Install Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" on any Intel-based PC & Laptop

Any OSx86 installation guide can seem daunting at first glance, especially when trying to remember cryptic terminal commands and sorting through volumes of misinformation on the web.  This guide requires no coding, terminal work, or Mac experience of any kind.  You will not need access to a Mac.  In fact, it's easier and faster for me to install Snow Leopard with fully working components on my system than it is to install Windows 7.  And more fun.

The iBoot + MultiBeast method is designed and tested for any desktop or laptop running the latest line of Intel processors, the Core i3/i5/i7s.  I have had reports of success with older machines as well including CoreDuo, Core2Duo, and even Pentium 4.  However, AMD processors are not supported.

YOU WILL NEED

• A computer running an Intel Processor
• A blank CD
• A Mac OS X Snow Leopard Retail DVD
• To leave any fear of your computer at the door.
• Patience and humility- it may not work out perfectly the first time- but with enough tenacity and grit, you'll reach the promised land.  It's easy to get frustrated, but don't give up!  There are a community of users with similar hardware in the tonymacx86 Forum to provide support if you get stuck.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

• If you have greater than 4gb of RAM, remove the extra RAM for a maximum of 4gb.  You can put back any extra RAM in after the installation process.
• Use only 1 graphics card in the 1st PCIe slot with 1 monitor plugged in.
• Remove any hard drives besides the blank drive being used for OS X.
• Remove any USB peripherals besides keyboard and mouse.
• Remove any PCI cards besides graphics- they may not be Mac compatible.
• If using a Gigabyte 1156 board, use the blue Intel SATA ports- not the white Gigabyte SATA ports.
• It's best to use an empty hard drive- you will have to partition and format the drive. 
• Always back up any of your important data.

STEP 1: BIOS SETTINGS
You will need to set your BIOS to ACHI mode and your Boot Priority to boot from CD-ROM first.  This is the most important step, and one many people overlook.  Make sure your bios settings match these.  It's not difficult- the only thing I did on my Gigabyte board besides setting Boot Priority to CD/DVD first was set Optimized Defaults, change SATA to AHCI mode, and set HPET to 64-bit mode.

STEP 2: INSTALL MAC OS X 
In order to boot the Mac OS X Retail DVD, you'll need to download and burn iBoot.  For desktops and laptops using unsupported Intel CPUs and graphics, a legacy version of iBoot can be downloaded here.

1. Download iBoot
2. Burn the image to CD
3. Place iBoot in CD/DVD drive
4. Restart computer
5. At boot prompt, eject iBoot
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Insert your Mac OS X Snow Leopard Retail DVD and press F5
7. When you see the screen below, press enter to begin the boot process

8. When you get to the installation screen, open Utilities/Disk Utility.  NOTE: If you cannot get to the installation screen, retry from Step 4, type PCIRootUID=1 before hitting enter. If that doesn't work then try PCIRootUID=1 -x or just -x which will enter Mac OS X Safe Mode and will allow you to proceed.
9. Partition your hard drive to GUID Partition Table
10. Format your hard drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).   NOTE: The bootloader can only boot from a disk or partition of 1 TB or less.  Partition larger drives.
11. For the purposes of this guide, name it Snow Leopard.  You can rename it later.
12. Close Disk Utility
13. When the installer asks you where to install, choose Snow Leopard
14. Choose Customize‚ and uncheck additional options.  This will hasten the install process.  You can always install this stuff later.
15. Restart computer.
16. Place iBoot back in drive.
17. When you get to the boot selection screen, choose your new Snow Leopard installation.

18. View the super-cool Mac OS X Snow Leopard Welcome Video, and set up your computer! 

 STEP 3: UPDATE TO 10.6.8

1. Open Finder and navigate to your Snow Leopard drive.
2. Right-click and delete Mac OS X Install Folder.  This folder is an unnecessary remnant of the installation process, and serves no purpose.
3. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Combo Update
4. Download MultiBeast
5. Open MultiBeast- don't run it yet, just leave it open.  Set up windows as shown.

6. Mount MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.8.dmg
7. Install MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.8.pkg
8. Upon completion, the installer will ask you to reboot.  DO NOT REBOOT.
9. Switch to the already open MultiBeast.  If it closes, just re-open it.

