Get More FPS With Falcon FragBox 8500
The Falcon Northwest announced the latest gaming system in the FragBox line - FragBox 8500 for 1895$ - to bring the price down for more affordability.
The Falcon left exterior unchanged, with bottom-lit, carved front panel and the same black metal case. Hardware is neatly compact, but the whole unit is not light (20 pounds), although with the built-in handle.
The FragBox is supplied with the new Wolfdale-based Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 processor and with nVidia EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card. This cool combination allows you to play the latest DX10 games. Of course the processor is a bit weak (so Falcon cut down price due to less expenses), but the overclocked 670 MHz 512MB EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS is the mighty point. For instance, The FragBox achieved good 71 fps while running Crysis at 1,280^1,024 resolution, or 66 fps on World in Conflict at 1,280^,024 resolution. Previously, DX10 supported systems couldn’t show this level of performance.
There’s not much of internal expansion space in general, no SLI or CrossFire support, but there is one PCIExpress x16 slot to enhance your graphics power.
Dell XPS 630 is the main competitor. The XPS 630 has a Wolfdale dual-core processor and a relatively high-end graphics card as well. Dell system with E8200 processor, 2GB RAM, and 8800 GT came at a lower price. If you bring it up to a level of FragBox with E8500, 4GB DDR2-800, 750GB hard drive and 8800 GTX card, the XPS 630 will get more expenses.
FragBox is a hand-built performance model from a respected manufacturer (opposed to a Dell’s factory special by mainstream PC manufacturer), so it obviously gets its number one choice. I like the opportunity to play Crysis or World in Conflict on it. It’s not the budget version (1895$) for mainstream purchase, but you will get your performance and portability and won’t regret.
