Samsung ArtPC: Cylindrical PC with 360º audio, i5/i7 plus NVMe, Preorders from $1200
by Ian Cutress on October 10, 2016 2:15 PM EST
For most PC enthusiasts, if you ask them to name a cylindrical machine, the Mac Pro comes immediately to mind. Not to tread too heavily on Apple’s toes on what would now be a 2-3-year-old product, Samsung is entering the market with a more consumer focused ‘ArtPC Pulse Premium Desktop’ in a cylindrical aluminium chassis. The PC is self-contained with an Intel 6th generation Core i5 or Core i7, and an AMD Radeon RX based graphics card. On the top is a harmon/kardon 360-degree omni-directional audio speaker.
Preorders for both the Skylake-based Core i5 and Skylake-based Core i7 start from $1200 and $1600 from Amazon respectively. The exact CPU models have not been listed by either Samsung or Amazon as of yet, however it states the Core i5 is at 2.7 GHz, which is akin to the i5-6400 at 65W TDP or i5-6600T at 35W – the latter seeming more appropriate. For the Core i7, it is listed as 3.4 GHz, which would put it as the i7-6700, at 65W.
Here’s the breakdown of the two systems, with the more expensive MSI Vortex G65 that has a full i7-6700K and dual GPUs:
| Specifications of Samsung ArtPC and MSI Vortex G65 | |||||
| ArtPC Pulse Desktop DP700C6A-A01US |
ArtPC Pulse Desktop DP700C6A-X01US |
MSI Vortex G65 SLI-011 |
|||
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6600 4C/8T, 3.4 GHz 65W |
Intel Core i5, 2.4 GHz either i5-6400 (65W) or i5-6600T (35W) |
Intel Core i7-6700K 4C/8T 4.0 GHz |
||
| PCH | Unknown 100-series | Intel Z170 | |||
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 Unknown Config |
8GB DDR4 Unknown Config |
4 SO-DIMM Slots 2 x 8 GB DDR4-2133 |
||
| GPU | AMD Radeon RX 460 2GB |
2 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 3 GB |
|||
| SSD | 256 GB NVMe | 2 x 128 GB PCIe 3.0 x4 | |||
| HDD | 1TB HDD Unknown Form Factor |
- | 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM |
||
| LAN | Unknown GbE | 2x Killer E2400 | |||
| WLAN | ?? | Rivet Killer Wireless-AC-1535 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth (2T2R) with MU-MIMO |
|||
| PSU | ?? | 450 W 80Plus Gold | |||
| DisplayPort | Maybe via Type-C? Otherwise no. | 2 x DP 1.2 | |||
| HDMI | Yes, Unknown | 2 x HDMI 1.4 | |||
| Thunderbolt | No | 2 x TB3 via Type-C | |||
| USB | 4 x USB 3.0 | 4 x USB 3.0 | |||
| 1 x Type-C, Unknown Speed | 2 x USB 3.1 via TB3 | ||||
| Dimensions | 5.51 x 5.51 x 12.18-in | 7.61 x 7.01 x 10.55-in | |||
| Volume | 6.06 liters | 6.5 liter | |||
| Weight | 7.4 lbs (3.4 kg) | 8.8 lbs (4.0 kg) | |||
| Price | Pre-order: $1600 | Pre-order: $1200 | $2199 | ||
We don’t have pictures of the internals, but one would assume that both systems would offer dual channel memory and Samsung NVMe drives, however it is unclear if these are user upgradable. The Core i5 is listed as having 8GB of DDR4 (probably DDR4-2133) and a 256GB NVMe SSD, whereas the Core i7 is listed as having 16GB of DDR4 and a 256GB NVMe SSD with another 1TB SATA HDD. It doesn’t state that the 1TB is mechanical, or a 2.5-inch drive, so until we can see the insides it is hard to tell. It is stated that the 1TB is a ‘module’ and users can add their own ‘modules’, but no further information is given. Both systems come with an AMD Radeon RX 460 graphics card, which we would assume would be the MXM version similarly used in notebooks, but in this case with 2GB of GPU memory.