STEP 4: MULTIBEAST

MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. It contains two different complete post-installation solutions: EasyBeast and UserDSDT.  In addition it includes System Utilities to rebuild caches and repair permissions and a collection of drivers, boot loaders, boot time config files and handy software.

Choose one of the following options directly following a fresh installation and update:  

EasyBeast is a DSDT-free solution for any Core/Core2/Core i system. It installs all of the essentials to allow your system to boot from the hard drive. Audio, Graphics and Network will have to be enabled separately.  

UserDSDT is a bare-minimum solution for those who have their own pre-edited DSDT. Place your DSDT.aml on the desktop before install. Audio, Graphics and Network will have to be enabled separately.  HINT: Check the DSDT Database for a pre-edited DSDT.

1. Run MultiBeast.
2. If you have a custom DSDT that's been edited, place the file on your desktop and choose UserDSDT.
3. All others select EasyBeast 
4. Select System Utilities.
5. Optionally, you may install further drivers via Advanced Options to enable ethernet, sound, graphics, etc...  Be sure to read the documentation provided about each installation option.  NOTE: EasyBeast, and UserDSDT install the bootloader by default, so you'll not need to check that option.     
MultiBeast Demo Videos 
6. Install to Snow Leopard- it should take about 4 minutes to run scripts.
7. Eject iBoot.
8. Reboot- from your new Snow Leopard installation drive.

Congratulations!  You're done!!

Your PC is now fully operational, while running the latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard!  And you have a nice Boot CD to get into your system in case things go awry.  Boot your system from iBoot if you have issues.  You may run MultiBeast as often as you like.

If you can't boot, try typing -x at the boot prompt to enter safe mode, or just boot with iBoot.  When you get to the desktop, you can make all of the changes you need to.  The best way to start fresh is delete whatever you're trying to get rid of- including the whole /Extra folder, as most kexts are installed there.  Then you can re-run MultiBeast.  As long as you rebuild caches and repair permissions after you're done, you can do just about anything you want to /Extra/Extensions and /System/Library/Extensions.  Anything can be tweaked and enabled upon subsequent uses of MultiBeast.

If you've had success using iBoot + MultiBeast, consider a contribution to help keep the sites going.  We're constantly updating and tweaking our tools to help you.

Thanks to tonymacx86 & MacMan

Club 3D Announces GeForce GTX 560 Green Edition

Club 3D unveils today the newest member of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics core. The Club 3D GeForce GTX 560 Green Edition features high quality components that minimize power loss, as a result you will expect lower temperatures and noise.

This card shares identical gpu and memory speeds to the standard configuration but improves on energy efficiency. The GPU is clocked at 810 MHz and the memory comes along with 4008 MHz The card is backed by a 2 year warranty and will be available at leading online and in-store retailers across Europe and Asia.

Club 3D Green Edition sets a new standard on high end graphics with low power consumption which reduces engergy bills and lessens the environmental impact. Due to the use of energy-efficient hardware components, the GeForce GTX 560 Green Edition is up to 10% more efficient than the standard reference card.

New CoolStream Cooler!
Club 3D provides the best thermal solution. Club 3D CoolStream features high performance heatpipes that keeps the components cool and outperforms standard cooling solutions. Paired with a unique fan blade design it increases airflow while reducing noise. The result is a dramatic increase of performance for your gaming and multimedia experience. Heatpipes are good for your GPU as it physically contacts the GPU directly and the heat is transferred directly to the fins for heat dissipation and cooling.

Dual Link DVI Support
Able to drive the industry’s largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600 and with support for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).

HDMI 1.4a Support
Support for Mini-HDMI 1.4a including GPU accelerated Blu-ray 3D support, x.v.Color, HDMI Deep Color, and 7.1 digital surround sound.

ZOTAC ZBox Mini PC to Get VIA Nano X2 Power

ZOTAC is readying a new ZBox mini-PC model that makes use of VIA Nano X2 ultra-low power x86 platform. Nano X2-powered ZBox models have been already spotted in the Japanese market. The new ZBox model will make use of Nano X2 U4025, which is a dual-core processor clocked at 1.20 GHz. While VIA is the smallest x86 processor vendor, in the ULV category, the company does tend to punch above its weight, competing with low-wattage Intel Atom processors.

