Blackbird 002 internals (cont’d)

HP Gaming is using standard ASUS Republic of Gamers series motherboards (including the Striker Extreme) with support for both AMD and Intel CPU’s, using nForce chipsets. The NVIDIA video cards are sourced from EVGA, while Radeon video cards come direct from AMD, and the memory from Corsair.


For HP Blackbird systems, Corsair is using special edition memory that has been tested to overclock to the maximum speed supported by the ASUS board.

HP claims that the Blackbird’s BIOS will be completely transparent and open, allowing end users to overclock to their hearts content (although obviously HP will not take responsibility for fried CPUs from unsuccessful overclocks).


For those of you who are reluctant to overclock your shiny new Blackbird system, HP will also sell factory overclocked systems, although we don’t have specifics on what configurations will be offered at this time.

In any case, HP can’t be faulted for using ASUS motherboards, Corsair memory, and reference design video cards. Hmm…HP Gaming must be reading our ultimate system build articles…

Moving on to optical storage, there are slots for two slot loading drives. These drives are notebook slot loading designs. HP wasn’t able to tell us which brand(s) was being utilized, or if it supports 3.5 inch discs. They have a single full size drive bay which will even house an optional combo HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drive. Interestingly, these drive bays are also tool-less, using nifty plastic brackets.


Tech support is foreign, outsourced to Canada. The system is also built in Canada. Basically much of VoodooPC’s staff and facilities have been turned into HP Gaming, but with a big infusion of money. All the systems are hand built by a single person; there is no assembly line here. This is a little less efficient, but as a result there is less chance of your system showing up with missing a card or with a misplaced DIMM. Essentially this shows HP’s dedication to making sure gamers are getting the best system possible.

Conclusion

The Blackbird 002 is HP Gaming’s first major project and it is a very admirable one. We look forward to seeing what’s next. HP has really committed to cutting edge research and development.

Cynics will say that HP just designed a really cool, no, really, really, cool looking case, but that’s it. The reality is with the available components today, most of the innovation is in system integration and case design. Engineering the whole system, even if it is using off-the-shelf parts, is no easy endeavor as the whole is not often greater than the sum of the parts.

Compatibility and stability issues really come to light when you start overclocking and running everything on the threshold of stability. Just as it is in racing, the fastest team is the one that runs closest to the failure point, without ever crossing that threshold.

At the time of this writing, HP has not publicized the pricing for the Blackbird 002. Even though we believe that spec ops divisions should not be expected to bring in big profits, the reality of the economy is such that the shareholders need to see a profitable HP Gaming division. Without sustained profits, the impetus to continue to put money into cutting edge research will slowly fade, since these products aren’t about national security. One example of where profits won out on innovation, where the nice guy didn’t go home with the hot girl, where art doesn’t exist, is with the Concorde. It still is one of the most elegant and technologically advanced airplanes today, but it simply couldn’t pay for itself. The Bugatti Veyron, if you factor in all the R&D costs, is sold for a loss, even at 1.4 million dollars each. It simply was designed to publicize the return of the Bugatti brand.

Nobody would argue, however, that the world is a much better place for having experienced these ultimate machines. So it shouldn’t matter what the Blackbird costs. Think of your friend’s faces when they see the Blackbird on your desk. Think of the Blackbird 002 as a street-legal hot rod. Think of buying a Blackbird 002 as an investment into HP Gaming and the development of the next-generation blackbird. Think of your support of the high-end gaming market as supporting engineers who dream about the ultimate overclock, just like you do. Think of getting your license to speed today.