Velocity Micro Intros HTPC, Gaming Rig ''Hybrid''

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

What do you get when you cram together a gaming rig and an HTPC? Take a guess.

Virginia-based Velocity Micro launched on Tuesday a hybrid PC that combines the best of a home theater rig and a PC gaming desktop. Starting at $1,899 USD, it's designed to "dominate" the living room offering 1080p gaming, media streaming, Cable Card functionality with DVR, Blue-ray playback and loads more.

Called the Raptor MultiPlex, it's built in a solid aluminum case and packed with premium grade components that are acoustically tuned and hand assembled just south of Washington D.C. Components include Core i5 and Core i7 "Ivy Bridge" processors, Nvidia GeForce GTX600 series graphics, Intel 520 Series SSD boot drives and more.

"Since our early days, Velocity Micro’s focus has been largely in two categories – powerful enthusiast desktops and stunning home theater PCs," said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. "With the Raptor MultiPlex, we’ve essentially brought those two categories together to create something really awe-inspiring. It was a natural progression for us and we think our customers are going to love it."

According to the key spec list, the hybrid rig features an Asus P8Z77-V Pro Motherboard with Thunderbolt, 16 GB of DDR3-2133 memory, digital TV tuners capable of up to 4 concurrent recordings, up to three 2 TB hard drives configured in RAID 5, high definition 9.1 Channel audio with S/PDIF out, a front panel VFD display with remote, an 850 watt Corsair power supply (Nvidia SLI certified) and Windows 8 Pro.

On the CPU front, the rig offers the 3.40 GHz Intel Core i5-3570K quad-core CPU with 6 MB of cache. For $140 more, customers can choose the 3.50 GHz Intel Core i7-3770K quad-core processor with 8 MB of cache. GPU offerings range from the 2 GB eVGA Nvidia GTX 660 GDDR5 card to the 2 GB eVGA Nvidia GTX 680 GDDR5 card (+$390). Cooling is provided by an Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro heatsink with an ultra-quiet fan and heat pipes.

"The Raptor MultiPlex is so much more than just a Home Theater PC," the company said. "This system is designed to be the most powerful living room PC on the market, capable of 1080p gaming, media streaming, Cable Card functionality with DVR, Blu ray playback, and so much more. Converge all of your home theater devices, gaming console, and gaming PC into this single remarkable, immensely powerful unit."

To customize the Raptor MultiPlex hybrid PC, head here.

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16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • blazorthon
    Some of the components choices don't seem to make much sense. Why use older, more expensive Intel 520 series drives instead of newer, cheaper, and better for common use models like the Intel 330 series or a Marvell/Samsung-based SSD? Why use such expensive memory when it benefits neither the gaming aspects nor the HTPC aspects of this system?

    Sometimes it just seems like system building companies are way out of touch with their products and customers.
    Reply
  • salgado18
    Why not use a smaller case, and two low-profile cards in SLI/Crossfire, like the 7750? And leave it with an i5, with a low-profile cooler, with stock speeds. Small, powerfull and awesome. (not that this one isn't)
    Reply
  • dalethepcman
    When I think of HTPC I think mini itx / micro atx size tops. When your enclosure uses a full ATX board and is the size of a mid tower laying on its side, it no longer qualifies as a HTPC in my eyes.

    For it to be HTPC it needs to be the size of an xbox / dvd player / cable box.

    Reply
  • someguynamedmatt
    Smells an awful lot like the Falcon Northwest Tiki to me; not that it's a bad thing, though. It would certainly be interesting to have one, though I'm not sure I like the $2000 pricetag at all...
    Reply
  • joafu
    I hate to be that guy, but an i5, 16GB memory, z77 motherboard (atx no less, so this can't be that small of a case either), 1TB HDD, dvdrw, and a gtx 660 should not come close to $1849, no matter the case. TV tuner cards aren't even standard at the base price, they're $100 starting.

    Again, I hate to be *that* guy, cause no one likes the downer, but if this is marketed towards gamers- PC gamers no less- how do they not think we'll just see this as a collection of parts? I see $1000 worth of parts and OS inside what I assume is a (too big for htpc uses) $300 case at most, and... I guess $600 worth of cable management?

    Also, as a strange aside, any else notice how the prices don't really mesh within their own website? Same model TV tuners are different prices depending on the drop down menu, one says $180, one says $175, and it's not like the order of configuration matters.
    Reply
  • bebangs
    Starting at $1,899 USD, it's designed to "dominate" the living room offering 1080p gaming, media streaming, Cable Card functionality with DVR, Blue-ray playback and loads more

    why not a ps3?
    *dont mind me i dont get it.
    Reply
  • master_chen
    Looks like Panasonic's 3DO..well, as long as it'll play Flashback (the best version of Flashback was on 3DO)...
    Reply
  • cmcghee358
    All that and they top it off with an Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7? Are you KIDDING ME? JUNK
    Reply
  • master_chen
    Well it IS an HTPC, man. :\
    HTPCs, by most part, don't need ultra-top coolers, because they consume so little power and produce so little heat, that even stock coolers would be a satisfactory for most.
    Reply
  • deksman
    Lol... a custom desktop build would be cheaper.
    Heck a high-end laptop that would be an equivalent to this if not better could be cheaper as well.
    Reply