The Swiss Army Knife Of Gaming PCs

Yesterday, I published some news about the launch of system integrator CLX’s new Intel-based dual PC, the mighty Hathor. According to CLX, it’s the first of its kind. Eliminate the need to run two standalone computers when gaming and streaming at the same time.

I spent about a week in a fully specified review unit. It’s definitely a niche product aimed at a very specific segment of the gaming/streaming market, but I think it’s worth serious consideration only if it’s obvious. The ambition behind the build.

First of all, Hathors are very heavy high-tech devices. That’s no surprise, considering the Lian Li chassis is jam-packed with components. For example, two separate power supplies are installed to power two separate CPUs. There’s also a separate his NUC unit with an attached mini-board that takes up the entire bottom part of the motherboard area. All of this looks like a giant GPU (in this case a GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition), a 1 TB OS drive, a 4 TB dump HDD, and enough cooling fans to give a literal jet a clean runway takeoff. combined with normal components. probably.

For those interested, here’s the full specs list:

CLX Hathor, primary unit

• primary unit
• CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
• CPU Cooler: Phanteks Glacier One 360MPH White
• Motherboard: ASUS STRIX Z690M-G Gaming D5
• Memory: 32GB Kingston Fury Black RGB
• OS Drive: 1TB Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
• Storage Drive: 4TB Western Digital HDD 256MB Cache
• Video: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition 16GD6X
• Chassis: Lian Li O11D Dynamic XL ROG White
• Chassis Fan: Gamdias Aeolus M2 1201R White RGB
• Power Supply: 1000W EVGA SuperNova Gold G5
• Power Cable: Cablemod Black Cable Kit for EVGA PSU
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-bit

CLX Hathor, Secondary Streaming Unit

• Intel Compute Element 12
• CPU: Intel Core i9 12900
• Memory: 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MHz SODIMM
• OS Drive: 1TB Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
• Capture Card: El Gato 4K60 Pro
• Power Supply: 750W EVGA SuperNova GT Gold
• Power Cable: Cablemod Black Cable Kit for EVGA PSU
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-bit

The chunky system has arrived in what CLX calls the Sarcophagus Crate. That in itself added even more pounds to the package, punished the poor and was a pain when I managed to drag it where I needed it. , I recommend bribing a very powerful friend in In-N-Out.

The good news is that the wooden box beautifully protected the PC during shipping. The Hathors were placed comfortably inside a sturdy cardboard box within a protective sarcophagus, padded with ample insulating foam both inside and out. I removed all internal foam from the chassis and found no cracked glass, broken parts or loose components. This is a win for his CLX and possibly UPS. We’ve seen PCs with completely shattered glass panels before, but not this time.

The Lian Li O11D Dynamic XL ROG case in a sleek white color scheme is simple and striking. A brushed aluminum panel on the front houses separate power buttons for the main 13900K gaming processor and the secondary 12900 NUC, giving you the freedom to boot them independently. There are also four USB-A ports, two on the top of the panel and two on the bottom. Finally, there are both microphone and headphone jacks, as well as buttons for physical control of the unit’s internal RGB lighting.

Despite the stuffy tempered glass panel showing off all the components, the chassis is very ventilated and most of the surrounding solid panels are perforated.10 different RGB fans power the custom CLX Phanteks We help the AIO to keep the machine running smoothly and cool. No weird bottlenecks or throttling.

As far as general build quality goes, I think CLX has done a great job. Cable management is solid and there isn’t one bit of shoddy installation to speak of. I wish a matching white GPU was included as the silver and black 4080 clashes with the ubiquitous white theme I think.

The ASUS STRIX Z690M-G Gaming D5 motherboard is by no means the ultimate motherboard, but it has a lot to offer, including three different M.2 slots for fast storage and up to 6E wireless connectivity. Interestingly, since this is a dual PC setup, both the NUC and the Z690-G have input panels along the back of the Hathor. Basically, I’m literally running two PCs, so I have twice as many inputs (USB, Ethernet, etc.) as he does.

So how does Hathor work? Well, if you’ve never used a two-PC setup before, something like Hathor will take some getting used to. At first I thought I would have to connect two sets of peripherals, but after tracking down the Microsoft software Mouse Without Borders, both the PC and the monitor allowed him to share one keyboard and mouse. I was. wonderful!

The whole experience was an absolute journey for a dual PC newbie like me. The NUC has its own processor and 16 GB of DDR4 memory, so gaming at 13900K at the same time while running a stream (or any other application) on a second monitor is a beautiful and seamless experience. This is when games like Cyberpunk and Forza Horizon run at maximum graphics settings and at a steady (and often beyond) 60fps over 4K on the primary monitor. The CPU and GPU temperatures remained perfectly reasonable as well. It’s a kind of dark magic that I can’t get enough of.

Overall, I seriously enjoy the all-on-one powerhouse nature of the Hathors.

Would I recommend Hathor to the average PC gamer or content creator? Probably not. If you just want to game in 4K with ridiculous graphics settings and just want to edit YouTube content, you can easily configure one of CLX’s other machines with a 4080 or 4090 and plenty of memory for endless gaming and creation options can be achieved. The Hathors are overkill for this kind of consumer who would be better off sticking with a standalone gaming PC.

However, if you’re already deep in the streaming/content creation rabbit hole and you could actually benefit from offloading most of the encoding, rendering, and generally monotonous work to another PC in real time might fit Hathor. The bill is like a glove. Significantly reduce desk clutter while improving gaming performance.That being said, I wouldn’t recommend putting this beast down above Unless it’s made of pure titanium, it will inevitably look like a desk. I think this is an under-desk operation.

Obviously with 4080 and 13900K, Hathor can handle any game brilliantly. Add a handy NUC to that equation and you have the ultimate streaming (or multitasking in general) PC. Having a single set of peripherals on both machines and being able to drag files and move the mouse cursor between monitors is just the icing on the cake.

CLX doesn’t provide an exact price for this particular model, but I’d expect it to be at least $5,000. Additionally, the price is related to what you put in the chassis and will vary depending on the goodies you choose to include via the website’s configurator.

verdict? Serious streamers and amazing achievements in component integration are worth it, but gamers who just want to game may want to look elsewhere.

Disclosure: CLX provided review units for coverage purposes.