iBUYPOWER's latest gaming rig - the Gamer Fire 600 - is based on the latest AMD Socket AM3 platform, one of the first in the industry.
Putting the AMD Socket AM3 platform aside, iBUYPOWER's Gamer Fire 600 just looks cool, borrowing its overall appearance from Transformers, Battlestar Galactica or other science fiction movies. The front takes on the appearance of a robotic helmet or the top section of a spaceship, depending on your point of view and imagination, with two ion cannons mounted on each side. Granted, this gaming rig isn't from outer space, however just in aesthetics alone, the Gamer Fire 600 is an impressive beast and certainly a rig to sport with pride.
With that out of the way, the Gamer Fire 600 features an impressive array hardware goodness within, harnessing the power of AMD's Phenom II X3 720 Triple-Core CPU, Gigabyte's CrossFire chipset, 4 GB DDR3-1333 memory and ATI's Radeon HD 4830 512 MB PCI-Express x16 video card. The housing is iBUYPOWER's CycloneX gaming tower case juiced by a 420w power supply (or a 600w SLI Ready power supply, both was listed). On the storage front, the rig offers a 500 GB Serial-ATA-II hard drive as well as LG's 20x dual format/double layer DVD writer. As for sound, the PC spits out 3D premium surround sound onboard, and comes with iBUYPOWER's 2.1 channel stereo super bass subwoofer speaker system.
So what's the cost of this system? Try $774 USD, and that's just for starters. Consumers can upscale most of the components, such as upgrading the processor to the AMD Phenom II X4 810 Quad-Core CPU or throwing in two ATI Radeon HD 4870-X2 DDR5 2GB PCI-Express cards running in CrossFire mode. For an extra $96, consumers can switch out the base hard drive for a whopping 1.5 TB, or perhaps replace the DVD burner with LG's GGW-H20L Blu-Ray re-writer for $239. Want the ultimate sound system? Try upgrading to the Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion series with Logitech's X-540 5.1 speaker and subwoofer set.
Perhaps the robot look just isnt for you. That's fine. For a whopping $564, consumers can upgrade the outer hull to the Coolmaster CSX limited edition Stacker full tower gaming case with a 420w power supply, impressively decked out with awesome blue flames and blue lighting on the side. Ultimately, this system can soar up into the $7K pricerange with most of the hardware options maxed out. And while iBUYPOWER does offer Windows XP Home Edition and Professional (with Service Pack 2) for an additional cost, it's definitely good to see that a manufacturer isn't trying to cram Vista down the necks of its consumers.
“We take pride in our ability to always be among the first system builders to incorporate new technology in our machines,” said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER. “It’s that agility that is allowing us to already be offering systems featuring the AM3 platform, and sharing its unparalleled 3D graphics capabilities with gamers everywhere.”
For what it's worth, the base system isn't too shabby for the $799 price, especially when consumers are slow to spend and weary of those "too good to be true" deals.