HP Blackbird 002 - Features - The Armchair Empire

The Armchair Empire presents its first PC review...

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HP Blackbird 002: The Review

So powerful it could likely teach tribal apes to use tools.

Cutting to the chase, after almost an entire month playing games on the Blackbird 002 then going back to my current PC was like driving around in a Ferrari – with the gas pedal pressed to the floor the entire time – then having to send it back to the dealer leaving me the sad option of sitting on a washing machine during the spin cycle while making “brrrrrm!” sounds trying to recall better days.

But the impression the Blackbird 002 makes starts even before you turn it on.

This thing is huge! It weighs in at more than 70lbs and comes in a box with no handholds. To be honest, when it arrived in my office and I had to load it into my car for the trip home, it took two people to manhandle it into the backseat.

Prior to the Blackbird’s arrival I had pulled out a stack of games that either ran rough on my computer or wouldn’t run in any way that would be termed “playable”

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like Company of Heroes, The Orange Box, Universe at War, Crysis, Command & Conquer 3, and Doom 3. This would be the test – pump all settings to maximum and see what would happen. And I was only a matter of minutes into Company of Heroes when it finally dawned on me that the kind of horsepower the Blackbird 002 afforded me the chance to finally

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see these games how the developer wanted me to see them. Being able to zoom right in on a soldier’s backpack and read the letters on it in Company of Heroes might not seem like a selling point, but it’s finally proof that those screenshots on the back of the box are actually honest pictures and not some pie-in-the-sky airbrush job. Playing Team Fortress 2 (part of The Orange Box) on the Blackbird 002 is as close to the perfect gaming experience I’ve ever had simply because it ran so well even with all the settings maxed. Nearly the same can be said for Command & Conquer 3. On my own PC, C&C 3 levels take minutes to load, on the Blackbird 002 four or five seconds was not out of the question. When it came to the actual action, the animation was so smooth and quick that I actually had a hard time adjusting to how fast the game is actually supposed to run. Gone were slow motion runs across the battlefield! Now, as I play C&C 3’s expansion I can’t help but be slightly pissed off that HP wanted the Blackbird 002 back.

The only game that showed any signs of choppiness was Crysis – but that was with the details and the bells and whistles set as high as they could go (which are considerably higher than practically anything you can think of).

At first glance there's not much difference between these two screenshots. The one on the left is running on the Blackbird 002 with the details pumped up. The screen on the right is also running on the Blackbird 002 but with the settings I have to use on my PC to get it to run. (Not pictured: a frustrating, jittery mess running at 10 fps on my computer.)

Again the Blackbird 002 screen is on the left and the settings I have to use on my PC is on the right. The detail is incredible and at the same there's no sacrifice when it comes to outright speed, especially when it comes to levels loading up. On my PC, even with the settings turned down, the framerate is just not as smooth and I can wait as long as three or four minutes for a level to load.

So, what makes the Blackbird 002 run like a dream? Just what do you get for $5,000.00 or, depending on the options you choose, upwards of $6,500.00? (NOTE: The base configuration with air cooling only will run you about $2,300US. And during the process of "building" your Blackbird online you get plenty of choices when it comes to customizing the components. I went through the process of building a custom, air-cooled setup and it came in at approximately $3,350.00 with shipping. $5,000.00 is used in this review because that's rig I was playing with.)

One of the Blackbird’s major draws is the ease of access to the interior, loads of space inside the case, and the pop-up plug-in sockets and two hidden optical drives. Much of the technical stuff is completely lost on me – or at least, I don’t appreciate it quite as much as someone that is more technically inclined – but even I can tell the Blackbird 002 is arranged in a way that has an eye on the future. New video card? New RAM? Pop open the left side and just swap it out. It’s especially evident with the five hard drive bays – adding a hard drive is as simple as pulling out the tray, placing the new drive in the tray, and then sliding it back in. Everything is very accessible and easy to upgrade.

Just pull the grey latch on the left side and the entire side swings out giving access to its many splendored guts.

If only I could keep my own cables as neat and tidy as the Blackbird 002 does (left); hard drives are easy to swap in and out. And in a pinch they can hold a ham sandwich. (right)

The Armchair Empire interviewed Rahul Sood back in 2002 – long before his company, Voodoo, was bought by HP – and one of the questions we asked was whether it was possible to even imagine how fast PCs will be in five years. His answer was a simple, “No.” It’s an attitude that obviously hasn’t changed because there was enough forethought of Blackbird 002’s design to make it as easy as possible to upgrade the rig all along the way so even 5, 6, or 7 years from now you’ll still be able to ride the cutting edge of what’s available to make your games look as awesome as the developers intended.

Near the front of the top of the case is the hidden docking port with multiple connections. It's easy to pop it up and down.

I had my hands on a Blackbird 002 running in the $5,000.00 range and features the following technical specs:

Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core QX6850

LG Blu-ray disc rewriter & HD DVD-ROM Drive

8X Slim Light Scribe DVD Writable Drive

750 GiG Seagate 7200 RPM

160 GB 10K RPM RAPTOR SATA

1100w Modular Power supply

1 CPU + 2 ATI Graphics Card Coolers

ATI 2900XTX, DX10, 1GB, 270W

Asus Striker Extreme

As big and imposing – and some would say ostentatious; it lights up when it’s turned on – as the Blackbird 002 it actually doesn’t make that much noise. There are twin fans at the top of the inside of the case that pump out air at an incredible rate but they’re darn quite. But there are also internal fans that move air through the case easily. The fact that the whole thing sits slightly above the ground thanks to the design of the base also helps keep all the components cool.

If you’re plunking down $5K for a gaming rig, part of your decision may take into account the warranty offerings. One year parts and labor warranty sure doesn’t look good on paper and it’s even less attractive when you really think about it. That’s about the only downside – next to the out-of-reach price for many gamers.

The official site and the only way to get your very own Blackbird 002 can be found here.

- Omni

(April 15, 2008)


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