word on pricing, but MSI is expected to have this bad boy on display as Computex kicks off early next week. Yeah, you know we’ll be there pretending to be embarrassed while donning the spectacles.

Continue reading MSI follows fate’s whispers, intros 24-inch Wind Top AE2420 3D

MSI follows fate’s whispers, intros 24-inch Wind Top AE2420 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 May 2010 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  MSI  | Email this | Comments

Shuttle teased us just under a month ago with its Core i7-powered J3 desktop, and now that little bugger is finally up for pre-order in the States. The J3 5800P workstation is easily one of the most powerful small form factor PCs this planet has ever seen, boasting a six-core Core i7 980X Extreme Edition CPU, your choice of NVIDIA Quadro or ATI FirePro professional graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3 memory, room for two SATA hard drives, an optional Blu-ray drive, plenty of ports and a 500-watt power supply. Somehow or another, all of that fits into a chassis that measures just 8.5- x 7.5- x 13.1-inches, and if you’ve been looking to downsize without taking a hit in the performance department, you can finally do so starting at $1,899. The journey begins right there in the source link — good luck keeping it below three large, Yes Man.

Continue reading Shuttle opens US pre-orders for pricey Core i7-based J3 SFF PC

Shuttle opens US pre-orders for pricey Core i7-based J3 SFF PC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 12:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Shuttle (J3 5800P), (J1 4100P), (G2 7600P)  | Email this | Comments

You know, HTPCs never did anything to deserve the worldwide shunning that they’re dealing with right about now, and Mvix apparently couldn’t care less about the overall lack of interest in buying a PC that’s chained down to the den. Rather shockingly (given the company’s past endeavors), the HDHome S2 and S4 are the latest to emerge on the living room scene, but unlike most other pre-built HTPCs, this one has an atypically weak processor and an unusually large amount of storage capacity. Both boxes get powered by a dual-core Atom 330 CPU, yet you’ll also find a Blu-ray player, HDMI output, Bluetooth 2.0, a half dozen USB 2.0 sockets, WiFi, an embedded TV tuner and your choice of NVIDIA’s Ion or ATI’s Radeon 3200 HD on the graphics front. The main differentiating factor is the amount of hot-swappable drive bays; the S2 moseys along with just a pair, while the S4 can handle four drives at a moment’s notice. Frankly, this thing looks more at home in a closet or server room than beside your HDTV, but either way, they’re both available to customize starting at $999 and $1,599, respectively.

Continue reading Mvix intros HDHome S2 and S4 media servers: HTPCs, with a capacious twist

Mvix intros HDHome S2 and S4 media servers: HTPCs, with a capacious twist originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware  |  Mvix  | Email this | Comments

Not down with piecing together a gaming rig for yourself, eh? We’ll forgive you… this time. Thankfully for you, Digital Storm forgives eternally in situations such as this, with the pre-fab PC builder today cranking out one of its most beastly rigs to date. The Black | OPS Assassin is hailed as the planet’s “most advanced vertically cooled PC,” boasting an Intel Core i7-930 that’s factory overclocked to 4.4GHz. Other specs include 6GB of DDR3 RAM, an EVGA X58 motherboard, 750 watt power supply, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) and your choice of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (1.2GB), ATI Radeon HD 5870 (1GB) or GeForce GTX 480 (1.5GB). Go on, wade over and start customizing — that $2,387 base price won’t sting too badly.

Continue reading Digital Storm tempts with 4.4GHz Black|OPS Assassin gaming desktop

Digital Storm tempts with 4.4GHz Black|OPS Assassin gaming desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 04:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware  |  Digital Storm  | Email this | Comments