Computer Systems News - Page 24

CES 2017 - AVADirect is aiming at the gaming PC market in a big way this year, continuing their efforts from 2016 - where they pushed into VR gaming PCs and so much more - but now they're teaming with GIGABYTE on a new gaming PC that they're calling the "most advanced" custom gaming PC.

Inside of the new AVA Z270 Scorpio is GIGABYTE's feature-packed Aorus GA-Z270X-GAMING 7 motherboard, which takes the new Kaby Lake family of CPUs - with the Z270 Scorpio system powered by the Core i7-7700K processor. We also have GIGABYTE's on-board TURBO B-Clock Tuning IC that lets you tune clock rates for performance, stability, and more.

AVADirect will let you customize the AVA Z270 Scorpio with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080, up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM, and a slew of storage options. The components are placed into the system with a "showroom quality appearance", which is clearly visible from the images you can see here.

CES 2017 - MSI's latest Trident 3 small form factor PC blurs the lines between desktop and console gaming with a fully-fledged PC powerhouse at a console's smaller footprint.

Using NVIDIA's flexible and efficient 16nm Pascal GPU architecture and Intel's latest seventh-gen Kaby Lake CPUs, manufacturers are now able to make VR-ready desktops that are basically the size of PS4 and Xbox consoles. MSI's new Trident 3 compact small form factor (SFF) PC fits this bill nicely, but instead of woefully outdated, scaled back, and consolidated hardware, it rocks a dedicated a desktop-grade video card, processor, and onboard DDR4 RAM.

The MSI Trident 3 sports an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 ITX video card in both 3GB and 6GB GDDR5 VRAM configurations for VR and traditional gaming, an Intel Kaby Lake H110 Core i7-7700 or Core i5-7400 CPU, up to 32GB of DDR4 2400MHz RAM, and options for HDD, SSD or M.2 storage. All in all the Trident 3 is very much akin to ASUS' new VivoPC X small form factor PC.

CES 2017 - ASUS's new VivoPC X melds VR gaming horsepower with the minute footprint of a small form factor PC.

The VivoPC X is lightweight and clocks in at just below five pounds, but although its small, it has some pretty decent specs: the $799 SFF PC houses a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 video card (VRAM unknown at this time) alongside a seventh generation Intel i5 Kaby Lake CPU, 8GB of system RAM, and a 512GB SSD for storage. Two HDMI ports, four USB 3.1 ports and two USB 2.0 ports ensure plenty of space for VR peripherals and input.

The ASUS VivoPC X SFF PC can also be used for traditional gaming, of course; the small chassis features two HDMI ports and a single DisplayPort for NVIDIA G-Sync supported displays. Although the VivoPC X uses an GeForce GTX 1060 built on NVIDIA's new 16nm Pascal graphics architecture, there's still some worries about heat, especially with performance-driven VR games.

Zotac is set to unveil a new wave of hardware at CES 2017, complete with its high-end ZBOX mini PC powered by Intel's newest seventh generation processors.

The ZBOX CI549 mini PC will merge ultra portability with impressive performance thanks to its onboard new Kaby Lake CPU from Intel. The processor will be passively cooled, and the ZBOX will feature multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports for blistering fast USB 3.1 10Gbps transfers, fast-charging and DisplayPort over Type-C capabilities for improved video performance.

"We believe the future of computing should be flexible," says Tony Wong, CEO, ZOTAC International. "Our next generation of computing products enables users to get the best of mobile and stationary experience."

GIGABYTE is going on the offensive with its Gaming GT PC, a new SFF gaming PC that rocks some ridiculously delicious specifications - normally found in a high-end desktop gaming PC.

We're looking at Intel's Core i7-6700K processor, a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming graphics card, 32GB of DDR RAM, a 240GB PCIe-based SSD, 1TB mechanical HDD (2.5-inch 7200RPM), plenty of connectivity (Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Type-C, 5 x USB 3.0, and 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A).

All of this fits into a chassis that is barely bigger than the PS3 console, with an automated exhaust system that AnandTech reports "opens up exhaust flippers at the top of the computer when it needs to cool down the components". The site continues: "The chassis can accommodate any double wide graphics card with a maximum size of 280 mm in length and 41 mm in depth, but nothing too custom with regards heat pipes and backplates because the space is constrained".

There's 7 hours left on an absolutely stellar deal that's taking place on Amazon, with a CYBERPOWERPC Oculus Ready GXiVR8020A Gaming Desktop & Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset Bundle that costs $999.

Not bad, right? Except it's bundled with an Oculus Rift - which costs $599 on its own. Inside, we have:

But, the star of the show here is the Oculus Rift, bundled for $999 is an incredible price. I personally recommend the HTC Vive, but at this price... you just can't complain. If you've got the money, pull the trigger on this PC now!

HP has just unveiled its new mini PC that features workstation-class hardware, with the new Z2 Mini packing an Intel Xeon CPU, NVIDIA Quadro mobile M620 graphics, and M.2 SSD - which all fits into a 2.3-inch-high case, that HP says is "90 percent smaller than a traditional business-class tower".

With the maxed out configuration, HP's new Z2 Mini is twice as powerful as any competing mini PC on the market, and will work with six displays in its stock form. HP is aiming for CAD, design, graphics and 3D users - but gamers shouldn't be swayed away from it, either.

HP's new Z2 Mini is 63% quieter than their own business-class mini PCs, thanks to the company deploying a custom cooling system. HP explains that the engineering of the Z2 Mini as "the octagon form of the Z2 Mini is the most uniquely designed workstation in HP's 35 years of workstation history".

Microsoft is really innovating in a big way lately, surpassing Apple's hype-o-meter which seems to have been watered down over the years, but the new Surface Studio from Microsoft is ready to blow people away.

Even with its high price, the Surface Studio is selling out all over the place, even up to the high-end $4000 model. For $2999, you get a quad-core CPU, dedicated GPU and decent storage - but for those who want speed, the $4000 model rocks a faster processor, better GPU, and more RAM. If you've forgotten the specs, here's what Surface Studio features:

Surface Studio specs:

Microsoft today revealed the Surface Studio, an ultra-thin transforming all-in-one aimed at transforming your desk into a fully-fledged workstation studio.

As we reported, Microsoft's new transforming all-in-one is called the Surface Studio, and is aimed at 3D artists and businesspeople who need a sleek, versatile and powerful PC.

The Surface Studio is incredibly thin and flexible, and sports a forge aluminum body. Apart from its power, the all-in-one's selling point is its unique transforming display, which can mold into a number of different form factors including a traditional PC setup to a slanted artist's canvas or even completely flat like a tablet. The Surface Studio is stationary, however, unlike the Surface Book.

ZOTAC held its 10-year anniversary event in Hong Kong over the last 24 hours, where it unveiled a new graphics card that it collaborated with Thermaltake on: the new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 ArcticStorm Thermaltake 10 Year Anniversary Edition graphics card. It comes watercooled with Thermaltake powering the cooling side, and ZOTAC's custom PCB and high overclock goodness we've come to love about their cards.

Well, the exciting new 10-year anniversary celebration included the new ZOTAC Magnus EN1080 10 Year Anniversary Edition mini-PC, which features NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080 inside - not bad for something the size of a BRIX or NUC, huh? The rest of the specifications are just as good, delivering desktop gaming PC power inside of something much smaller. The entire system will draw up to 180W, which means this is a portable gaming and productivity powerhouse.

The entire Magnus EN1080 10 Year Anniversary Edition is completely liquid cooled, with ZOTAC's engineers pulling off some magic on the Magnus EN1080 with a "specially designed liquid cooling thermal system" that cools both the CPU and the GPU.