Eurocom Panther 4.0 Supercomputer-Class Fully Upgradeable And Configurable Super-Notebook With Intel x79 Chipset Review

With the announcement of the Eurocom Panther 4.0 notebook, the Maingear Titan 17 isn’t the only portable device to get a taste of the Intel Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition processor and this laptop will come powered by the Intel X79 Sandy Bridge-E Core Logic chipset along with support for SLI and CrossFireX. Aimed as a workstation, mobile server and gaming rig, this portable laptop is built around dimensions of 16.76 x 11.44 x 2.31 inches and weighs approximately 12.1lbs, potential users can also choose between the Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M and Quadro 5010M GPUs or the AMD Radeon HD 6990M graphics chip, in single or dual SLI or CrossFireX mode. As it's powered by an Intel Extreme Core i7 processor, maxes out at a massive 32GB of RAM and can optionally have SLI graphics cards (two cards running together), availability date could be Mar. 15, 2012.

Eurocom, which makes high performance notebooks mobile workstations and mobile servers has announced the EUROCOM Panther 4.0, which is a Mobile Workstation, Mobile Server and Gaming Station powered by Intel's newest line of 6 core, 12 thread, 130W desktop Intel Core i7-3960X Processor Extreme edition based on the Intel X79 Express Chipset Sandy Bridge-E architecture. It's a major upgrade from the previous Panther and its X58 Chipset and the new processor runs at up to 3.9 GHz with 15MB of L3 cache, which delivers exceptional high-def multimedia, multi-tasking and multi-threaded performance. "The new chipset is faster and will support the new Sandy Bridge E processors and the forthcoming Xeons," said Braden Taylor, Eurocom's marketing manager. At the core of the Panther 4.0, users can choose between multiple graphics cards: the NVIDIA GeForce 580M with 384 CUDA cores and 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM for high-performance gaming, NVIDIA Quadro 5010M with 4GB of RAM or the AMD Radeon HD 6990M with 2 GB RAM for those looking for a high-performance workstation class performance. Users can additionally select a choice of a single graphics card or two in NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFireX mode for the ultimate in gaming performance and image quality. With the fastest NVIDIA GeForce notebook GPUs in NVIDIA SLI mode, NVIDIA Quadro GPU or AMD Radeon GPU this new graphics powerhouse is the ultimate mobile gaming and workstation machine.

The Panther also features modular VGA technology based on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M GPUs or NVIDIA Quadro 5010M running in Single or Dual SLI (Scalable Link Interface) Video Technology mode or AMD Radeon HD 6990M running in single or Dual CrossFireX mode. The Panther 4.0 also features the largest storage capacity on the market today, 4TB with RAID 0/1/5/10 - making it the perfect laptop for users who demand extra-large capacity storage and reliability for true portable workstation-calibre or server experience. It has three choices of 17.3-inch Full HD 16:9, 1920x1080 displays with choices of Matte, Glossy and 120Hz 3D matte. "In addition to the power, the ability to customize almost every aspect of the system makes us different from the other high end competitors on the market," Taylor said. The Panther is built with an ultra heavy duty design for unintentional abuse while on the go, and to ensure the long life expected in machines of this class. For security purposes, it comes equipped with a Trusted Platform Module, Fingerprint reader and Kensington lock port. This assures the data is not compromised. Up to 32GB of superfast DDR3-1600 SODIMM memory is also supported via four channels. The Panther 4.0, which measures 16.76" x 11.44" x 2.31"/ 419(W)x286(D)x57.9-62.1(H)mm and weights 12.1lbs/5.5kg, also supplies tremendous SATA-600 storage (up to 4TB using four storage drives), allowing users to save more of their favourite photos, music, games, and more, as well as headroom to install additional office and entertainment applications. Customers may also choose between RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 or RAID 10 for the ultimate transfer rates and application load times or redundancy.

