We don't know exactly what gamers have done to deserve such monstrous-looking machines, but gaming-orientated desktops continue to stream in and the latest comes from Packard Bell.
Its offering, the ipower X2.0, was announced at the Electronic Sports World Cup in Paris.
The sharp-edged system looks just a touch smarter than Acer's Predator, and measures a massive 51cm x 21.7cm x 53cm. Packard Bell states that the "sexy tower case unites a black colour scheme with metal trim, transparent housing, gloss finish, bevelled angles and harmonious dimensions" to satisfy the needs of PC gamers.
The system utilises Asetek's liquid cooling solution, and its innards can be accessed easily via a tool-less entry. It's powered by a choice of Intel Core 2 Quad or Core 2 Extreme processors, and graphics take the form of an NVIDIA GeForce 9800GX2, or an ATI Radeon HD4870. There's no official confirmation just yet, but we're presuming SLI and CrossFire options will be available, and we'd expect to see NVIDIA's GTX 200 series graphics cards, too.
Storage capacity ranges from 500GiB up to 3TiB, and a Blu-ray drive is an option. It'll come complete with a hybrid TV tuner, a gaming keyboard and mouse and 7.1 HD audio. It'll have your connectivity covered with a 21-in-1 card reader, E-SATA port and various other connectors across the top of the chassis.
Packard Bell states the ipower X2.0 will be available in Europe at Christmas 2008, priced from €999 to €1799, and over. €999 sounds a little low, but we think you'll be edging toward €1799 and beyond once you've chosen a decent configuration.
