Falcon Northwest
TypePrivate
IndustryPersonal Computers
Founded1992
FounderKelt Reeves
Headquarters
Medford, Oregon
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Kelt Reeves, President
Websitefalcon-nw.com

Falcon Northwest is a private company headquartered in Medford, Oregon. It designs, assembles, and markets high-end custom computers. The company was founded in 1992 and was one of the first to specialize in PCs built specifically for gaming.

History

Falcon Northwest was founded in April 1992[1][2] by gamer hobbyist and former pilot Kelt Reeves.[3] Falcon Northwest released the first pre-built computer model intended specifically for gaming, the Mach V, in 1993,[4][5][6] starting the "gaming PC" category of computer products.[7][8] The company was founded in Florida, but later moved to Coos Bay, Oregon, then Ashland, Oregon, and finally Medford, Oregon.[3]

In the late 1990s, Falcon grew to $3 million in annual revenues[9] and opened a new manufacturing facility in Oregon.[10] Later on, the company collaborated with Intel on early liquid cooling components.[11] Intel worked with Falcon Northwest in secret, in order to avoid the appearance of endorsing overclocking by selling liquid cooling products under its own brand.[11]

Products

A collection of Falcon Northwest computer products

Falcon Northwest sells high-end computers that are optimized for gaming, scientific, or military applications.[12] As of 2013, about half of its sales were from gamers.[12] Falcon's computers are consistently highly-ranked in benchmark tests,[5] but cost $1,500 to over $10,000 depending on the user's configuration.[13] Many Falcon PCs are sold with custom paint jobs,[14] high-end graphics cards,[3] and special low-latency components.[12] Though it was originally known for tower desktops like the Mach V, and also sells laptops, as of 2017 Falcon is best-known for its smaller, portable mini-PCs.[15][16][17]

Their products include:

  • Mach V - Desktop tower PC
  • Talon - Desktop tower PC
  • FragBox - Small Form Factor (SFF) PC
  • Tiki - Micro-tower PC
  • TLX - Thin & light class laptop PC
  • DRX - Desktop replacement class laptop PC

Reception

In benchmark tests by Maximum PC in 2018, Falcon Northwest's Tiki mini-PC performed better than a tower computer with a high-end graphics card, but was also the most expensive computer the reviewers had ever used.[18][19][20] Similarly, Falcon's FragBox mini-PC was praised by Tom's Guide in 2017 for its appearance and power, but the configuration cost $5,000.[21] Tom's Guide said it was "one of the best options out there" for consumers that have the budget for a high-end portable gaming computer.[21]

PC Magazine said in 2018 that the Talon tower gaming PC from Falcon Northwest set records in benchmark performance tests and has high-quality components but was too expensive for most consumers.[22] The same publication gave Falcon's Mach V desktop gaming computer a 5 out of 5.[23] A 2015 review in PCWorld, praised the Mach V's performance but noted the high price that comes with buying a computer running three graphics cards.[7]

In 2022, PC Magazine reviewed the Falcon Northwest FragBox,[24] Talon,[25] and Tiki.[26] In each case, the reviewer gave the computer a 4.5 out of 5 rating. The reviews praised the three models' performance, noise, and build quality, though, like previous reviews, noted that all of Falcon Northwest's products had a high price as a result.[24][25][26]

References

  1. ↑ Slagle, Matt (September 2, 2002). "Gamers Go for Custom Looks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  2. ↑ O'brien, Bill (November 16, 2010). "Boutique PC builders: When you want the very best". Network World. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 John Darling, The Mail Tribune (March 25, 2004). "Medford firm wins high-end gamers". Mail Tribune. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Gaming Ground". Horizon Air. November 1996. When Falcon Northwest shipped its first Mach V system in 1993, it was the only gaming PC available, meaning its components were selected for their ability to support the more complex graphics and . . .
  5. 1 2 "Falcon Northwest Mach V". Computer Gaming World. January 1999.
  6. ↑ Slagle, Matt (September 2, 2002). "Gamers Go for Custom Looks" (PDF). Associated Press. widely considered the creator of the gaming computer market.
  7. 1 2 Ung, Gordon Mah (April 6, 2015). "Reviewed: Falcon Northwest Mach V with triple Titan X cards rips the lid off our gaming tests". PCWorld. Retrieved March 14, 2019. Falcon Northwest, the company credited with creating the 'gaming PC' category
  8. ↑ Herold, Charles (June 19, 2003). "BASICS; Ultimate Machines For Serious Gamers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2019. Falcon, in business since 1992, is generally acknowledged as the pioneer of the gaming PC concept.
  9. ↑ Malik, Om (November 18, 1998). "Workstations are now Gamestations". Forbes. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Start-up heaven". Oregon Business. 22 (19). October 15, 1999.
  11. 1 2 Patrizio, Andy (February 4, 2019). "Bless the overclockers: In the data center world, liquid cooling is becoming king". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  12. 1 2 3 "Xconomy: Going Big and Bad: Custom PC Makers Build Hot Rods for 4K Gaming". Xconomy. October 8, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  13. ↑ Walton, Jarred (May 3, 2006). "Falcon Northwest FragBox SLI: Dare to Dream". AnandTech. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  14. ↑ Walton, Jarred (January 3, 2018). "The $3K Titan V is the fastest graphics card, even though it's not for gaming". pcgamer. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ Etherington, Darrell (April 23, 2017). "Falcon Northwest's Tiki is the sleek sports car of VR PCs". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  16. ↑ Case, Loyd (June 27, 2012). "Falcon Northwest Tiki Review: Gaming Monster in a Petite Package". PCWorld. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Falcon Northwest". Falcon Northwest. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  18. ↑ Walton, Jarred (Spring 2018). "Falcon Northwest Tiki". Maximum PC.
  19. ↑ Buzzi, Matthew (January 27, 2017). "Falcon Northwest Tiki (2017)". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  20. ↑ Ackerman, Dan (April 13, 2016). "The Falcon Northwest Tiki review: A compact powerhouse for virtual reality". CNET. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  21. 1 2 Andronico, Michael (February 25, 2017). "Falcon Northwest FragBox Review: $5,000 Worth of Awesome". Tom's Guide. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  22. ↑ Buzzi, Matthew (January 31, 2018). "Falcon Northwest Talon (2018)". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  23. ↑ Domingo, Joel Santo (June 17, 2004). "Falcon Northwest Mach V". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  24. 1 2 Jefferies, Charles (December 13, 2022). "Falcon Northwest FragBox (2022) Review". PCMag. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  25. 1 2 Jefferies, Charles (October 26, 2022). "Falcon Northwest Talon (2022) Review". PCMag. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  26. 1 2 Jefferies, Charles (May 26, 2022). "Falcon Northwest Tiki (2022) Review". PCMag. Retrieved May 19, 2023.

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