ibuypower lcd panel made in china

iBUYPOWER Project Snowblind - Custom Digital Side PanelFor those who like LCD panels, iBuyPower has put one in a PC’s side panel. The company did this with its new design, known as the Snowblind. The case for this new system combines a traditional clear window display — so you can see all of your no-doubt pricey components — with an LCD readout, letting you put any information you want right where everyone can see it.

The system is pretty eye-catching and was quite an attraction at the iBuyPower booth at this year’s Computex. Championing iBuyPower’s love of customization and providing their customers with options when they buy a full system, the Snowblind is designed to let them do just that.

“Project Snowblind represents the next leap forward in gaming PC customization,” iBuyPower said in a related statement. “Featuring a tailor-made clear LCD side panel, this PC will showcase your hardware like never before, while allowing you to have virtually any graphic display.”

Buyers of a Snowblind system can expect all of the usual standards that they get with an iBuyPower system, but with this particular PC, there is the addition of that fancy-looking LCD display. In the above imagery iBuyPower has had it displaying CPU usage, letting you know exactly what is sipping power from your processor, but the idea is that you could have anything display there.

Theoretically you could have a logo, or system specifications, or a chat window that gives you a heads-up when someone is trying to get in touch — the sky is the limit and iBuyPower is hoping that level of customization and user control will help Project Snowblind become a popular part of its range of systems.

The only downside is that right now getting hold of one of these systems isn’t easy. To do so you need to contact iBuyPower directly for a quote, which likely means it’s going to be a pricey build.

iBuypower"s Snowblind sports one of the most unique aesthetic features we"ve ever seen in a custom shop gaming PC with its translucent side-panel LCD display. The company sent us its second-generation version of the chassis called the Element bearing a modified “Extreme” configuration - the most-premium component setup for the Snowblind. For those with the cash, the $2,542 price tag is worth the performance and one-of-a-kind side-panel display.

The iBuypower Snowblind Extreme can come in two different cases – the original N450 or the Element chassis. Both are two toned white and black, with the majority of the exposed surface area colored white. Our review sample came in the company’s 2nd generation Element case, with smooth edges and a tempered glass front and side panel.

The front glass exposes two 120mm white LED intake fans that take air from the bottom of the chamber. The right side is a solid white aluminum panel, but the hinged glass on the left side (that exposes the interior components) is the primary feature of the Snowblind series – a transparent LCD display (more on that below).

The top panel sports a vent with a black magnetic dust filter. Even though there isn’t a fan attached under it (in this particular configuration), it still provides an outlet for the waste heat and matches the two-toned theme. The PSU is mounted at the bottom of the chassis and sports a sliding dust filter over the power supply intake vent on the underside of the case. The rear panel also sports a vent, which acts as an exhaust for the attached 120mm radiator and fan.

The GPU sports the usual Nvidia Founder’s Edition outputs – three DisplayPort 1.4 ports and an HDMI 2.0 port. The controller card for the side-panel display has a DVI-D and VGA D-sub input, and iBuypower includes a DVI-D to DisplayPort cable so that you can connect it to the graphics card, which is requirement to use the featured translucent LCD screen.

The LCD panel itself has a resolution of 1280 x 1024 with a refresh rate of 60Hz, and it can be used to customize your rig at a level not previously seen in the mainstream market. The joint venture with Intel is a one-of-a-kind aesthetic feature, but the company doesn’t offer any proprietary software for the device.

However, iBuyPower recommends overlays and wallpaper programs such as Rainmeter and Wallpaper Engine to make the panel display function (we’ll get into the specifics of these programs later). The display is most visible with a white background and lighting (hence the chassis and motherboard), and the white LED fans and light strip (both included at base price) help make the image on the screen clearer. We did find some animations that looked cool, which we show below.

The interior chassis of the Snowblind Element Extreme matches the exterior, with an array of white and black components attached to the white backdrop of the case, with a plastic panel bearing the iBuypower logo to hide away the neatly-run cabling. Regardless of the components (you can customize the parts for almost any budget and performance needs), the appearance is sleek and classy.

To open the hinged side panel, simply press the two locks at the top and bottom of the plastic edge of the panel and pull the glass away from the chassis. The previously mentioned white LED light strip is integrated into the interior edges (top, side, and bottom) of the LCD side panel display.

The transparent side-panel LCD display’s controller card is mounted in a single PCIe slot while the Nvidia GTX 1080 card lives in the PCIe x16 slot. The silver color of the Nvidia card makes it stand out from the black and white aesthetic of the case, though if you configure with a different GPU, the look will vary.