The Nano X2 U4025 processor will be backed by VIA VX900H chipset, with integrated S3 Graphics. The VIA-powered ZBox will be available in two SKUs: a complete product, and a barebones package to which you have to add some of your own compatible components. Both will support up to 4 GB of DDR3 memory, a 2.5-inch SATA bay will be provided to install a hard drive or SSD. Most other features will be consistent with other ZBox models: 6-in-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 3.0 connectivity, as well as HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. Originally based on the Intel Atom platform, ZOTAC's ZBox is available in AMD Fusion "Zacate" platform apart from the new VIA-powered one. The new ZBox models will be available worldwide by the end of this month.

SAPPHIRE Announces HD 6870 Dirt 3 Edition Graphics Card

SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced a new model in its successful HD 6800 series of graphics cards - the HD 6870 1GB Dirt3 Edition with Dual fan cooler and a voucher code for the full game in the package.

The SAPPHIRE HD 6870 Dirt3 Edition has the same internal architecture as the standard model, with 1120 stream processors and 56 texture processing units, but clock speeds are increased to 920MHz for the core and 1050Mhz (4.2Gb/sec effective) for the 1GB of GDDR5 memory giving users a boost in performance. The new SAPPHIRE exclusive cooler design has Dual fans to keep this model cool and quiet even when under load conditions, keeping even extreme gamers happy! This new design has two 90mm fans with thin impellers that can move the same amount of air at 10% lower rotation speeds than conventional fans, keeping noise low, and their special dust repelling bearings contribute to high reliability.

Enthusiast users can tune up performance even more with SAPPHIRE’s dedicated VGA overclocking tool TriXX, which is available free for anyone to download from the SAPPHIRE website, www.sapphiretech.com – just follow the TriXX buttons!

Eyefinity and APP acceleration
The SAPPHIRE HD 6870 Dirt3 Edition has the versatile output configuration of two DVI, one HDMI and two mini DisplayPort connectors, and can support a VGA monitor with the dongle supplied. Using two of the DVI/HDMI outputs together with the two DisplayPorts enables this card to support up to four monitors in Eyefinity (SLS) mode.

The third generation UVD (Unified Video Decoder) in the SAPPHIRE HD 6870 supports MVC (Multi-view Video Coding) for the smooth decoding of Blu-Ray 3D with reduced CPU load as well as other file formats. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are supported, and HDMI capability has also been upgraded to HDMI 1.4a. This provides deep colour, enhanced high resolution output for Digital Theatre applications and 3D stereoscopic support as well as 7.1 high bit-rate audio.

The multiple stream processors of the HD 6800 series can be used to accelerate other applications such as video transcoding. The latest generation of web browsers can be GPU accelerated, and this is also supported for enhanced productivity in Microsoft Office 2010.

Second Generation DX11 support
The SAPPHIRE HD 6800 series features the second generation of graphics technology from AMD designed to support all the features of Microsoft DirectX 11 and DirectCompute 11. These GPUs are built in AMD’s 40nm process to deliver high performance with low power consumption.

Advanced hardware features include an enhanced Tessellation unit, dedicated HDR Texture compression, multi-threaded communication with system CPU cores, embedded support for many of the DirectCompute 11 instructions, 3D stereoscopic support, HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2.

The SAPPHIRE HD 6800 series is supported by AMD's DirectX 11 WHQL certified graphics driver which delivers support for all of the key DirectX 11 features required for enhanced gaming experiences as well as GPU acceleration of supported applications.

AMD Trinity APU-powered Notebook Shown Running Deux Ex: Human Revolution

AMD showed off a notebook powered by its next-generation "Trinity" A-Series accelerated processing unit (APU). Trinity makes use of the Piledriver x86-64 micro-architecture (a more evolved version of Bulldozer), packs two Piledriver modules (four cores), and a faster DirectX 11 compliant Radeon graphics component. AMD displayed a Trinity-powered notebook running Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Trinity will be built on the 32 nm process, and will make use of the new socket FM2 platform. There's no word so far pointing that FM2 will be incompatible with FM1.

Intel Announces New SATA Solid-State Drive for the Data Center

Intel Corporation announced today its latest solid-state drive (SSD), the Intel Solid-State Drive 710 Series, a purpose-built Multi-Level Cell (MLC) data center SSD and replacement for the Intel X25-E Extreme SSD. While the Intel X25-E was based on more expensive but highly reliable Single-Level Cell (SLC) NAND flash memory the Intel SSD 710 uses compute-quality Intel 25-nanomenter (nm) MLC NAND flash memory with Intel High Endurance Technology (HET) to deliver the endurance and performance necessary for data center, financial services, embedded, Internet portal, search engine and other demanding storage and server applications, but at a greater value.

