• May 2010
    Our new site is live!

    For those of you who've been coming to the Falcon website for months or even years, you've obviously noticed a big change.  Our goal was to make the site faster, easier to navigate and better looking.  Hopefully you'll find it all an improvement, but if not please email us your suggestions!

  • April 2010
    The NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 400 series of graphics processors arrives

    Next-generation gaming has arrived. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 480 and GTX 470 give your games an adrenaline shot with the world’s fastest performance and futuristic, visually-stunning graphics. Experience heart-pounding, cinematic visuals on your favorite games with the combined power of DirectX 11, CUDA™, and NVIDIA® PhysX® technologies. And expand your visual real estate across three HD displays in jaw-dropping stereoscopic 3D for the ultimate in immersive gaming. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 400 series: pure adrenaline meets visual bliss.

    INCREDIBLY DETAILED VISUALS
    Experience an unprecedented level of detail and realism in the latest games. Tessellation- one of the biggest new features of Microsoft DirectX11- helps developers create more detailed characters and terrain in games, bringing you sharper, crisper images and a more realistic experience. GeForce GTX 400 GPUs deliver up to 8x the tessellation performance compared to competition*, bringing your games closer to reality without sacrificing the high frame rates you enjoy.

  • March 2010
    USB 3.0 now standard on all Mach V and Talon systems

    Falcon PCs have always been on the cutting edge, and now we're future-proofing them even further by adding support for the newest USB 3.0 devices.  Although there aren't many USB 3.0 devices on the market yet, our Mach V and Talon systems will be ready for them when they are.  Haven't heard of USB 3.0 yet?  Here's a summary:

    • Higher transfer rates -up to 4.8 Gbps.  This is almost 10 times USB 2.0 speeds!
    • Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
    • New power management features
    • Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
    • New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer...although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers
  • October 2009
    Windows 7 Arrives... And Everyone Likes It!

    PC users have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft.  Their Operating Systems have 90%+ marketshare, so they must be doing something right. On the other hand, people love to hate Microsoft for all the little things about Windows that should be better. Windows 7 changes everything. Windows 7 launched to almost universal praise from users and the press alike. It boots faster, runs quicker, is much more stable, has fewer compatibility issues - and has hundreds of neat new little features that just make life easier. Windows 7: it's OK to like Microsoft again.

  • September 2009
    Intel launches new Core i7, i5 models at huge savings

    Intel has just brought the performance of their top-end Core™ i7 architecture into a new realm of affordability.  With their new Core™ i7 -870 and 860 models, and the i5-750, the "bang-for-the-buck" segment will never be the same.  These new CPUs require motherboards with the new Intel® P55 Express chipset, which is a slightly trimmed down, less expensive version of their X58 chipset.  The P55 chipset only has dual-channel memory support, and maxes at 8 gigabytes of memory (versus triple-channel and 12 gigs for X58 chipsets).  It also only has 16 PCI-Express lanes for graphics cards, which means 2 graphics cards maximum, and they may be slighlty limited at the highest resolutions.  So for the fastest configurations or those applications where a lot of memory is important (like Photoshop or video editing) the X58 chipset and the "900 series" Core i7s are still the right choice. But for many people, these sacrifices will be well worth the savings and the "800 series" of Core i7s will provide them with all the power they need at an amazingly low price point.

  • June 2009
    Intel Revs-Up New Core-i7 Models

    Intel has stretched its lead with the Core-i7 processors even further, with two new models:

    • The Core-i7 950 replaces the 945, and brings it up to 3.06 GHz.
    • The Core-i7 975 replaces the 965, and runs at 3.33 GHz.

    To make these new CPUs even faster, they now have a 2-step Turbo Boost mode.  What that means is that when only a single core is needed by your software, they'll add 266 MHz to their clock speed.  That means a Core-i7 975 can run itself up to 3.60 GHz!
    And the icing on cake?  These are a new stepping that actually runs a little colder than previous Core i7s, meaning if you want your system overclocked, we should be able to push them even further than before.

  • February 2009
    Phenomenal cosmic power! Itty-bitty living space. FragBoxes go Core-i7!

    The Intel Core i7 has completely transformed the PC platform in a matter of months, but we never thought we would see it supported by a Small Form Factor-sized motherboard.  Now, thanks to a new DFI X58 chipset motherboard, we can bring you every speed of the Core i7 processor, Nvidia SLI or ATI Crossfire, and up to 12 gigs of triple-channel DDR3 - in a FragBox!  It's a ridiculous amount of power, all in the size of a shoebox. To paraphrase Han Solo, "Sometimes we amaze even ourselves!"

  • December 2008
    Falcon earns our 4th straight "Best Desktop of the Year" Award from PC Magazine!

    For the 4th year in a row, Falcon Northwest has had a system named in PC Magazine's annual "Best in Tech" issue. This year, it's for our FragBox, which made their 5 Best Desktops of 2008 list. The model they looked at this year had a Core 2 QX9650 CPU, an ATI Radeon 4870X2, and a gorgeous green rain paintjob. They loved its performance and its pricetag: "...it's a bargain compared with similar high-end gaming PCs that reach closer to $8,000 for a similar level of performance."

    Again, the only company to make the list each of the last 4 years with us? Apple, for their iMac.  Honorable company, indeed.

  • November 2008
    The Intel® Core™ i7 CPU radically changes desktop PCs!

    You've probably been hearing the buzz and the press leaks for months. The new Intel®
    Core™ i7     CPU (previously code-named "Nehalem") was just too good for the press to keep quiet about.  There is so much this CPU changes we encourage you to check out some of the new in-depth reviews of our Core i7 systems.  But here's the executive summary on Core i7:

    Core i7 has four CPU cores, each with HyperThreading providing 8 virtual CPUs! All four cores are now on the same die, each with access to the whopping 8 Megabytes of shared L3 cache.  Additionally, the memory controller has now been moved inside the CPU. This new integrated memory controller eliminates the traditional Front Side Bus for much quicker access to the system memory. It also allows new triple-channel DDR3 memory configurations. What does that mean in English? It means Core i7 systems have more than twice the memory bandwidth of Core 2 systems, and can be configured with either 6 or 12 gigs of system memory! And in case that wasn't enough speed, Core i7 CPUs can automatically overclock themselves!  Intel calls it Turbo mode, and it adds several hundred MHz to the rated speed of the CPU when temperatures allow.

    Core i7 is available in 3 speeds: Core i7-965 Extreme Edition is a 3.2 GHz CPU with an unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking. It also has a faster interface to the memory. The Core i7-940 is a 2.93 GHz model, and the Core i7-920 is a 2.66 GHz model.

    Core i7 will require the new intel X58 chipset equipped motherboards.  These new motherboards have 6 slots for DDR3 memory, and can use either ATI Crossfire or Nvidia SLI graphics solutions.

Falcon Newsroom