The iBuypower Snowblind starts at $1,679 for its most-basic setup, which consists of a Core i5-8600K, 8GB DDR4-3000, a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB graphics card, and a 1TB HDD. The Extreme model we tested had an Intel Core i7-7800X processor, a MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic motherboard and a Deepcool Captain EX120 120mm all-in-one (AIO) CPU liquid cooler. It had 16GB (4 x 4GB) of Adata DDR4-3000 RAM, with a strong CAS latency of 16-16-16-36,

The iBuypower Snowblind Element Extreme may have a unique side-panel display, but the company didn’t ship the PC with any software to control it preinstalled (the Windows 10 Home 64-bit installation was also devoid of bloatware). Instead, it provides all Snowblind buyers with a Steam key for Wallpaper Engine, a custom background utility with a vast collection of desktop themes and animations that can be displayed on the 1280 x 1024 60Hz transparent display, but the user still has to setup the display for themselves.

We already mentioned that users needed to connect the PCIe x1 controller card to the GPU with the provided cable, but you’ll also have to adjust the screen’s orientation through the Nvidia Control Panel, turning the image 90-degrees to the right in order to frame the desktop correctly (although the resolution is 1280 x 1024, it reads as a 1024 x 1280 when properly oriented).

After you get the side-panel display oriented correctly, you should redeem the Steam key and install Wallpaper Engine. Using the software, you can download user-created themes and animations and run them on the secondary panel screen. The company also recommended Rainmeter (free) for those that wanted to place custom meters on the display, but we didn’t have much time to play around with that.

iBUYPOWER"sSnowblind Element might look like an average mid-tower chassis but it offers a very uniuque design in the form of its transparent LCD side-panel. The case is on sale for $129 US, a full $200 US discount over its standard $329 US price. The case includes three fans, a tempered glass side panel, and a lot of RGB lighting. The unique feature of this case is the side panel not only is it a tempered glass, but it also works as a translucent LCD screen, allowing for endless customization!

The supported motherboard sizes are ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX, which means that any motherboard should fit with no issue and also supported is any GPU with a length of 14.3 inches (or 364 mm). This means that this case can support even an RTX 2080 ti with no issues, and with the seven card slots, you could have an SLI setup with no problems. Not only does this case allow you to change the side panel display at a moment"s notice, but this case is also able to accommodate everything from more fans, offering two 140 mm or 120 mm fans slots on the bottom of the case. Unfortunately, no fan slots are available on the side of this case.

The unique feature of this Snowblind Element is the translucent LCD panel, which allows you easily to display your computer"s information on a fresh design with little to no issue. This display is a 1024 x 1280 resolution, but I wouldn"t suggest playing any games on this being this display is only rated for 60 Hz and has a fair amount of input lag.

DTR Powerhouse. Introduced late last year, the Valkyrie series is the premier lineup from iBuyPower aimed at hardcore gamers on-the-go and high-performance hunters. Essentially an MSI gamer in disguise, does this $1900 17.3-inch DTR hold up well against the competition?

The iBuypower Valkyrie CZ-17 is a great multimedia laptop with some gaming prowess. The big problem is that for $100 less, the EC-winning MSI GX60 has much better gaming performance. And, if I’m not mistaken, that’s why you would buy a humungous gaming rig over a thin and light ultrabook with excellent multimedia performance.

The iBuypower Valkyrie CZ-17 is a great multimedia laptop with some gaming prowess. The big problem is that for $100 less, the EC-winning MSI GX60 has much better gaming performance. And, if I’m not mistaken, that’s why you would buy a humungous gaming rig over a thin and light ultrabook with excellent multimedia performance.

The iBuypower Valkyrie CZ-17 is a great multimedia laptop with some gaming prowess. The big problem is that for $100 less, the EC-winning MSI GX60 has much better gaming performance. And, if I"m not mistaken, that"s why you would buy a humungous gaming rig over a thin and light ultrabook with excellent multimedia performance. Thus the GX60 holds on to its Editors" Choice award, but consider the Valkyrie if you"re going to spend a lot of time in between gaming sessions editing photos, videos, and the like.

The iBuypower Valkyrie CZ-17 is a great multimedia laptop with some gaming prowess. The big problem is that for $100 less, the EC-winning MSI GX60 has much better gaming performance. And, if I"m not mistaken, that"s why you would buy a humungous gaming rig over a thin and light ultrabook with excellent multimedia performance. Thus the GX60 holds on to its Editors" Choice award, but consider the Valkyrie if you"re going to spend a lot of time in between gaming sessions editing photos, videos, and the like.

The iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17 costs $1900 as configured, and the manufacturer has included a 12-month guarantee free of charge. A machine that outperforms Dell’s Alienware M18x flagship gaming notebook, with its CrossFired duo of ATI HD7970M cards has no problem launchin apps in the Windows 8 OS aat lightning speed, and to cap a fantastic showing, iBuyPower have included recovery DVDs for a factory reinstall if ever things get sticky.

The iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17 costs $1900 as configured, and the manufacturer has included a 12-month guarantee free of charge. A machine that outperforms Dell’s Alienware M18x flagship gaming notebook, with its CrossFired duo of ATI HD7970M cards has no problem launchin apps in the Windows 8 OS aat lightning speed, and to cap a fantastic showing, iBuyPower have included recovery DVDs for a factory reinstall if ever things get sticky.

