Mini PCs are big business these days, whether you consider devices like Valve's Steambox initiative, ASUS' Chromebox, Zotac's ZBox line or Intel's own NUC (Next Unit of Computing) mini PC. In fact, Intel has gone on record, projecting mini PCs like this have shipped over a million units in 2013 and are projected for strong growth this...Read more...
Zotac has a new lineup of mini PCs that alternately rock Intel Core CPUs and AMD A8 APUs, and some of them are aimed at mainstream gamers. The Zotac Zbox E-Series offer Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics with 128GB of EDRAM and Intel Pixel Sync technology and have quad-core Intel Core i7-4770R (3.2GHz) or Intel Core...Read more...
We’ve been hankering to test out one of CyberPowerPC’s new Zeus Mini SFF gaming desktop models ever since we got some hands on time with it at CES, so we were happy to unpack the black and neon green Zeus Mini-I 780 that CyberPowerPC sent us this week. Small form factor (SFF) PCs are something of a trend these days, and frankly,...Read more...
We’ve been hankering to test out one of CyberPowerPC’s new Zeus Mini SFF gaming desktop models ever since we got some hands on time with it at CES, so we were happy to unpack the black and neon green Zeus Mini-I 780 that CyberPowerPC sent us this week. Small form factor (SFF) PCs are something of a trend these days, and frankly,...Read more...
We got a firsthand look at some of CyberPowerPC’s Zeus Mini small form factor gaming PCs at CES, and now you can grab your very own from the company’s site. There are eight different models to choose from, with three AMD-based models and five systems rocking Intel parts. The SFF chassis, which measures...Read more...
We got a sneak peak at Gigabyte’s new Brix Gaming PC when we toured the company’s booth at CES, and now the tiny machine with discrete graphics is official. Other Gigabyte Brix PCs we’ve been privy to rely on integrated graphics--which, considering that some of those IGPs are Intel’s Iris Pro...Read more...
We spent a little time meeting with the folks from Gigabyte while zipping from demo suite to demo suite at CES, and have some interesting products to show you. Along with a their wide array of existing motherboards, graphics cards, and peripherals, Gigabyte was showing off some brand new products as well...Read more...
The long-awaited Steam Machine consoles are rolling out, and Digital Storm fittingly placed the “Bolt” name on its version. The first Bolt, which we reviewed, was all the things we expect now from Steam Machines--compact size, excellent specs, and a cool design. The Digital Storm Bolt II is a SFF and...Read more...
Falcon Northwest is a big name in a very niche market of luxury PCs. The company is known for special touches like custom cases (think FragBox) and mind-blowing, artist-rendered panel images. The company has also built the rest of its reputation on blazing PC performance. Falcon Northwest recently shipped its Tiki to take on the other small...Read more...
Desktops are evolving, getting smaller and less intrusive. Zotac is a company that's been at the forefront of this evolution by offering up a constantly expanding line of small form factor (SFF) mini PCs that have grown more powerful with each new generation. The compromise between raw performance and power efficiency lessens with each advance...Read more...
If you're a proponent of the desktop, don't worry, the sky isn't falling on your form factor. Yes, we've read the same reports you have, the ones pointing out how traditional PC sales are shrinking in the wake of a mobile revolution that has consumers turning to tablets and smartphones for surfing the web and logging into Facebook. There's...Read more...
Zotac has been making ultra-small form factor systems for quite a while now. You can check out a number of our reviews of various ZBox systems and you’ll notice that most of the systems have been built around low-power platforms like AMD’s E-Series APUs or Intel’s Atom processors. With its latest generations of mini-PC’s,...Read more...
Zotac has been making ultra-small form factor systems for quite a while now. You can check out a number of our reviews of various ZBox systems right here. If you read those previous reviews, you’ll notice that most of the systems have been built around low-power platforms like AMD’s E-Series APUs or Intel’s Atom processors....Read more...
Lenovo announced its latest workstation, the ThinkStation E32, and despite very solid specs, the machines cost far less than you might expect. Available in both traditional tower and SFF form factors, the ThinkStation E32 starts at a mere $729. For what is presumably a lot more money than $729 (the HP Z1 workstation...Read more...
Things aren't always what they appear to be, and so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor (SFF) gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting...Read more...
Remember the Twilight Zone episode in which a race of 9-foot aliens descended upon Earth with seemingly benign intentions? They shared advanced technologies with the human race and appeared to live by a code outlined in a book that U.S. government cryptographers figured out was titled, "To Serve Man." The horrifying reveal at the end of the...Read more...
There’s a lot to love about a mini-ITX gaming PC. Portability is a big draw, of course: carrying your computer through the parking lot to a LAN party is much easier if it happens to be an SFF system. Reclaiming desk space is another reason to go small. And some of us just take a lot of pleasure in knowing that our tiny, unassuming PC...Read more...
There’s a lot to love about a mini-ITX gaming PC. Portability is a big draw, of course: carrying your computer through the parking lot to a LAN party is much easier if it happens to be an SFF system. Reclaiming desk space is another reason to go small. And some of us just take a lot of pleasure in knowing that our tiny, unassuming PC...Read more...
Custom PC makers are getting increasingly creative, particularly with small form factor gaming systems. There was a time when a lot of the sexiest gaming rigs consisted of high-end components mounted in large, gaudy (but fun) chassis with lots of lights, a killer paint job, and perhaps a wild mass of liquid cooling tubes and hardware. Although...Read more...
Custom PC makers are getting increasingly creative, particularly with small form factor gaming systems. There was a time when the lion's share of the sexiest gaming rigs consisted of high-end components mounted in large, gaudy (but fun) chassis with lots of lights, killer paint jobs, and perhaps a wild mass of liquid cooling tubes...Read more...
CyberPowerPC has gone all out with its announcements at CES, unveiling not only a new notebook and small form-factor PC, but one of the beefiest and most robust water-cooling kits we've seen in a while. Let's take it from the top. It seems that lately, "console-sized" is all the rage, and that's exactly how...Read more...
We found quite a bit to like about the Digital Storm Bolt Level 3 small form factor gaming PC when we reviewed it last month, including fine performance and a (mostly) smart and sexy custom chassis, but there were a couple of lingering issues that we weren’t thrilled about. Primarily, it was the noisiest PC...Read more...