Computer Systems - Page 31

Today CyberPower Inc. launched a new small form factor gaming PC to its already impressive lineup. The new Hadron Air Gaming PC is based on a mini-ITX setup that is housed in EVGA's new Hadron Air chassis. Measuring in at just 6.5-inches by 12-inches by 12-inches, this little PC packs a much larger punch than you would expect.

Available in two base configurations, the Hadron Air Gaming PC features the latest Intel and AMD processors, as well as full size NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan, or AMD R9 290x GPUs. The Chassis is sleek and modern, yet remains minimalist in design, making sure that style meshes perfectly with function.

We are just 11 days from the release of Microsoft's Windows 8.1, and boutique system builders are beginning to announce availability of the operating system on new PCs. Today Origin PC announced that it has now began offering Windows 8.1 on all new desktops and laptops and will begin shipping those systems on October 17th.

"One of my favorite things about Windows 8.1 is now having the ability to choose where you want to boot directly to, your desktop or directly to the start screen menu." said Kevin Wasielewski ORIGIN PC CEO and co-founder. "With Windows 8.1, it's an evolutionary step in the right direction and we're extremely excited to immediately begin offering it to all ORIGIN PC customers to have it ready to ship by launch day."

Origin PC says that all existing customers who run Windows 8 can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free on launch day through the Windows App store. For those who wish to stick with the tried and true Windows 7, Origin PC says that it will still continue to offer Windows 7 for the time being. With the inclusion of a "start button" Windows 8.1 is slowly working its way back to its roots, but personally, I am sticking to Windows 7.

This week, MSI launched two new mobile workstations, the GT70 20K and the GT60 20J. Both workstations feature NVIDIA Quadro graphics processors and Intel Core i7 processors for adequate power even when on the go. MSI says that the GT70 and GT60 have both been certified by Adobe, Autodesk, and Solidworks.

The GT70 features an NVIDIA Quadro K3100M graphics processor and the GT60 sports a K2100M GPU, which have both been designed to tackle the most intensive software out there, including AutoCad Design Suite, Avid Media Composer, Pinnacle Studio 16, AutoDesk Smoke, Siemens NX, PTC Creo Parametric 2.0, and more. Both units possess NVIDIA Optimus technology, which enables designers and engineers to perform simultaneous rendering or structural/fluid analysis on the same system.

"MSI has long been praised for the performance of our gaming laptops, and the new workstations leverage that expertise to deliver the same quality and effectiveness for professionals," said Andy Tung, Vice President of Sales for MSI Pan America Region. "We've successfully combined the power and design of our acclaimed GT70 and GT60 laptops with the performance needed to tackle professional applications.

If you haven't been able to tell, I am a certified home theater junkie. I have built my share of HTPCs, Raspberry Pi-based media servers, and even hacked a few phones to serve as streaming devices. Nothing I have done can come close to the awesomeness that Steiger Dynamics has just released.

Today, Steiger Dynamics announced what I consider to be one of the sexiest home theater PCs ever constructed. The new LEET Monochrome Limited Edition Gaming HTPC is a special edition of the company's Core and Reference lines of elegant, high-end HTPCs.

"The LEET Monochrome Limited Edition Gaming Home Theater PC endows gamers and creative professionals with peak performance capabilities and visually immersive computing," said Martin Hehensteiger, CEO and co-founder of STEIGER DYNAMICS. "The Monochrome Limited Edition Gaming HTPC gives enthusiasts an insane amount of power in a system that is both aesthetically beautiful, and incredibly dynamic."

Earlier this week at the 2013 Intel Developer Forum, Intel announced the addition of two new products to its small form-factor NUC lineup, both of which feature the company's new Haswell processors. The D54250WYK sports a Core i5-4250U and the D34010WYK houses the i3-4010U.

While both of these Haswell processors feature hyper-threading, only the Core i5 model supports TurboBoost, which can boost the processor's clock speeds up to 2.6 GHz when temperatures are favorable. The Core i3 model is stuck at its 1.7GHz clock and features a slower integrated GPU than the HD Graphics 5000 IGP inside the i5.

Other than the processors, the two models are basically the same machine. Both feature 4K monitor support thanks to DisplayPort technology, and a mini HDMI connector also provides additional video out connectivity. Gigabit Ethernet is also supported via a port on the back of the box.

We loved the Intel NUC when we looked at it, but we always need more power, speed and features. This is something Intel is working on, where they were showing off a new Haswell-powered NUC at PAX Prime 2013.