The only external caveats are the machine"s chassis flexion and the ridiculously sensitive trackpad, neither one of which is a deal breaker. This is a great system for someone who wants a capable gaming laptop that won"t leave you on a Ramen Noodle budget through January, should you decide to spring for an early holiday gift. iBuyPower"s upgrade options are flexible enough that customers who want to swap for an SSD or upgrade to a GTX 680M rather than older 580M/675M re-badged GPUs can do so.

The only external caveats are the machine"s chassis flexion and the ridiculously sensitive trackpad, neither one of which is a deal breaker. This is a great system for someone who wants a capable gaming laptop that won"t leave you on a Ramen Noodle budget through January, should you decide to spring for an early holiday gift. iBuyPower"s upgrade options are flexible enough that customers who want to swap for an SSD or upgrade to a GTX 680M rather than older 580M/675M re-badged GPUs can do so.

When it comes down to it the iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-17 is a great gaming laptop that can play the latest games, has enough processing power do complete even the most CPU-intensive tasks and looks good doing it. For those looking to move away from a desktop this could be a viable desktop replacement. Overall ThinkComputers gives the iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-17 gaming laptop a 9 out of 10 score.

When it comes down to it the iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-17 is a great gaming laptop that can play the latest games, has enough processing power do complete even the most CPU-intensive tasks and looks good doing it. For those looking to move away from a desktop this could be a viable desktop replacement. Overall ThinkComputers gives the iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-17 gaming laptop a 9 out of 10 score.

My goodness do you get a lot of laptop for your money with the iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17. It"s not even a lot of money either. We understand that UK price conversion rates are sadly not as simple as applying the current exchange rate to a dollar amount, but it"s definitely something worth investigating. For our American readers, who need not worry about such things, this represents great value for money.

My goodness do you get a lot of laptop for your money with the iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17. It"s not even a lot of money either. We understand that UK price conversion rates are sadly not as simple as applying the current exchange rate to a dollar amount, but it"s definitely something worth investigating. For our American readers, who need not worry about such things, this represents great value for money.

iBuyPower is a company that you need to be paying attention to. They"re slowly but steadily growing from being a boutique player into a mainstream player, and the Valkyrie CZ-17 is proof enough of that. It"s true that at its core, the CZ-17 is a slightly modified MSI chassis, but keep in mind that way back when the Mobile Athlon 64 was launched, eMachines/Gateway was doing roughly the same thing by taking notebooks built by Arima and rebranding them.

iBuyPower is a company that you need to be paying attention to. They"re slowly but steadily growing from being a boutique player into a mainstream player, and the Valkyrie CZ-17 is proof enough of that. It"s true that at its core, the CZ-17 is a slightly modified MSI chassis, but keep in mind that way back when the Mobile Athlon 64 was launched, eMachines/Gateway was doing roughly the same thing by taking notebooks built by Arima and rebranding them.

The iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-17 is a strong performer when it comes to being a gaming machine thanks to the new Intel Ivy Bridge processor and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M graphics processor. With prices starting around $1369, it certainly is also very affordable for this level of performance. The downside is that the display is not nearly as good as some of the competing 17-inch gaming laptops.

The iBUYPOWER Valkyrie CZ-17 is a strong performer when it comes to being a gaming machine thanks to the new Intel Ivy Bridge processor and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M graphics processor. With prices starting around $1369, it certainly is also very affordable for this level of performance. The downside is that the display is not nearly as good as some of the competing 17-inch gaming laptops.

The Gamer Valkyrie CZ17-NE735i is a very capable 3D gaming laptop. It is also much lighter than much of the competition although it is still quite bulky. The trade off is that the weight savings comes from a smaller battery with limited running time especially for mobile gaming away from a power cord. The problem though is that the system is more expensive than the direct order version from iBUYPOWER which also includes a Blu-ray class drive.

The Valkyrie CZ-28 offers potent gaming performance for a lower price, leveraging more affordable AMD hardware for elite level gaming. The iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-28 is a great entry-level gaming laptop, but outside of gaming it doesn"t offer the all-around capability that many are looking for.

The iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-28 offers gaming power for less thanks to AMD"s affordable hardware, but it doesn"t come without compromise, offering less capability for productive tasks and multimedia creation. If gaming is your primary focus, then definitely put the Valkyrie CZ-28 on your list of systems to consider; but if you want faster overall performance and power outside of the gaming arena, consider something like the Editors" Choice CyberPower FangBook X7-200 which offers more power with Intel hardware and an SSD cache for faster performance.

Ibuypower: iBUYPOWER Computer is a enterprise located in Southern California. The product lines include gaming desktops, gaming notebooks, workstations, media center PCs, peripherals, and multimedia products. The global market share according laptops is low.

LCD Spec: 19” transparent TN LCD side panel display with 1280 x 1024 resolution enabling the complete customization of the side panel. Users can configure the digital display to feature video wallpaper, images, or system temperatures in real-time