Alienware said on Wednesday that its flagship gaming desktop, the Alienware Aurora, now comes packed with Intel's new "Ivy Bridge-E" Core i7 processors, including the super-fast i7-4960X Extreme Edition chip, as well as the latest GeForce 700-series graphics and AMD 8900-series graphics options. Players can also increase speed and capacity by adding additional hard drives or solid state drives within the four internal drive bays, the company said.
The Alienware Aurora entry configuration starts at $1,399 USD and now offers double the amount of storage over the previous generation, an unlocked and overclocked quad-core Intel Core i7-4820K Ivy Bridge-E processor, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX760 1.5 GB DDR5 graphics card. The company also offers the ALX chassis as an option, providing an intelligent thermal management system that monitors key locations within the chassis.
"Alienware has always pushed the limits with the capabilities of its platforms, and the award-winning Aurora is no different," said Frank Azor, General Manager, Alienware. "Hardcore gamers around the world will be able to play the latest games at the highest settings, on a system engineered to deliver the ultimate gaming experience for years to come."
Custom computer builder AVADirect also said on Tuesday that it's offering Intel's new Ivy Bridge-E processors including the six-core i7-4960X Extreme Edition, the six-core i7-4930K and the four-core i7-4820K chips. Their smaller die size means less power required and less heat generated inside the box, opening the door to push these chips beyond their factory settings. Coupled with AVADirect's Custom Liquid Cooling, customers should see extreme overclock results up to 30 percent, the company said.
"Reduced temperature output also aids AVADirect's goal to provide the most quiet, high-end workstations available today; the utilization of various low-noise cooling solutions is a perfect combination with Intel's Ivy Bridge-E processors," the company said. "End-users can expect to receive the benefits of AVADirect's new Ivy Bridge-E solutions through desktop, workstation, mini-PC, notebook, and various small form-factor configurations."
Virginia-based Velocity Micro has also jumped on the Ivy Bridge-E bandwagon, announcing the immediate availability of Raptor systems powered by the new Intel Core i7 processors, starting at $2,399 USD. The Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition sports a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz, but soars up into the 4 GHz realm with Turbo Boost switched on. The 4930K and 4820K have 3.4 GHz/3.9 GHz and 3.7 GHz/3.9 GHz base/Turbo clock speeds respectively.
Other OEMs announcing their support for the new desktop processors include Origin PC, Maingear and IBUYPOWER. Of course, if you plan to build your own Ivy Bridge-E rig from scratch, then forget everything you've read: this is for readers wanting to take a shortcut.
