iBuyPower Intros Paladin XLC Gaming Desktops

Its a month since iBUYPOWER launched its gamer-centric M865TU gaming laptop, the outfit has now given the desktop gamers in attendance something to consider. So the gamers dreams are being answered? Wait till the end of this article which was originally posted at engadget.com to find it out. The liquid cooled Paladin XLC series is comprised of three well appointed models, the XLC V1, XLC V2 and XLC V3. All three of 'em are stored in the monstrous Coolermaster HAF 922 (the V3 gets a HAF 932), while even the lowest end model gets a Core i7-920 processor. Other specs include up to 12GB of DDR3 RAM, as many as three NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 GPUs, upwards of 1TB of HDD space, optional Blu-ray support and Windows Vista Home Premium. The trifecta can be ordered now for $1,399, $2,159 or $4,299 in order of mention.

iBuyPower has a thing for pushing out high-end gaming rigs, and its newest desktop is "extreme" exemplified. The Paladin XLC, which stands for Extreme Liquid Cooling," features a Coolermaster HAF 932 tower (which is truly monstrous), Intel's Core i7-975 processor and three NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 GPUs in a triple-SLI configuration.

The super-cooled machine is equipped with Asetek's 240mm radiator liquid cooling solution, which is paired with a pair of 230mm fans. In other words, you've got ample cooling in this thing, which is certainly good given the sheer amount of horsepower. There are three basic configurations, each of which pack a Core i7 CPU, 6GB+ of DDR3 memory and 1TB+ of hard drive space. There's also an optional 80GB SSD, a Blu-ray drive and choices for painted cases.

The Paladin XLC V1 gets started at $1399, while the V2 is priced at $2149 and the ultra-specced V3 sells for $4299.

iBUYPOWER Launches Paladin XLC “Extreme Liquid Cooling” Gaming Systems with Oversized Fans and Double-sized 240mm Radiator Liquid Cooling System

Paladin XLC V3 Features Coolermaster HAF 932 Full Tower, Intel Core i7-975 CPU, and three NVIDIA Geforce GTX 285 in Triple-SLI configuration

El Monte, CA – July 01, 2009 – iBUYPOWER one of the largest gaming PC manufacturers in the world, is excited to announce the super-cooled Paladin XLC line of gaming PCs. iBUYPOWER outfitted each system with Asetek’s 240mm radiator liquid cooling solution to keep the Paladin XLC running long and cool in a tundra-esque state. The double-sized radiator is paired with 2 massive 230mm fans, which turn at a virtually noiseless 800RPM.

“PC Cooling is a fairly simple concept, the cooler a system runs the better and longer it will perform,” said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER. “The Paladin XLC systems were designed with advanced cooling systems to increase component lifespan, allow for higher clock speeds, and ensure a better gaming experience for our customers.”

The three configurations each feature an Intel Core i7 processor, 6 GB or more of DDR3 memory, and at least a terabyte of storage space. Paladin XLC customers also have the option of supping up their system with an 80 GB solid state drive for lightning fast boot times, a Blu-ray drive, a second 1 TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive, or choosing from one of six iBUYPOWER exclusive custom painted case designs.

The Paladin XLC systems start at $1,399, and are available now at www.iBUYPOWER.com.

Video Card Buyer's Guide - Spring 2009

Something new for the gaming freaks. Though this realease is not for the high end gaming gurus but its a good match for new gamers out there on the streets. The engadget review of this deivce is here for you. It's been since the holidays that we've done a GPU buyers guide. It never seems like the right time to do a new GPU buyers guide, as NVIDIA and AMD have been pushing aggressively back and forth for leadership in the market place. When new parts or tweaked cards haven't been coming out, prices have been adjusted quickly to maintain tight competition.

Now is no exception. There are a couple spots in our line up where we will have to make recommendations based on what we know about what's happening in the market place. In competitive reviews, we try very hard to look only at that exact time slice to make our recommendations. In our buyers guides we like to be a little more flexible and take a more retail and market place view rather than the heavily technology and performance based focus of our GPU reviews.

Starting out, we're looking at the roughly $75 market where we split our recommendation between the 4670 and the 9600 GT. Prices have compressed more over the past few months, and the 4670 comes in low enough to cover many needs at very little cost. You can always spend less on graphics and get less, but if you want more than 2D, the 4670 and 9600 GT are where you should start looking.

$75 Recommendation: ATI Radeon HD 4670

	ATI Radeon HD 4670
Apollo	$64.99
Gigabyte	$79.99
Sapphire	$69.99

And we've got the GeForce 9600 GT. Just a little more performance in some games, maybe a little less in others, with roughly the same cost. But if you want any more than that, you'll want to wait about a month.

$75 Recommendation: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT

	NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Apollo	$74.99
Gigabyte	$67.99
Sparkle	$89.99
PNY	$97.99

For our ~$100 price point (plus or minus a bit) we are going to strongly recommend that people wait for about a month. This price point will be shaken up a bit in about that time and we really aren't comfortable recommending anyone purchase something in this market until sometime in early May. This may or may not further compress the sub $100 market, but there really isn't much more room down there, so we don't expect much change except at right around $100