You just turn on your system, it boots in mere seconds, and you’re ready to rock.Īnd since the FragBox is built with standard PC components, it offers a ton of expansion and upgradability.īecause of that extreme level of customization it’s hard to review the FragBox as a standalone set of hardware specifications. Falcon Northwest ships its systems with all the latest drivers and BIOS updates already installed. Instead you’ll find a remarkably clean desktop with none of the crap, just like you’d get if a PC enthusiast built your computer with a clean custom Windows image (which is essentially what you’re paying for here). Slapped into thousands of systems, it pays off, even though most people I know hate it.įalcon Northwest’s FragBox has none of that. That’s because PC makers who pump out identical systems on a factory line earn a bit of extra money for each of those software installations. The prebuilt PCs you buy from the major multinational companies and big box retailers almost universally come bogged down with intense amounts of bloatware: antivirus trials, Dropbox trials, various mobile-esque games, subscription service trials, and on and on. From the beginner-friendly starting guide to nerd-friendly benchmark results, from extensive pre-shipment testing to a borderline ludicrous Falcon Overnight warranty, Falcon Northwest does everything it can to make sure your system is kicking butt and running stable.įalcon Northwest FragBox software and out-of-the-box experienceīefore we delve deeper into the hardware of my review unit, I want to touch on Falcon Northwest’s out-of-the-box Windows experience. Falcon Northwest simply blows away the competition here. But every sentence was necessary - when you spend up for a custom boutique PC, the experience, warranty, and attention to detail are a big part of the reason why. Welp, I just spent a lot of words on stuff that isn’t even specific to the FragBox itself. Falcon Northwest says it’s able to do so because of the company’s “extremely low defect rate.” All that extensive testing I previously mentioned ain’t just for nerd cred. That’s a perk no other major computer company offers. If you encounter a serious hardware problem that can’t be fixed with a call to FNW’s U.S.-based technical support, the company will “pick it up via overnight courier, correct any problem, fully test the system, and overnight it back to you.” In addition to a 30-day money back guarantee and a three-year warranty that covers parts and labor, you get a year of Falcon Overnight service. Another illustrated diagram in the FragBox’s container describes how the airflow for the tiny system works, providing guidance on how to position it for best performance.įinally, Falcon Northwest’s welcome packet also describes the company’s generous warranty. If you’re not a benchmark-spewing nerd, you’ll appreciate the helpful multi-page Starting Guide that Falcon Northwest includes, which covers everything from the initial hardware setup, tips to make sure your computer’s all-in-one cooler doesn’t gargle, driver and update advice, how to keep your system clean and running fast, how to use the Windows USB rescue drive, and more. It’s wonderfully thorough - and deeply insightful if you’re a geek who can parse what those scores mean. Falcon Northwest also includes the maximum reported temperature each of your major components reached during its burn-in tests. You’ll find individual scores for Unigine’s Heaven and 3DMark’s Timespy and Firestrike GPU benchmarks, Cinebench for CPU testing, Crystal Diskmark results for SSD performance, details about a long-term Memtest86+ burn-in test to make sure your memory is all set, and PCMark 10 scores to gauge whole-system performance. You’ll also find another page dedicated to the performance results your PC spat out during burn-in testing. ![]() ![]() But it goes even deeper! A second QA checklist (seen above) meticulously chronicles every aspect of your system, including beautifully nerdy details like your RAM timings which XMP profile was activated RAID storage details (if applicable) which specific games were used to test system stability various BIOS and driver version installed your hardware, software, and “second check” technicians and a whole lot more. Not only will you find an invoice with your order number, sales rep’s name, and detailed breakdown of all your hardware and Windows version, you’ll also find a shipping checklist that the company uses to ensure everything you ordered is in the box.
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