Deus EX OC PC

A very shiny gaming PC from Deus Ex that, though pricey, is hard not to like.

You know you're in for something special when a PC arrives not in a standard cardboard box, but a heavy wooden shipping crate. Opening Deus Ex's new system was not unlike one of those scenes in a movie where the hero opens some long lost crate, searching for rare antiquities or stolen treasure. We only wish the thing was nailed shut, not conveniently latched, so we could get the full crowbar experience!

In fact, 'full experience' is probably the phrase we used more than any other while getting to know this system, as Deus Ex has not only delivered a kick arse, pre-overclocked PC with a smooth custom paint job, but it's nailed the customer service aspect down better than any other manufacturer we've come across.

But first, just what's in this beast?

When, the specs above tell the tale pretty thoroughly, but we have to say that this is pretty much a near perfect mix of components. In fact, it's very nearly identical - down to the case - to our own Justin Robinson's home rig! Even the choice of hard drives is well thought, with a faster system drive that also has enough room for games, and a larger storage drive for larger files that don't necessarily need such speedy access. The aftermarket cooler is a lovely copper Zalman sink and fan combo, very popular amongst vendors that sell OCed gear, and the RAM is well considered two sticks of 2GB Corsair DDR3. This means there's space to upgrade, and you still get the immediate benefit of the 64-bit OS.

And all that great gear has been lovingly cabled to within an inch of its silicon life. All cable slack has been neatly stored away behind the mobo back plate. In fact, it's so tightly stored there that you remove that side-panel at your own risk - it's hard to get back on! The HDD's SATA cables are nice and long, meaning you never put them under strain when sliding the drives out of their bays, too.

As to the custom spray job? Well, that's a matter for personal taste - it's certainly striking, though whether it's worth it to you enough to lay down a shade over $400 for... well, at least it's one saving you might be able to make. We can say the quality of the job is superb, though, and the mirror finish has to be seen to be believed.

But all the looks in the world won't save a system from our wrath if it can't perform. Thankfully, Deus Ex has that department covered too.

One of the fastest - and most expensive - systems we've looked at recently was the Pioneer DreamVision, in issue 92. It topped 22,000 3Dmarks in the 06 version of the program, and could handle our Crysis benching with near disdain. It also cost over $6,000.

Deus Ex's effort is of course below that stupendous effort, but its 20,149 3DMarks is not far off, and at a significant cost saving. It's faster than ScorpionTech's system from the same issue, too, though that is a complete system (monitor and all) for only a few hundred more. Then again, if you ditch the paint job and the Three Year Onsite warranty of this particular unit, you'd knock about $600 off the price.

Suddenly, this becomes a very competitive system.

Finally, there's also the excellent customer service to consider. Not only was the case shipped in a secure wooden crate, but in the bundle was a folder of documents for the 'new owner'. This includes a letter with the name of the engineer who built your system (plus his email), similar details for the airbrushing, full benchmarking results at stock and overclocked specs, plus a guide to reloading the overclocked settings if you should happen to suffer some BIOS related disaster. Even Deus Ex's overclocking is explained! Anyone who bought this machine could not help but feel looked after by the vendor. Even we felt kinda chuffed, and we're just reviewing it!

We think this machine hits the perfect sweet spot of performance to price, of bling to functionality. The art may not be your thing, but that's something you can easily tweak to your own liking, or ditch entirely to save some money. For the overall package, we can't help but call this the best PC we've seen from a builder this year.

Intel's Core i9 "Gulftown" Six-Core Processor Pictured

Getting bored with Core i7 already? That's okay, because word on the web is that Intel plans to release its six-core Gulftown processor sometime in the first half of 2010, and possibly by Q1.

What's believed to be the first product shots of the six-core part have been leaked to the web. Likely to be called Core i9, the pictures show off the new chips in a dual-socket motherboard that's either an existing Xeon-based socket LGA1366 mobo or a next-gen Skulltrail platform. Either way, that's 12 cores of processing power, and 24 cores with hyperthreading enabled.

According the alleged screen grabs, the engineering sample spied in the photos comes clocked at 2.4GHz courtesy of a 133MHz bus speed and 18X multiplier, along with 12MB of L3 cache.

Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop unveiled

Nokia has just whipped the dust sheet off the Nokia Booklet 3G. A brand new breed of portable device for Nokia, this mini laptop PC sees the company step foot on freshly cut turf, and we’re a little dumb-struck with excitement at the prospect of the experience that this bite-size Booklet promises to deliver when it arrives. Not to mention what it means bigger picture, and how this product could affect the entire mobile landscape for the better (we’ll save that for another story), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

First, let’s get down off our tip-toes, take a deep breath, and soak up all the initial details on what the upcoming Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop is set to deliver when it lands on laps. Read on for every shred of info currently available on this landmark new product, and get the first close-up look at the Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop in our photo gallery.

The new Nokia Booklet 3G will be a Windows-based machine, supported by an efficient Intel Atom processor that promises the performance of a full-function PC. It’s efficiency credentials are boldly punctuated with battery life that stretches up to 12 hours (with normal daily use, of course – don’t expect a 12-hour Quake-fest off a single hit of juice).

Turning our attention to mini matters of a tape-measure nature, the Nokia Booklet 3G comes toting a glass 10.1-inch HD display (it has an HDMI port for HD video out). This lives within its smart aluminium shell which measures in at just 2cm thin and tips the scales at around a kilogram to ensure it’s extremely portable.

Connecting at speed is crucial with a product of this nature, so the Booklet 3G has been designed with fast downloading and uploading front of mind – it’s 3G/HSPA ready for rapid mobile broadband anywhere-access on the move. Wi-Fi has also been wedged into it’s slim body. Plus, it supports hot-swappable SIM card functionality.

It’s talents don’t end there, with Nokia’s mini laptop PC also featuring onboard assisted-GPS with Ovi Maps neatly sat in the passenger seat. There’s a single front-facing camera nestled above the 10.1-inch HD screen for video chat, with Bluetooth and a built-in SD card reader also making appearances.

You may be wondering why Nokia is adding to its range of products with an ultra portable laptop PC? Well, Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices, Kai Oistamo, summed it up simply as follows:

“A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility. We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling. In doing so we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal.”

There’s already a lot of info to digest here, but there are still more details to come at Nokia World 09 on 2 September – expect official word on where the Nokia Booklet 3G will be available, news on how much it’ll cost, along with a detailed list of specs for the number-hungry among us.

In the meantime, share your opinions on the new Nokia Booklet 3G in the comments section below, and be sure to follow all our coverage of Nokia World 09 right here on Conversations.