Gaming

Blackbird 02 By HP And VooDoo

By James Allan BradyUpdated: Feb. 15, 2019 3:51 am EST

So let me start by first stating, this is a mammoth machine, with some pretty top end specs and an amazingly beautiful appearance. Now, let's get onto the specs of this beast.

The case is a giant heat sink that can support up to 600 pounds and weighs 70+ pounds. It is made entirely from cast and stamped aluminum. The side panel has hinges and a gasket on the side panel to reduce noise pollution. The case and its components allow for tool-less maintenance, just about everything is removable and serviceable without tools, even the CPU, GPU, and HDDs. Made to be user-serviced with its task lighting and easy to remove side panels.

Full and fully sealed liquid cooling system included, liquid Cooling for CPU, GPU's, and MoBo. Water cooling features 3 blocks, simple Radiator, and 120mm fan. The highest heat producing components separated into their own "thermal chambers". There are fans and airflow vents everywhere with a general movement of air from the front/bottom to the back. The giant "foot" below the case keeps it off the ground or desk providing better air flow and ventilation.

Other features include the fact that the BIOS support user-controlled overclocking. There is a 1.1kW power supply on base of chassis. A nifty hydraulic powered pop-up provides access to Card Reader, USB, Firewire, and audio in and out jacks. There is accent lighting all over case as well as task lighting inside and on back panel of case. The HP/VooDoo team clearly had a hand in the cabling as just about every cable is out of sight, and wrapped, plus almost every wire is modular.

All components are brand name, often top of the line depending on customization, not proprietary. All the other Blackbirds should be customizable with components from Intel, AMD, ATI, nVidia, Corsair, Hynix, Samsung, or ASUS. The Dedication version goes on sale September 15th, the rest on October 1st. the price is between $2500 and $7100. They will be available at hp.com/blackbird. There is a one year limited warranty and they are assembled in Calgary, the home of VooDoo.