Features:

Core Logic: Intel X79 Express Chipset

BIOS: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI); AMI

Processor: up to Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme(3.30GHz, 15MB L3 cache)

VGA TECHNOLOGY: Modular MXM 3.0b; NVIDIA: GTX 580M, 560M; QUADRO 5010M, 4000M, 3000M; AMD: HD6990M, HD6970M; supports both SLI and CrossFireX

MEMORY: up to 64GB; DDR3-1333/1600/1866; four physical memory sockets

EXPANSION: Built-in ExpressCard 34/54 slot

STORAGE: up to 4TB of storage with four physical SSD, Hybrid or HDD, RAID 0/1/5/10 support; SATA-3

OPTICAL DRIVE BAY: DVD-RW or Blu Ray Burner or 4th Hard Drive

I/O PORTS: 3x USB 3.0; 2x USB 2.0; eSATA; Firewire-400 (TI XIO2221ZAY); DP v1.2; DVI-I (SL); HDMI 1.4a out w/HDCP; Headphone; Microphone; S/PDIF out; Line-in; RJ-45 / LAN

COMMUNICATION: built-in 10/100/1000Mb Base-TX Ethernet LAN (Intel 82579V); WLAN (optional); Bluetooth v2.1+EDR (optional); 2M Video Webcam (built-in)

SECURITY: TPM 1.2; Fingerprint, Kensington Lock

KEYBOARD: Illuminated full-size with separate numeric keypad; W/A/S/D gaming key; built-in touchpad with multi-gesture and scrolling functions; 6 touch sensor instant buttons: Volume Up/Down, Mute, WLAN, BT, Webcam

WEIGHT/DIMENSIONS: 5.5kg (12.1lbs); 419(W)x286(D)x57.9-62.1(H)mm (16.76x11.44x2.31-2.48inch)

Specifications:

HARDWARE

Laptop type	Desktop replacement
Width	419 mm
Depth	286 mm
Thickness	62.1 mm
Weight	12.2 pounds
Color	Black

SOFTWARE

Operating system	Windows 7, Linux

DISPLAY (BASE)

Screen size (diagonal)	17.3 inches
Display surface	Matte, Glossy
Backlight	LED
Resolution (X)	1920 px
Resolution (Y)	1080 px

DISPLAY (MAX)

Size (diagonal)	17.3 inches
Backlit	LED
Resolution (X)	1920 px
Resolution (Y)	1080 px
3D enabled	Yes

KEYBOARD

Type	Chiclet
Backlit	Yes
Number pad	Yes

MOUSE

Type(s)	Trackpad
Multitouch	Yes

PROCESSOR (MAX)

Brand	Intel
Family	Sandy Bridge
Model	Core i7-3960X
Cores	6
Clockspeed	3.3 GHz
Turbo clockspeed	2.9 MHz

GPU (BASE)

Graphics type	Discrete
Base discrete GPU brand	Nvidia
Discrete GPU model	GTX 560M

GPU (MAX)

Discrete GPU brand	AMD
Discrete GPU model	HD6990M
SLI / Crossfire	Yes

MEMORY

Base RAM size	8 GB
Max. config RAM size	24 GB
RAM type	DDR3
Base RAM speed	1333 MHz
RAM slots	4

STORAGE

Max. config HDD	4 TB
Card reader	Yes
Card reader support	SD, miniSD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, MMC

OPTICAL DRIVE

Optical drive type	Tray-loading
Compatible media	DVD-R/RW, Blu-ray burner

AUDIO

Speakers	5
Subwoofer	Yes

WEBCAM

Effective pixels	2 megapixels

PORT OPTIONS

USB	3
FireWire 400	1
Ethernet	1
Ethernet type	10/100/1000 (Gigabit)
DVI	1
DisplayPort	1
HDMI	1
3.5mm headphone	1
3.5mm line-in / microphone	1

CONNECTIVITY

Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi options	802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a
802.11n frequencies	5GHz, 2.4GHz
Bluetooth	Optional
Bluetooth version	2.1 + EDR

BATTERY

Size	78.44 Wh
Chemistry	Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)
Removable	Yes

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