14 DAY TRIAL // The guys over at SmoothCreations are known for delivering some of the most uniquely styled high-end computer systems on the market, specifically tailored to meet the requirements of computer enthusiasts out there. However, with its latest product, the company has gone a step further, developing a desktop system that will probably cost you an arm and a leg. Basically, the new Smooth HD SCinema is built as an HTPC that incorporates the latest in computing hardware for a price point that is US$25 short of a whopping US$20,000.
Sure, you'll probably get everything you can possibly require from an HTPC, and then some, but unless you’re looking to turn your home into a functional theater, then SmoothCreations' recent addition probably doesn't fit your budget plan. Then again, SmoothCreations isn't your everyday PC vendor, as its systems are renowned for providing unique configurations, combining really cool designs with some of the latest hardware components on the market.
"When the Music & Movie industry come asking for the Ultimate Media Center, they don't go to your local PC store or your volume OEM", says Director of Business & Product Development at SmoothCreations, Mario Gastelum. "They come to a reputable boutique system builder that real design team that can craft & customize a PC. And that's what happened with the Linkin Park media center."
The SCinema makes no exception from that rule, and comes built on Intel's Bonetrail Motherboard, which supports the Quad Core 9770 processor. In addition, the HTPC system is also equipped with not one, but two of BFG's GeForce 280 GTX graphics cards, 8 GB of G.Skill DDR3 memory and a whopping 10 TB of storage space on Western Digital SATA hard drives. The system is powered by a massive Silverstone 1000W Modular Power Supply, which also powers two Lite On Blu Ray optical drives and an ATI 650 PCI-E TV Tuner. All of the above are encased in a Silverstone LC 18 HTPC Chassis, which, in true SmoothCreations style, has been stamped with a Linkin Park "LP" logo.
By now, you must be wondering why the high price tag, especially since the afore-mentioned configuration can also go for roughly $6,000. Well, in order to understand, you also have to add a 50-inch Samsung Plasma HDTV Monitor and the Klipsch THS Ultra 2 Speakers, which come to present you with your very own, complete and state-of-the-art HTPC system.
These being said, we can only imagine why SmoothCreations hasn't fitted this HTPC system with one of the latest X58-based motherboards and the high-end Intel Core i7 processors. Just think what the price for it would have been if it did.