The new NUC is dubbed Intel NUC D54250WYK DIY kit that uses the Intel NUC Board D54250WYB. Intel will be releasing the Intel NUC kits under the Intel NUC D54250WYK DIY kit that uses the Intel NUC Board D54250WYB, which will be released later this year. Intel looks to be dropping Thunderbolt from the next-gen NUC units, which is a shame.

The Intel NUC Kit D54250WYK featured a Core i5 4250U processor, which runs at 1.3GHz but can be pushed up to 2.6GHz with Turbo enabled, and is a dual-core part with 3MB of smart cache. Intel HD Graphics 5000 is included, with the entire processor coming in with a TDP of just 15W, which is just incredible.

VMWorld 2013 - Today, Lenovo announced that it has expanded its end-to-end enterprise solutions portfolio with the addition of a new thin client. The Lenovo Think Centre M32 is powered by Intel's Celeron platform and includes rich legacy support that provides enterprise-level functionality while delivering great value to customers who need a desktop virtualization solution.

"The ThinkCentre M32 is a small form factor thin client that adds value to our quality desktop products and helps enterprises meet end-to-end IT solutions for desktop virtualization," said Victor Rios, vice president and general manager of Think desktop, workstation, and visuals. "It has the Energy Star 5.2 green certification, making it great energy saving solution at a great value for virtual desktop environments."

Offered in Linux, LeTOS, or Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating systems, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M32 also features Lenovo's Terminal Manager software that allows IT managers an effective, secure, and easy-to-use management software. Lenovo says that the M32 will be available starting October 2013 and will sell at a price point of approximately $259.

Earlier today iBUYPOWER unveil their new competition-grade gaming systems that involved a partnership with Computer Logic Gaming, and now they're just announced a partnership with AMD that sees their Valkyrie and Revolt systems powered by AMD CPUs.

First up, the Valkyrie is available with AMD's high-end A10 quad-core CPU and a Radeon HD 8970M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 memory. The AMD-based Valkyrie systems can be configured with both an SSD and a HDD for the best of both worlds, super-speed and huge storage. iBUYPOWER also decided to offer an AMD option on their Revolt system, where customers can choose an AMD A10-6800K quad-core CPU. This means that the Revolt remains "the industry's leading benchmark in compact, high-performance gaming systems" according to iBUYPOWER.

Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER has said: "At iBUYPOWER, one of our core strengths is being able to offer customers a wide selection of configurations for any of our systems. Yes, we're about producing the best performing systems, but we also want to answer the call for choice. With new Revolts and Valkryies featuring AMD components, we cater to our customer's needs."

Today, iBUYPOWER and Computer Logic Gaming (CLG) have teamed up to launch several new custom-designed, high-performance gaming systems that are sure to give any gamer the advantage needed when competing in competition level events. iBUYPOWER says that the systems were designed from the ground up and built around the needs of a hardcore competition gamer and that all of the new systems have been tested by teams from iBUYPOWER and CLG to ensure that every aspect of the systems were tweaked to perfection.

The new systems come in three unique configurations and are encased in a "Custom Laser-Etched Chassis" which bears the CLG logo on the case's side panel window. "We've stayed true to our mission since day one of committing to the eSports scene. We want to support and give back to the community," said Darren Su, VP of iBUYPOWER. "CLG told us that fans demanded something competitive and we listened."

Available with up to an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 graphics, 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, and sealed-loop liquid-cooling, each of the CLG systems will most definitely plow through any game you chose to throw at it. "I'm a computer enthusiast, and as the owner of CLG, I care a lot about what we put our brand on. The specs to price ratio on the CLG edition iBUYPOWER computers are great, which makes me happy to be working with them," said HotshotGG, Owner of CLG. "Plus, have you seen the custom case designs?"

After speaking with a source that is said to be close to Apple, KitGuru said that they have learned that Apple's new Mac Pro would most likely ship to consumers and arrive for retail sales sometime during the month of October. They also stated that the Mac Pro would return to the UK around the same time after the line was removed from sale in 27 countries back in March of this year.

The delay in release is said to be due to a shortage on E5 processors as well as their mating motherboards. Additionally, analysts are speculating that Apple is waiting on its new operating system Mavericks to be released as it currently is limited to 96 GB of memory. With the new Mac Pro offering up to 128GB of RAM, this makes perfect sense. Apple could also be holding off on releasing the new Mac Pro due to ongoing Thunderbolt 2 development which is said to wrap up sometime during Q3 of 2013.

