Nvidia Reveals Battlebox Certification for 4K Gaming
Nvidia has a new certification program for high-end PCs with top Nvidia cards like Titan.
On the heels of Valve's Steam Machines initiative and AMD's Mantle approach to a unified gaming platform, Nvidia has introduced its own GTX Battlebox program. This certification program will consist of a "new breed" of gaming machines this holiday season focused on delivering super-high resolutions at high settings and with every Nvidia GPU feature enabled.
According to the company, each GeForce GTX Battlebox machine will feature GeForce Titan or GTX 780 GPUs in 2 and 3-Way SLI configurations, supported by overclocked Intel Haswell i5 and i7 CPUs, advanced cooling systems, high-speed DDR3 RAM to assist with overclocking, and the latest high-speed SSDs. These rigs will be ready for 4K gaming, the supposed "next big thing" for enthusiast PC gamers.
"Paired with a powerful GeForce GTX SLI system, brand new 3840 x 2160 '4K' monitors raise the image quality bar so considerably that you won’t be able to resist the upgrade to 4K after seeing the night and day difference for yourself," reads the latest GeForce blog. "4K Gaming is the new cutting edge, and to play this Holiday’s best games at 4K at fluid frame rates, with ultra-high settings enabled, you will need the power of the SLI GeForce GTX GPUs built into every Battlebox."
Battlebox systems will also come equipped with Nvidia's new SLI Bridge with an illuminated GeForce GTX Claw logo, matching the illuminated text found on the Titan, GTX 780 and GTX 770 cards. Nvidia also points out that its SLI tech delivers a "flawless" experience thanks to its exclusive frame metering technologies, seemingly taking a jab at AMD's issue with the Radeon HD 7990 in CrossFire.
"Powered by GeForce GTX 780 or Titan graphics cards, Battlebox systems give you an unbeatable combination of GPU horsepower, 2-Way Nvidia SLI, and the highest-grade components," reads the Battlebox site. "It’s everything you need to take on this Holiday’s biggest combat games, including Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Origins, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Watch_Dogs."
Listed participants in the Battlebox certification include Digital Storm, Maingear, Falcon Northwest and Origin PC. The latter company, Origin, actually provides two customizable Battleboxes: the Millennium and the Genesis with a starting price of $2,873 USD. Maingear is also offering two solutions: the Shift with a starting price of $2299 and the F131 with a starting price of $2438.
For example, the base configuration of the Maingear R131 includes an Intel Core i7-4770K clocked up to 3.9 GHz, two Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 cards, 16 GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 RAM, a 60 GB Corsair Nova 2 SSD for caching, and a 2 TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM hard drive… and that's just the starting configuration. Nvidia also has a few boxes listed here for your drooling enjoyment.
Alongside Battlebox systems, the boutique builders will be offering 4K monitors at the point of sale. Currently the only 4K monitor on sale is the Asus 31.5 inch PQ321Q model that we took a look at earlier this month.
The GeForce blog claims that these Battlebox systems are designed to give the buyer a flawless experience at 4K, in Surround, or when Downsampling from 4K to another resolution on an older 1920x or 2560x panels. Of course, for having a premium experience, you'll be required to pay a premium price, and with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 about to hit the market, these consoles with their cheaper pricetag may end up being "good enough" for those who prefer gameplay over expensive eye candy.

Case: Corsair 500R
Standard Case Fans
ASUS Z87A
ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling Systems
Intel Core i5 4670K Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz TurboBoost), 6MB Cache
650 Watt Corsair RM650
Dual 3GB EVGA GTX 780
16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz (2x8GB)
Genuine MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition
500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
ASUS 24X CD/DVD Burner
Build price buying at Newegg without any rebates (couldn't replicate HD, CPU cooler, or PSU so I upgraded them):
PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($144.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($705.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($705.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2428.24
I hope AMD products can raise competitive level so that Nvidia doesn't monopolize the market and charge whatever they feel please. Come on AMD...
Two Titand or three 780 is a little bit too much even it would be fast enough. The competition situation to 4K seems to be very promising indeed. AMD is really pushing the tear down issue with its new cards aka 290 and allso making drivers improvements that are promised before the christmast. We allreasy have seen promises that Nvidia is dropping the prices. There are allso now several companies that can produce 4K screens, so there will be competitio allso in there, but in realiy I am more worried about those 4k monitors than GPU situation at this moment...
It may take some years untill it will be affordable though...
I hope AMD products can raise competitive level so that Nvidia doesn't monopolize the market and charge whatever they feel please. Come on AMD...
Because it's the costs of the GPUs that makes 4K a restrictive market right? Clearly, it has nothing to do with the monitor costing more than the system...
that doesn't help, to be sure
Case: Corsair 500R
Standard Case Fans
ASUS Z87A
ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling Systems
Intel Core i5 4670K Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz TurboBoost), 6MB Cache
650 Watt Corsair RM650
Dual 3GB EVGA GTX 780
16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz (2x8GB)
Genuine MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition
500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
ASUS 24X CD/DVD Burner
Build price buying at Newegg without any rebates (couldn't replicate HD, CPU cooler, or PSU so I upgraded them):
PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($705.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($705.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2283.74
You didn't list the ram?
Not that its going to mean much since the monitors for 4k are prohibitively expensive currently and the only reason to get a 4k certified video card now would be for the future possibility of running 4k. But hey its nice to know your card can do it... sort of like physx.
You are right. I have updated my post with the ram. Thanks for catching that.
You are right. I have updated my post with the ram. Thanks for catching that.
Cool! Thanks for putting in the work =)
Thanks for posting that, it's interesting, but what exactly was the point? $500 or ~%25 margin over retail cost is actually pretty low. From a business perspective, dealing with faulty parts, labor to build and burn-in these machines, the cost maintaining a website, will easily eat up the difference. The real expense however, comes from having to support your customers and warranties. I sell custom PCs to small businesses and I can tell you that supporting some of them who call over the smallest issues that aren't even related to the build (mostly 3rd party software issues) is a burden. I only get paid when I sell the machine, and I warranty it for 1 yr. My margins to provide that service are a lot higher than 25%. After business taxes alone, if I only charged 25% I'd lose money.
I think a lot of people have no idea what it actually costs to run a business.
In Maryland for instance, just ongoing costs:
2.3% of each persons payroll (for new non-construction companies) to unemployment ins tax, paid by the company, not the employees,
7.5% of payroll in SS/MED taxes paid by the company in addition to 7.5% paid by employees.
$252/yr in payroll fees,
$720/yr in bank account fees (if less than $150k avg balance)
$450/yr for tax prep
$300/yr to maintain company LLC charter
~$1000/yr in webhosting
$1800/yr in phone bills
$840/yr in internet service
~25% in additional state and federal taxes on net income after the above business expenses are accounted for.
If you are small enough, the affordable care act doesn't apply, so I don't have a figure for that, but that starts today.
The add-on expenses are endless. I can't tabulate them all here, but from my perspective 25% margin is an excellent deal.
Not that its going to mean much since the monitors for 4k are prohibitively expensive currently and the only reason to get a 4k certified video card now would be for the future possibility of running 4k. But hey its nice to know your card can do it... sort of like physx.
That is currently impossible. It won't be possible at 20nm either. You will require a die shrink to 14nm or below to run 4K on a single card in everything (and it may still take two...for EVERYTHING that is...LOL). So your statement is moot. NV would have to LIE to say a single card can do 4K. The second you bought a 4k monitor in your example (at some point down the road I guess) you'd realize your SINGLE card bought today, can only do 5-10fps at 4K...ROFL. That's why there are 2-4 in these boxes
Thanks for the laugh.