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110 Boutique PC Makers Deliver Desktop Alternatives to Big-Name Brands
PCs made by HP, Dell, Lenovo and other large manufacturers are purchased in huge quantities to equip corporate offices. While they all have fine features, some boutique PC makers shouldn’t be overlooked as alternative suppliers of PCs for enterprises. Companies like Velocity Micro, Maingear and others all offer high-end PCs with outstanding components. But more importantly for corporate customers, they tend to deliver impressive customer service that that enables them to handle problems faster than the big-name PC makers with their layers of bureaucracy. Companies might pay a bit more for a PC from boutiques, but they get high-quality products and customer service that can’t be beaten. Read on for a look at some of the best desktops from these boutique PC producers.
2Alienware Produces the High-Powered Area-51 Desktop
Alienware was once the leading boutique PC vendor before it was acquired by Dell. Still, Alienware lives on with the same corporate culture as before, offering strong desktop designs and high-end features. Chief among its desktops is the Area-51, a desktop that runs on Intel’s Core i7 X-series processor. The computer runs Windows 10 and has more than 1,000 configuration options for companies to build the ideal PC.
3Origin L Class Supports Multiple Feature Options
The Origin L Class is among the best enterprise-focused PCs from Origin PC. The L Class supports up to four graphics cards and can accommodate up to 14 hard drives. It also comes with liquid cooling and offers a range of Intel processors, including the Intel X299 and C612 Dual. Suffice it to say the L Class is a powerful machine.
4Velocity Micro Delivers ProMagix
Velocity Micro’s ProMagix HD360Max is another powerful workstation that runs on dual Intel Xeon E5-2600 processors with up to 18 cores and 45MB of L3 cache. The machine runs on Nvidia’s Tesla GPUs and runs on Windows 10. Importantly, the machine doesn’t come with bloatware and Velocity Micro is quick to note that it offers “100 percent U.S.-based tech support.”
5Falcon Northwest Mach V’s Performance Soars
Falcon Northwest’s Mach V desktop comes with an Intel Core i7 processor, but it can be configured with an Intel Core i9 or AMD’s Ryzen chips. On the graphics side, customers can choose from Nvidia’s GeForce or Quadro, or AMD’s Radeon. The computer even supports up to 128GB of RAM and has 11 storage drive bays.
6Xidax’s Legato Combines Power With Stylish Design
Xidax’s Legato workstation is ideal for those who want a stylish PC with high-end power. The computer runs on Intel’s Xeon and has 8GB of memory before customization. It runs on the Nvidia Quadro P600 GPU and has a 1TB hard drive. Customers can configure it with three additional drives, as well as one solid-state drive.
7CyberPowerPC Offers the Hyper Liquid Ryzen X
As its name might suggest, the CyberPowerPC Hyper Liquid Ryzen X runs on AMD’s Ryzen 7 processor. The computer supports liquid cooling and comes with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080. CyberPowerPC ships with 16GB of onboard memory. Like the others, the Hyper Liquid Ryzen X can be configured to add more power.
8iBuyPower Goes ‘Extreme’ With the Revolt 2
The iBuyPower Revolt 2 Extreme is another high-end PC with a slew of customization options. The base model ships with Intel’s Core i7-7700K processor with four 4.2GHz cores. It runs the Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti video card and has 16GB of memory. The Windows 10 machine supports liquid cooling — a key feature for such a high-powered machine.
9Maingear Designs Shift Pro as ‘Professional Workstation’
Maingear’s Shift Pro is what the company calls, the “ultimate professional workstation.” It comes with the Intel Core i7 or Intel Xeon processors, and companies can choose between Nvidia’s GeForce or Quadro, or AMD’s Vega GPUs. Those who opt for a dual-CPU configuration can run up to 128GB of memory for the very best in power. The Maingear Shift Pro even offers up to six bays for hard drives or solid-state drives.
10AvaDirect’s Supermicro Workstation Is Powerful, but Pricey
AvaDirect’s Supermicro Workstation is one of the more expensive options in this roundup at more than $4,200. For that price, companies will find the Intel Xeon Bronze 3104 processor and a PNY Quadro P400 graphics card. It also comes with a 1TB drive and 4GB of RAM. It can be configured with additional components to make it even more powerful.
11Digital Storm’s Aventum 3 Pro Challenges IT Budgets
Digital Storm’s Aventum 3 Pro is really all about giving companies the opportunity to decide for themselves how much power they want. The base model has a 10-core Intel Core i7 processor and costs nearly $5,800. But it can be configured with 44-core Intel Xeon processors and the Nvidia GTX Titan GPU, among other features, that will cost customers more than $18,300.