Falcon Northwest FragBox 2 Review
Falcon Northwest has been one of the most prominent and respected names in system building since it was founded in 1992. And over the last 16 years, PC manufacturers have upped the ante by packing in an increasing amount of processing power into smaller form factors. This movement, of course, has led to the rise of gaming laptops so powerful that they rival desktop systems. However, while laptops are great for travel and remote access, the small form factor limitations make them less than ideal for heavy action at LAN parties and other major events.
Enter the FragBox. When Falcon Northwest's compact desktop system first hit the market in 2003, it earned rave reviews for its formidable hardware specs and ability, which had been squeezed into a sleek, ultra-convenient case the size of a large shoe box. Fast forward five years later and Falcon Northwest has ushered in another update for its trailblazing model. The newest edition of the FragBox 2 comes in the same kind of alluring, easy-to-carry case as previous versions and, more importantly, boasts a bargain-basement price: $1,495.00 (Falcon Northwest sent us a pre-built FragBox 2 8400 system).
Falcon Northwest's FragBox 2 comes in a sleek, portable package.
And it's not just the price or the eye-catching exterior that make the FragBox 2 so attractive. Not to sound too corny, but the system's true beauty is on the inside. What makes the FragBox 2 so impressive is how Falcon Northwest was able to stock the shoe box case with so much good stuff that it rivaled larger desktops. Our pre-configured model came with an Intel Dual Core 2 E8400 overclocked to 3.2 GHz and an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB video card (in terms of specifications, the FragBox 2's only glaring weakness is the system sadly lacks SLI compatibility). The FragBox 2 also comes fitted with Windows Vista Home Premium, 2 GB of RAM, a 500W power supply and a Seagate SATA 500 GB hard drive. Here are the full hardware specifications:
A look at the side panel of the FragBox 2.
Before we get into the test results, let's jump back to the FragBox 2's design. The system comes with a stellar metal case that sports a sturdy handle that goes over the top of the PC and gives users a simple and comfortable way to transport the FragBox. Sure, the system is a little heavy, weighing just over 20 pounds. But we were surprised at how easy it was for us to grab hold of the PC and walk around with it without fear of doing damage to the machine. In short, the packaging of the FragBox 2 makes the system ideal for hauling around at LAN parties and short-range transport.
The front of the PC has a glossy plastic sheet complete with Falcon Northwest's tricky FragBox logo. Above the logo and to the right of the power button lies the FragBox's single optical drive, a 6-in-1 media card reader, a floppy drive, headphone and microphone jacks, two USB 2.0 ports and a single FireWire port.
On each side of the FragBox is a thick plastic window that provides a view of the system's hardware, with the window on the right side having a neatly-designed vent for the FragBox's cooling system. The backside of the system comes with two DVI monitor ports, an S-Video connector, mouse and keyboard ports, an Ethernet connection, an S/PDIF connection, a parallel port, more USB 2.0 ports and a another FireWare connection.
Remove the side window panel and you can get a good look at the FragBox's 8800 GT video card. While the system's case doesn't provide a lot of room, Falcon Northwest crafted an impressive hardware configuration that doesn't look the least bit cramped or cluttered. The Asus P5E-VM Micro ATX motherboard actually sits below the GPU on the bottom of the case in a surprisingly secure position. The power supply is attached in the back right corner of the case, while the Intel Core 2 CPU cooling system sits up front in the case near the hard drive and disc drive. The wires and cords are organized in a tidy formation, leaving room for some - but not a whole lot - of add-ons and upgrades, such as an additional hard drive.
While there was plenty of room for it, the FragBox 2 sadly didn't come fitted with a wireless adapter, which is a no-brainer for a portable system like this one. Another limitation for the system is the graphics; the FragBox 2 doesn't offer SLI compatibility and because the power supply only offers 500W, upgrading to the newly introduced two-GPU cards (ATI's Radeon 3870 X2 and NVIDIA's GeForce 9800 GX2) is pretty much out of the question. This of course makes the FragBox 2 less appealing for gamers who want to power up Crysis at very high settings.[UPDATE: Falcon Northwest has informed us that it does offer a custom configuration with a 1-KW power supply.]
Then again, as the benchmark tests will show, the system's performance in the gaming department, as well as other areas, was outstanding overall.
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