"The Intel SSD 710 Series gives enterprise data center and embedded users extreme endurance and performance, enabled by Intel's High Endurance Technology based on Intel 25nm MLC NAND technology," said Rob Crooke, Intel vice president and general manager of the Intel Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. "Intel SSDs are widely deployed in the data center due to their performance, reliability and value. Our latest SSD product family offers more than 30 times the write endurance of our current MLC SSDs, plus improved performance and new features, such as power-loss data protection and surplus arrays of NAND for enhanced reliability."

 

The Intel SSD 710 delivers nearly the same endurance as SLC-based NAND SSDs, yet utilizes the higher capacity and more cost-effective MLC NAND. It achieves write endurance out-of-the-box of up to 1.1 Petabytes (PB) and comes in 100-Gigabyte (GB), 200GB and 300GB capacities. Targeted for I/O-starved applications, the Intel SSD 710 achieves a 4K random write performance of up to 2,700 input/output operations per second (IOPS) and 4K random read performance of up to 38,500 IOPS across the full span of the drive, making this a suitable replacement to an SLC SSD or multiple enterprise-grade hard disk drives (HDD). In addition to performance, the Intel SSD 710 can replace many power-consuming HDDs with a single SSD to help reduce data center energy costs.

"Cisco and Intel teams have worked closely, looking at the requirements for servers in the data center – IT organizations today more often run out of memory, and need memory density as well as capacity and performance," said David Lawler, vice president of product management for Cisco. "The Cisco UCS B230 M2 server offers the highest density memory capacity, and is one of the highest-density two-socket, half-width form factors powered by the Intel Xeon E7-2800. Cisco will offer the Intel SSD 710 Series to further increase the performance and storage capacity in the UCS B230 with two local drives offering 100GB each in September and up to 300GB each in the fall."

The Intel SSD 710 also includes increased reliability and security features. These include enhanced power-loss data protection to reduce potential data loss during a power failure; added data security with surplus NAND flash memory to provide system protection should a NAND die fail; Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 128-bit pre-configured encryption technology to protect the data from an external threat or internal system issues and Temperature Monitoring and Logging containing an internal temperature sensor that can be monitored using two self-monitoring analysis and report technology (SMART) attributes to prevent downtime.

Positioned for high write usage models, the drive can also be over-provisioned by the user to achieve up to 80 percent greater write endurance, creating an outstanding storage value. Intel HET combines NAND silicon enhancements and unique SSD NAND management techniques to extend the write endurance of MLC-based SSDs. Intel HET comprises Intel-developed firmware, controller and high-cycling NAND for optimized endurance and performance for the heavy loads of data crunching and writing experienced in 24/7 data centers or scientific, financial or other high-intensity usage models. Firmware enhancements from Intel include optimized error avoidance techniques, write amplification reduction algorithms and system-level error management beyond the normal industry Error Correction Code (ECC) standards.

Providing a better dollar-per-GB value than its previous-generation Intel X25-E SSD, the Intel SSD 710 Series is priced at $649 for the 100GB version, $1,289 for the 200GB, and $1,929 for 300GB, all based on 1,000-unit quantities. It is backed by a 3-year limited warranty.

AMD Showcases its First 28 nm GPU

AMD showed off its first graphics processor (GPU) built on TSMC's cutting-edge 28 nanometer silicon fabrication process, the next foundry process standard for discrete GPUs. Bulk manufacturing at TSMC's Fab 15 facility at 28 nm is still taking shape, TSMC will take volume orders only later this year. For the moment, it can run small batches for designers to test their designs. The GPU was running on a mobile platform (pictured below, the red PCB), cooled by a compact copper-channel air cooler, leading us to believe that this is a mainstream segment GPU, if not lower. The demo platform was showcased running DirectX 11 title Dirt 3. Besides that, absolutely no other details were shared, not even a company codename for the GPU board.