To further bait the rumor mill, Apple is said to be working on a 4K HDTV screen that will be geared specifically for professionals in the video editing field who would most likely also be purchasing the new Mac Pro's. Whether all of this is true or not is still a bit of a mystery and the only way to truly answer all of the questions is to wait around until October and see what Apple launches.

This morning, MAINGEAR announced the launch of an entirely new series of custom liquid cooled PCs. Knowing that hard-core enthusiast preferred custom liquid cooling over all-in-one solutions, MAINGEAR teamed up with EKWB to create the new EPIC series of custom liquid cooled desktop PCs.

The EPIC series is comprised of the full-tower Force and mid-sized Rush models that both feature a "BiTurbo" pump design that ensures your system stays cool in the event one pump should fail. Also present are Intel's fourth-generation Core i7 or AMD's FX processors. On the graphics side, the force model can be packed with up to four NVIDIA GTX Titans or four Radeon HD 7970, with the Rush model only featuring a maximum of two GPUs.

As with all other MAINGEAR offerings, a plethora of memory, storage, fans, lighting, and paint combinations are available. At the moment, no information has been released on pricing or availability, but you can expect the prices to be fairly stout based on the hardware specifications listed above as well as the attention to detail MAINGEAR puts into every PC it builds. On a side note, how sexy is that Corsair 900D in lime green?

Digital Storm are back once again with a new gaming PC that will send your credit card bill through the roof, introducing the Aventum II. The Aventum II steps it up considerably, as it was built by Digital Storm's in-house team of engineers, taking ten years worth of customer requests to build the dream machine.

No off-the-shelf components chassis or cooling was used, it all had to be custom built from the ground up. Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm's Director of Product Development says: "We (Digital Storm) unveiled an Aventum II prototype at CES 2013 and have been working to prefect the design since. The final product is a unique system, completely designed from the ground up featuring a bold look and packing enough power to go toe to toe with any PC on the planet."

Digital Storm's Aventum II is crafted exclusively from steel and copper, with no plastic in the construction used at all. The nickel-plated copper piping solution had inspiration from high-end automotive cooling solutions and is handcrafted, so that no two Aventum II gaming systems are identical. We have three massive 420mm radiators inside of the Aventum II, which should keep the system working beautifully, and cool.

Today, Logic Supply announced the release of their LGX ML250 Intel Core i3 / i5 fanless industrial PC systems. The system is built around ASRocks's IMB-170 industrial motherboard and features Intel's Core i3, i7, and Celeron processors. The systems are being touted as "an economical alternative to wide-temperature fanless systems. The LGX ML250 combines commercial-off-the-shelf, high-performance, mobile computing with a silent, compact, fanless chassis that's designed to be redesigned."

The systems feature a wide range of customizing options including three different processors, several memory choices, and SSD and HDD storage options. The devices can be accessorized with two different Wi-Fi setups and features several different mounting options.

Operating system options run the full gamut of Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Embedded, and even Linux distribution choices. The LGX ML250 was "designed to be redesigned" which makes it easily rebranded or customized to fit your application. Options range from additional front panel I/O designs to screen printing.

Computex Taipei 2013 - Walking around for a solid third day we continue to find ourselves bumping into cool things we missed in the past few days. Hanging around the ASRock stand for a while this afternoon and being a general nuisance to the overclockers Chris decided to make sure we did something a little more useful with our time.

He took me over to the new ASRock M8 Series barebone system which looks fantastic. Designed by the BMW Designworks USA team they've put together a great looking chassis that comes in red and black. The sides of the case are magnetic and come out very easily making access to the main area good.

Inside you'll find the new Haswell based Z87-ITX motherboard from ASRock along with a SFX 450W PSU. Being a barebone means that the rest of the system will have to be filled out with CPU, RAM, Video Card, Storage and the other normal bits and pieces. Video Card support is also very strong thanks to a riser card included making cards as large as the GTX 780 an option.

Computex Taipei 2013 - We stopped by the GIGABYTE HQ last night to take a look around, and we got to experience some hands on goodness with their latest BRIX PC. What is GIGABYTE BRIX? Check out the video below and find out.

GIGABYTE's BRIX PC is similar to the Intel NUC, something I personally reviewed a little while back now, but this thing is smaller, lighter and better equipped. Where Intel's NUC was obviously made and built by Intel, this new BRIX has a custom-made motherboard by GIGABYTE. Also running around inside the BRIX is an Intel Core i3-3227U processor, two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots and m-SATA is ready for your storage. Connectivity is something GIGABYTE's BRIX has in spades, sporting both HDMI and DisplayPort output and when it comes to networking, the BRIX has you covered.

