Date:
Tuesday , October 25, 2005
Author:
Chris Morley
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Falcon Northwest FragBox 2 Evaluation

Falcon Northwest, the granddaddy of boutique gaming PCs, joins our systems evaluation program with a small form factor gaming rig sporting full sized power and capabilities. Is Falcon Northwest still the gold standard for premium computing?

Grammatical & Spelling Editor: Timothy Daniel

Introduction

In case this is your first brush with our new Systems Evaluation Program, I'd invite you to take a moment to read our latest editorial regarding some changes that we've made.

Among other things, we've decided that the best way to really do a good job evaluating the entire experience with an OEM system would be to talk about the purchasing process. The only way to do that would be to purchase a system. So we've set about getting agreements with intrepid OEMs who wish to show you, the consumer, exactly what it'd be like to own their product.

This means that we aren't evaluating hand picked, extensively tweaked systems that have no semblance to a final product; instead, we're able to take a sample from a company's everyday production queue and let you see everything you'd get from a consumer's perspective. We even grade the packaging.

Our first system to go through this new acquisition method was Velocity Micro's Gamer's Edge 1500, and you can read all about it here.

Next Up

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This time around, we're taking a look at the granddaddy of OEM gaming PCs, Falcon Northwest. Since 1992, Falcon Northwest has built machines designed from the ground up for gamers. If you want to know what a 'gaming' machine looks like from over a decade ago, look at this promotional ad from way back when:

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The first time I ever saw a Falcon Northwest PC was in 1998, and coincidentally it was the first time I'd ever seen 3DFX GLIDE used in a game. A friend of mine purchased a Falcon Mach V (their premier tower) with dual Voodoo2 cards in SLI. My jaw dropped as the lightning fast PII 300MHz and dual 12MB Voodoo2 cards churned up Quake II like it was nothing.

I had found my calling. Two years later, I had started my own gaming PC company and the rest is history. However, Falcon started it all for me.

So to say that I was excited to have the opportunity to buy a system from the outfit that started it all would be an understatement. I considered Falcon Northwest to be the gold standard in systems integration, and many of their philosophies and policies shaped how I built systems and delivered customer service in the various roles I have filled in this industry.

Join us as we take a hard look at the Falcon Northwest FragBox 2, which is a small form factor system that is decked out like a desktop.