LucidLogix Injects HyperFormance to Virtu Software for Faster, More Responsive Gaming

 LucidLogix demonstrated today for the first time at Intel Developer Forum 2011 (IDF) the injection of HyperFormance technology into its Virtu Universal GPU virtualization software for outstanding gaming responsiveness, visual quality and frame rates.

"Games are all about creating a suspension of disbelief and a more immersive overall lifelike experience," said Offir Remez, president and founder of Lucid. "HyperFormance technology provides a more responsive game interaction together with a clean visual image, making for a more pleasurable experience."
HyperFormance, found in the new model Virtu Universal MVP, boosts gaming responsiveness performance by intelligently reducing redundant rendering tasks in the flow between the CPU, GPU and the display. 3D games put the greatest demands on both the CPU and GPU. And as the race for higher performance on the PC and now in notebooks never ends, both CPUs and GPUs keep gaining performance. Despite more powerful microprocessors, display refresh rate remained fairly flat over the years, at 60-75Hz. The exception is found in 120Hz refresh rates for 3D stereo displays (used to produce 60 FPS for each eye). Lucid takes advantage of this disparity and eliminates redundant rendering tasks and predicts potential synchronization issues in the graphics delivery pipeline and intelligently removes and/or replaces them for better game control.

Called Virtu Universal MVP, the software includes the base features of Virtu Universal technology, which virtualizes integrated GPU and discrete GPU for best of breed functionality as well as features Virtual Vsync for no-compromise visual quality. With the added benefits of HyperFormance technology, Virtu Universal MVP improves game performance responsiveness in many ways:

• Boosts responsiveness to the game at any frame rate
• Improves gaming frame rates 30-70 percent
• Increases Vsync frame rates- up to 120 FPS and beyond
• Sharpens visual quality without tearing

Virtu Universal MVP is available to system platform manufacturers using Intel Sandy Bridge Z68/H67/H61, and other Intel integrated graphics, as well as many AMD processor-based PCs and notebooks. Virtu technology has been verified with hundreds of games and applications and can be found bundled with almost all of the world's Intel Z68 motherboards from the leading brands.

Gigabyte Displays its X79 High-End Motherboard Lineup at IDF

At IDF, motherboard vendors got to show off their near-complete socket LGA2011 motherboards based on the X79 chipset. Many of these were half-built and straight out of R&D at this year's Computex event, back in June. Gigabyte showed off its first X79 motherboards, the GA-X79-UD5, GA-X79-UD7, and G1.Assassin 2. Unlike previous generations of high-end Gigabyte motherboards, the UD7 isn't a beefed-up UD5 with added features and better cooling. The two are entirely different right from the PCB, to the features they offer.

The UD5 targets premium users, with eight DDR3 DIMM slots, geared for 3-card SLI/CrossFire, while the UD7 is bleeding-edge with just four DDR3 DIMM slots, but a wealth of overclocking features and support for 4-card SLI/Crossfire. Then there's the G1.Assassin 2, which targets the gamer-overclocker market with neat features such as hardware-accelerated Creative X-Fi audio and Bigfoot Killer NIC, with support for 3-card SLI/Crossfire.

The GA-X79-UD5 features a generous 14-phase CPU VRM. The LGA2011 socket is wired to eight DIMM slots, four on either side, supporting up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3 memory. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x8 or x16/NC/x16), two PCI-Express 3.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. There are 12 SATA ports. It's likely that Gigabyte used third-party controllers over what the PCH offers. There could be as many as six 6 Gb/s ports. The rest of the connectivity is pretty standard stuff: 8-channel HD audio, one gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, and power-eSATA.

The GA-X79-UD7 sees a fusion between the traditional high-end connectivity and features of UD7, and the new "Gigabyte OC" line the company released with its X58A-OC motherboard. It keeps up with the black+orange color scheme. There are just the four DDR3 DIMM slots that can hold up to 32 GB of quad-channel memory, but PCB real-estate is allotted to a strong 22-phase CPU VRM, 6-phase memory VRM, and only those features that will help overclockers a big way. This board features four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/x16/NC or x8/x8/x8/x8), 14 SATA ports, and high-grade connectivity. Apart from the 24-pin ATX connector, the board draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, and two SATA power inputs.

