Following the announcement of Pavilion Gaming and Omen laptops last spring, HP now introduces a scalable machine for gamers with passion.
A few hours before the opening of GamesCom in Cologne, HP announces the release of a brand new desktop gamer PC, the OMEN Obelisk. The American manufacturer announces this machine as simple, efficient and powerful.
The new model is in the classic medium tower format with two metal side walls (or on some references, one made of metal, the other of tempered glass). This obelisk could replace the Omen 870 in a while, but the Omen 880 remains in the catalog.
A rather simple design, an evolving interior
Aesthetically the HP Omen Obelisk should inspire the fans of sober machines with a clear design, but a touch of aggressiveness. This can be seen, for example, in the protruding corners of the front of the housing. HP assures that they have heard the criticism of the Omen 870, especially with regard to some ergonomic details (more accessible USB connectors in the front panel, etc.), but also the possibility of simply developing the machine further. The walls now open at the push of a button on the back of the PC without the need for a screwdriver. HP also equips the Obelisk with a classic Micro ATX motherboard that can easily be replaced with another model when upgrading.
Inside the case, HP provides enough space for one or two slightly longer graphics cards, two conventional 3.5-inch hard drives and the power supply in ATX format, the most common in the industry.
Finally, HP announces it has redesigned the air circulation inside the box by simultaneously opening the bottom and top of the tower. Upper part that can also accommodate a cooler processor of the water cooling type or a 120 mm fan.
What about configurations and prices?
For the time being HP has only provided us with examples of references for the American market. So it seems that the Obelisk supports both Intel processors (Core i3-8100 to i7-8700) and AMD (Ryzen 5 2500X) of the latest generation, Kingston HyperX memory standard (HP has a partnership with the brand) up to 8 or 16 GB.
On the graphics card side, GeForce wins with GTX 1050, 1060 or 1070, depending on configuration, while the memory seems to be guaranteed by a traditional 1TB (7200 rpm) or a few SSDs (PCIe NVMe on the motherboard) and a traditional hard drive.
Prices range from 880 (Core i3, 8 GB, 1 TB, GTX 1050) to 1550 dollars (Core i7, 16 GB, 256 GB + 1 TB, GTX 1070). We asked HP France to give us some examples of French configurations, their prices and arrival dates on the shelves. We will update this article as soon as we have it.
HP talks again about its actively cooled headphones, the Mindframe Headset
Last May, HP announced the release of its Omen 15 notebook and took the opportunity to introduce its future gaming peripheral, the Mindframe Headset. The special thing about it is that the ears are kept at the right temperature by active cooling in the earphones.
During the presentation of the obelisk, HP reviewed the few changes that have been made to the mainframe in recent months. In particular, the manufacturer has integrated the volume control on the back of the right earphone and not on the cable. The manufacturer would also have switched the headphone cover to micro ventilation for better fabric quality, which has been optimized for greater comfort. The price is still 200 Euro and the release is planned for October.