We have Gigabit ethernet as well as a Wi-Fi card inside. Filling out the connectivity side of things, we also have two USB 3.0 ports, one on the front and one on the back of the BRIX. We have more images of GIGABYTE's BRIX, which you can check out in the image gallery.

For so long, a pre-built gaming PC cost so much more than a DIY rig. The DIY rigs are always down to the components chosen, and the skill of the system builder, but now Digital Storm are going to take not only the headache out of building an awesome gaming PC, but the extra cost of it, too.

Enter the Vanquish line of PCs from Digital Storm, which reduces the gap between DIY and pre-built PCs to between $23 and $58. The Vanquish line of PCs is a "carefully optimized selection of brand name, high-performance components to deliver a fluid smooth game playing experience".

Digital Storm's Vanquish PCs are pre-built, pre-tested and ready to ship after an order has been played - completely reducing the usual delays of a built-to-order system. Digital Storm's Director of Product Development, Rajeev Kuruppu, says:

Raspberry Pi production did start off in China, but it has slowly started crawling into the UK since September. One of the Raspberry Pi Foundation's distributors, Premier Farnell/Element14, makes 100% of their Pis in the Welsh Sony factory in Pencoed, where the Pis are built under license.

Sony have been making Pis since September, but have now had their 500,000th Pi roll off their production lines. Another great stat, is that nearly 40,000 Pis are being made in Pencoed every week, with this number set to expand even more. Even at these 'small' numbers, the Foundation are having a hard time keeping up with demand across the world. Gerald Kelly, the GM of Sony's Pencoed plant, said:

You might want to be good this year, or else Santa won't know to add this to your Christmas list - Digital Storm have just announced their brilliantly specced Hailstorm II. Digital Storm's latest creation crams some seriously high-end components into Corsair's Obsidian Series 900D case.

Hailstorm II features an advanced liquid cooling system with the current of cold air driven by three front intake fans, backed up by a large exhaust fan. The Hailstorm II is capable of having a total of 15 fans installed, which should give even the most airflow crazy gamer out there plenty of room to move. There's ten expansion slots at play, up to nine HDDs or SSDs with three hot-swap mounts, four 5.25-inch optical drive bays, two USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 ports on the front of the Hailstorm II give you plenty of storage and connectivity options.

Each Digital Storm PC goes through a rigorous 72-hour stress-test, ensuring that when you receive your Hailstorm II (or any other Digital Storm PC) it is ready for some serious gaming. There are four tiers of Hailstorm II PCs available, Level 1 through 4. Level 1 starts at $2762 and comes with an Intel Core i7 3770K overclocked to up to 4.8GHz, 16GB of DDR3 1600MHz, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 GPU, a 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD for storage.

If you're an education customer, or were looking to buy a new Apple iMac for one of your children in school, then now is the time. Apple has updated the pricing on their education-only 21.5-inch iMac, but have also provided beefier internals to go with it.

The 21.5-inch iMac now starts at $1099 - a slight $100 increase on the old price - but gives you an Intel Core i3 dual-core 3.3GHz processor, HD Graphics 4000, 500GB HDD and 4GB of RAM. There's always the option to bump the storage and RAM up, something I would suggest on any system. 8GB of RAM is cheap and your main drive should always be an SSD these days, the performance increase is worth it.

Education customers can begin ordering these new iMacs, with 5-7 business day shipping times at the moment.

ORIGIN has announced that they are the first to bring a liquid cooled NVIDIA GTX Titan system to market. The graphics card, just announced earlier by NVIDIA, is the single fastest consumer GPU on the market with over 2,600 CUDA cores, 6GB of RAM, support for 4-way SLI. It's a beast of a card with over 7 billion transistors.

ORIGIN worked closely with EK Water Blocks in order to be able to offer a liquid cooled system right at launch. It's important to keep such a large card cool and there is not many better ways than water to do it. The system, named the CRYOGENIC liquid cooling solution, keeps the GPU cool, even when overclocked.

"When NVIDIA first showed us TITAN, we were simply blown away by its single GPU performance on even the most demanding games and applications." said Kevin Wasielewski ORIGIN PC CEO and cofounder. "Just wait until you see it running on an ORIGIN PC. With support of our CRYOGENIC Liquid Cooling Solution, Professional Overclocking and up to 4-WAY SLI, TITAN brings us the first true gaming supercomputer."