Packard Bell unveils ipower X2.0 gaming machine

Hitting stores around Christmas

4 July 2008 17:41 GMT / By Verity Burns

Packard Bell has unveiled its new gaming machine, the ipower X2.0, at the Electronic Sports World Cup in Paris.

The new "second-generation" machine is said to be aimed at the mass gaming market, and will hit stores for prices between €999 to €1799.

To satisfy the image-conscious gamers who say that design is one of the top criteria for them in a machine, the chassis shows off its inner secrets through a translucent siding with red LED trim lights.

The rest of the tower case has a black, high gloss finish, giving the machine a dramatic, modern look.

"We’re very happy to present our newest gaming PC to the public for the first time at the Gaming World Cup. The ipower X2.0 was designed to meet the needs of all PC gamers, from pro players to league competitors and hobbyists", said Emmanuel Fromont, vice president sales and marketing at Packard Bell.

He added: "With this launch, Packard Bell extends its commitment to the world of gaming, and we hope our participation will help expand this exciting market space".

The chassis has obviously been designed with high performance gaming in mind. As overheating is a big problem for gamers, Packard Bell has installed three 120mm fans with intelligent power management to generate optimal airflow. For modding enthusiasts, the Asetek liquid cooling system gives the ipower X2.0 a low noise footprint and more efficient heat dispersion.

And gamers can modify their PC quickly thanks to tool-less entry. The ipower X2.0 can be opened at the turn of a handle and locked using a special key. All the components can be changed easily and there is space for extra hard drives, cards and additional drives.

A host of connectors located on the top of the tower mean you can connect your gaming peripherals easily and it features two built-in handles for easy transportation to LAN parties and the like.

Gamers can choose how much they want from their machine. Depending on their budget, they can choose from top GPUs including the GeForce 9800GX2, or the ATI Radeon HD4870, decide between the Intel Core 2 Quad or Intel Core 2 Extreme processors and pick a storage capacity of between 500GB to 3TB.

It is also available with a 21-in-1 card reader, E-SATA port, Blu-ray Disc drive, 7.1 HD audio system, hybrid TV tuner and a gaming keyboard and mouse.

If that wasn't all enough, the ipower X2.0 comes with Packard Bell Premium Deluxe Pack of software, which includes games such as Konami PES 2008, EA Need For Speed ProStreet and EA Crysis. It also features Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, Norton Internet Security 2008 and Microsoft Works 9.

The ipower X2.0 will be available across Europe around Christmas time this year.