Clearly visible are four USB 3.0 ports, a USB Type-C port (unsure on the speed), a HDMI output, an Ethernet port, an SD card reader and a single headphone jack. For this price it seems a little strange not to see any front facing Thunderbolt 3 ports here, and given that there are harmon/karmon speakers fitted, and something more in the audio ports might be worthwhile. It would be interesting to get a breakdown and see which audio codec they’ve fitted for the headphone audio port, as well as the Ethernet port controller. A note about the speakers - the Amazon listing for these machines indicates that 3xAA batteries are required, which might mean for the speaker itself as a separate entity, or these machines might come with a remote control.
The design is fairly minimal in design and measures 5.51 x 5.51 x 12.18 inches (13.9 x 13.9 x 30.9 cm) and uses the single central fan concept we’ve seen on a few other devices like the Mac Pro, the MSI Vortex and the GIGABYTE UHD Brix.
The Samsung ArtPC is available for preorder today at $1200 and $1600 from Amazon, to be delivered on the 28th of October in the US.
Source: Liliputing, MS Power User
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zmeul - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
it's that the front or the back?if it's the front, why is there the power plug and the ethernet port on the front?!
if that's the back, why is the SD card reader, the headphone jack, the power button, the BT button and USB ports on the back?
lazarpandar - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
I'm willing to bet that that's the back.close - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
I'm willing to bet that plenty of people now think that Apple invented the cylinder and Samsung is just copying...HunterKlynn - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
Don't cut yourself on that edge, man.BurntMyBacon - Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - link
vFunct's comment below: "Can Samsung ever do anything besides copy Apple non-stop 100% of the time?"I'll leave the debate over whether the statement is valid or not to more interested parties, but it looks like your prediction was at least half correct.
fafan - Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - link
You cannot blame Samsung that they only copy Apple 100%. Give them some credit man! They are original too!Samsung invented the Exploding Phone!
Nallaikkumaran - Saturday, October 15, 2016 - link
Hello fafan. The idiots thinking apple invented Cylindrical PC. Apple Mac Pro copycat from SFF Cylindrical PC (2005). Apple is always copying from every brand. Apple is the founding father of copying.This article seems to lack research. Maybe you need to be educated a little more. Stop ur FAKE propaganda.In fact, Apple invented the Exploding Phone!. There are plenty of reports recently about iPhone 5, 6 and 7 explosions as well (2014-2016). But they are no news about that. Apple media (USA) are very good at masking Apple problems. Check out Google "iPhone fire" (100 news..).
jecs - Monday, October 17, 2016 - link
I don't think the point has never been if Apple really invented something from "0" because nobody has ever done that and copying is no bad per se. Every master learned copying first. I think the point is at what level you copy an idea, if you improve over the original and if you added distinctive features to make it your own. If a company or person is too literal it is a copy if they add their very own flavor and functionality it is a valid design.I always used a Mac but also PCs and I don't mind or care if Samsung copied Apple's Mac Pro, what I observe is the HC speaker on top as I don't like it being permanent and even less running on batteries, and as many here I don't know if the connector panel make complete sense. Other than that I like the general concept.
Also I don't think it is great to offer 9xx Nvidia options, I will asume 10xx series will be offered.
misan - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Sign... the SFF computer was just a regular normal case which happened to be round. With the cylindrical Mac Pro, they have completely reorganised the inside of the case, using a central cooling tunnel with oversized fans and placing the components on its sides, with heatsinks facing inwards. The Mac Pro is first and foremost a novel cooling solution. I am not aware of anyone who did something like that before. So yes, Apple was first with it and then others started copying their design more or less 1-to-1.bronan - Wednesday, June 28, 2017 - link
SIGH, no apple is a copy cat no matter what you claim.