Maingear, CyberPower, iBuyPower release first gaming PCs with AMD Phenom II X6 six-core CPUs
You knew it was only a matter of hours after the official release of AMD's first six-core Phenom II X6 CPUs that the first desktops packing the processors would start being announced. And like clockwork, here they are from boutique builders Maingear, CyberPower and iBuyPower.
What's nice about systems running the Phenom II X6 1055T and 1090T chips is they're substantially more affordable than the desktops built around Intel's Core i7 980X "Gulftown" six-core processor. (Of course, their performance isn't in the same league as Intel's.) For instance, Maingear's VYBE Limited Edition (pictured above) starts at just $999. For that price, you get the 1055T, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 640GB hard drive, and an ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card. If you upgrade to the $1,299 configuration, you'll swap in the 1090T processor, an additional 2GB of RAM, and Radeon HD 5830 graphics.
You can also get the cheapest of iBuyPower's three new configs for $999—the Gamer Fire 600 comes with the 1055T, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, only a 500GB hard drive, but also a Radeon HD 5830 card. For $80 more, you can go in a slightly different direction—the same CPU and RAM, but a 640GB hard drive and Radeon HD 5770 graphics. Finally, the $1,639 Killer Chimera 2-Q sports the 1090T, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 750GB of hard drive space, and a pair of Radeon HD 5670 cards in CrossFire configuration.
Playing how low can you go, CyberPower's cheapest Phenom II X6 system starts at just $699; for that price you get the familiar 1055T/4GB of RAM/500GB hard drive config, but only an Nvidia GeForce GT 220 graphics card. You can double down on graphics with the $1,045 Gamer Ultra CrossFireX Pro, which features the 1055T and 4GB of RAM along with a 1TB hard drive and a pair of Radeon HD 5750 cards. If you want to go all out, the $2,555 Dragon CrossFireX Ultimate includes the 1090T, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, Blu-ray drive, and twin Radeon HD 5870 cards.
With the six-core buzz and mainstream prices, AMD's new processors will find homes in many new systems, though we'll have to see when and if large desktop manufacturers like Dell and HP embrace the new Phenoms.