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Falcon Northwest

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Falcon Northwest
Company typePrivate
IndustryPersonal computers
Founded1992
FounderKelt Reeves
Headquarters
Medford, Oregon
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Kelt Reeves, President
Websitefalcon-nw.com

Falcon Northwest is a private company headquartered in Medford, Oregon. It designs, assembles, and markets high-end custom computers. The company was founded in 1992 and was one of the first to specialize in PCs built specifically for gaming.

History

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Falcon Northwest was founded in April 1992[1][2] by gamer hobbyist and former pilot Kelt Reeves.[3] Falcon Northwest released the first pre-built computer model intended specifically for gaming, the Mach V, in 1993,[4][5][6] starting the "gaming PC" category of computer products.[7][8] The company was founded in Florida, but later moved to Coos Bay, Oregon, then Ashland, Oregon, and finally Medford, Oregon.[3]

In the late 1990s, Falcon grew to $3 million in annual revenues[9] and opened a new manufacturing facility in Oregon.[10] Later on, the company collaborated with Intel on early liquid cooling components.[11] Intel worked with Falcon Northwest in secret, in order to avoid the appearance of endorsing overclocking by selling liquid cooling products under its own brand.[11]

Products

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A collection of Falcon Northwest computer products

Falcon Northwest sells high-end computers that are optimized for gaming, scientific, or military applications.[12] As of 2013, about half of its sales were from gamers.[12] Falcon's computers are consistently highly ranked in benchmark tests,[5] but cost $1,500 to over $10,000 depending on the user's configuration.[13] Many Falcon PCs are sold with custom paint jobs,[14] high-end graphics cards,[3] and special low-latency components.[12] Though it was originally known for tower desktops like the Mach V, and also sells laptops, as of 2017 Falcon is best known for its smaller, portable mini-PCs.[15][16][17]

Their products include:

  • Mach V - Desktop tower PC
  • Talon - Desktop tower PC
  • FragBox - Small Form Factor (SFF) PC
  • Tiki - Micro-tower PC
  • TLX - Thin & light class laptop PC
  • DRX - Desktop replacement class laptop PC

Reception

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In benchmark tests by Maximum PC in 2018, Falcon Northwest's Tiki mini-PC performed better than a tower computer with a high-end graphics card, but was also the most expensive computer the reviewers had ever used.[18][19][20] Similarly, Falcon's FragBox mini-PC was praised by Tom's Guide in 2017 for its appearance and power, but the configuration cost $5,000.[21] Tom's Guide said it was "one of the best options out there" for consumers that have the budget for a high-end portable gaming computer.[21]

PC Magazine said in 2018 that the Talon tower gaming PC from Falcon Northwest set records in benchmark performance tests and has high-quality components but was too expensive for most consumers.[22] The same publication gave Falcon's Mach V desktop gaming computer a 5 out of 5.[23] A 2015 review in PCWorld, praised the Mach V's performance but noted the high price that comes with buying a computer running three graphics cards.[7]

In 2022, PC Magazine reviewed the Falcon Northwest FragBox,[24] Talon,[25] and Tiki.[26] In each case, the reviewer gave the computer a 4.5 out of 5 rating. The reviews praised the three models' performance, noise, and build quality, though, like previous reviews, noted that all of Falcon Northwest's products had a high price as a result.[24][25][26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Slagle, Matt (September 2, 2002). "Gamers Go for Custom Looks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  2. ^ O'brien, Bill (November 16, 2010). "Boutique PC builders: When you want the very best". Network World. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c John Darling, The Mail Tribune (March 25, 2004). "Medford firm wins high-end gamers". Mail Tribune. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "Gaming Ground". Horizon Air. November 1996. When Falcon Northwest shipped its first Mach V system in 1993, it was the only gaming PC available, meaning its components were selected for their ability to support the more complex graphics and . . .
  5. ^ a b "Falcon Northwest Mach V". Computer Gaming World. January 1999.
  6. ^ Slagle, Matt (September 2, 2002). "Gamers Go for Custom Looks" (PDF). Associated Press. widely considered the creator of the gaming computer market.
  7. ^ a b Ung, Gordon Mah (April 6, 2015). "Reviewed: Falcon Northwest Mach V with triple Titan X cards rips the lid off our gaming tests". PCWorld. Retrieved March 14, 2019. Falcon Northwest, the company credited with creating the 'gaming PC' category
  8. ^ Herold, Charles (June 19, 2003). "BASICS; Ultimate Machines For Serious Gamers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2019. Falcon, in business since 1992, is generally acknowledged as the pioneer of the gaming PC concept.
  9. ^ Malik, Om (November 18, 1998). "Workstations are now Gamestations". Forbes. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  10. ^ "Start-up heaven". Oregon Business. 22 (19). October 15, 1999.
  11. ^ a b Patrizio, Andy (February 4, 2019). "Bless the overclockers: In the data center world, liquid cooling is becoming king". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c "Xconomy: Going Big and Bad: Custom PC Makers Build Hot Rods for 4K Gaming". Xconomy. October 8, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  13. ^ Walton, Jarred (May 3, 2006). "Falcon Northwest FragBox SLI: Dare to Dream". AnandTech. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  14. ^ Walton, Jarred (January 3, 2018). "The $3K Titan V is the fastest graphics card, even though it's not for gaming". pcgamer. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  15. ^ Etherington, Darrell (April 23, 2017). "Falcon Northwest's Tiki is the sleek sports car of VR PCs". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  16. ^ Case, Loyd (June 27, 2012). "Falcon Northwest Tiki Review: Gaming Monster in a Petite Package". PCWorld. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  17. ^ "Falcon Northwest". Falcon Northwest. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  18. ^ Walton, Jarred (Spring 2018). "Falcon Northwest Tiki". Maximum PC.
  19. ^ Buzzi, Matthew (January 27, 2017). "Falcon Northwest Tiki (2017)". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  20. ^ Ackerman, Dan (April 13, 2016). "The Falcon Northwest Tiki review: A compact powerhouse for virtual reality". CNET. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  21. ^ a b Andronico, Michael (February 25, 2017). "Falcon Northwest FragBox Review: $5,000 Worth of Awesome". Tom's Guide. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  22. ^ Buzzi, Matthew (January 31, 2018). "Falcon Northwest Talon (2018)". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  23. ^ Domingo, Joel Santo (June 17, 2004). "Falcon Northwest Mach V". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  24. ^ a b Jefferies, Charles (December 13, 2022). "Falcon Northwest FragBox (2022) Review". PCMag. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  25. ^ a b Jefferies, Charles (October 26, 2022). "Falcon Northwest Talon (2022) Review". PCMag. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  26. ^ a b Jefferies, Charles (May 26, 2022). "Falcon Northwest Tiki (2022) Review". PCMag. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
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