 

Lastly, the G1.Assassin 2 keeps up with the catchy new lineup Gigabyte built with X58 and Z68 chipset-based platforms. This board features just four DDR3 DIMM slots, but the space saved is used for bleeding-edge connectivity features that help gamers. First, there's a Bigfoot Killer NIC PCI-Express hardware-accelerated network controller, then there's a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi hardware-accelerated audio processor (CA-20K2), with its own set of audiophile-grade capacitors to the OPAMP circuit. The board features three PCI-Express 3.0 slots (x16/NC/x16 or x16/x8/x8), 12 SATA ports, and a wealth of other connectivity.
 

Scythe Announces Mugen 3 PCGH Edition CPU Cooler

Japanese cooling expert Scythe is hereby announcing the special edition of Mugen 3 CPU Cooler. Scythe introduced a special PC Games Hardware Edition CPU Cooler already in the past. Back then Mugen 2 CPU Cooler was modified in cooperation with the editors from the German PC Magazine called PC Games Hardware. Today announced special edition of the Mugen 3 CPU Cooler was once again created in cooperation with the editors of PC Games Hardware in order to fulfill the demand of Power Users.

Outcome of the cooperation was a modified Mugen 3 CPU Cooler which was aiming for super silent noise level during operation, yet not sacrificing the high performance level. Hence main aluminum hetasink was not the target of modification instead airflow optimization was chosen. Normal version of Mugen 3 is equipped with one Scythe Slip Stream PWM Silent 120 mm axial fan where the PC Games Hardware Edition comes with the total of two Slip Stream 120 mm fans. Both Slip Stream 120 mm axial fans are constantly rotating with 800 rpm in a Push/Pull alignment, each creating total noise level of only 10.70 dBA. This dual fan setup is able to provide the required high performance level while remaining permanently silent.

Intel Displays Self-Branded Water Cooling Solution for Sandy Bridge-E

Back in August, it was reported that the retail packages of some, if not all,Intel Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 LGA2011 processors will not pack the certified cooling solution like Core i7 LGA1366 processors do. It was also reported that Intel will sell its own-branded cooling solutions separately. It became a little obvious right then, that Intel won't selling dinky-little heatsinks that cost a couple of dozen Dollars. At the ongoing IDF event, Intel displayed its first retail-packaged cooling solution that's not only LGA2011-compatible, but also supports older socket types such as LGA1155, LGA1156, and LGA1366.

The cooling solution is a closed-loop (self-contained) liquid cooler made by water cooling OEM Asetek. Called the RTS2011LC, the cooler is rated to cool processors with TDP of up to 130W. The cooler consists of an exposed-copper block that also houses the pump, tough and flexible tubing that runs to the radiator assembly, which houses a reservoir, and a fancy-looking 120 mm fan. Along with the fan, the Intel logo on the block lights up blue. The radiator used looks similar to that on the Hydro Series H70, a popular cooler by Corsair, which is also made by Asetek. Expected to be available around the same time as Core i7 LGA2011 processors, the Intel RTS2011LC could command a price over $99.

ASUS ROG CG8565 Gaming Desktop Pictured

Here are the first pictures of ASUS' latest gaming desktop under its premium Republic of Gamers banner, the ROG CG8565. This black beauty is sculpted with the typical "edgy" design that has been found on recent ROG products. The case has no windows, but its design is enough to be an eyeball-magnet at LAN parties. The case looks well-ventilated with its intricately-designed vents on its top and sides. The front door slides down revealing the front panel, with two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, audio, multi-format card reader, a Blu-ray ROM + DVD-RW combo drive, and a 3.5-inch SATA hard drive hot-swap bay. The ROG logo glows red when the system is powered on.

Under the hood, the ROG CG8565 is a Sandy Bridge-powered system. It is driven by an Intel Core i7-2600K quad-core processor, that's overclocked out of the box at 4.20 GHz. There are two higher OC presets that's selectable using the ROG panel, OC1 runs the CPU at 4.40 GHz, and OC2 runs it at 4.60 GHz. The CPU makes use of liquid cooling. In all likelihood, the motherboard is an ROG Maximus IV-class. There's 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory.

A NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 dual-GPU graphics card is in-charge of graphics. An ASUS Xonar DX handles 7.1 channel sound. In terms of storage, a RAID 0 array of two 80 GB SSDs holds the operating system, while there are two 1 TB hard drives for storage, which can either be run as non-RAID disks or clubbed into RAID 0 or 1 modes. Pricing and availability information is awaited.