Samsung introduces on the consumer market a high-end desktop computer line with the cylindrical form factor.
Samsung ArtPC Pulse
Samsung's ArtPC Pulse desktop has been revealed via Amazon listings on Monday, Oct. 10. According to ArsTechnica, Samsung's high-end consumer PC features a cylindrical design, a big speaker, dedicated GPUs and quad-core CPUs. One major feature of the system is the top layer that is apparently a 360-degree Harmon Kardon speaker.
This top of the line speaker shows that Samsung designed the Pulse as an entertainment PC for the consumer market. In terms of port layout, the system comes with one USB Type-C port, four USB Type-A ports, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, an audio jack and an SD card reader. The power connector is located on its back, in a vertical position.
From an aesthetic point of view, rather than catering to the workstation market, the Pulse aims at the high-end of the consumer market. There are two models offered and they both include quad-core Skylake Core i7-6700 and i5-6400 CPUs. The processors from Intel are solid performers but cannot match the 6-, 8-, and 12-core CPUs incorporated by Apple in its higher-end Mac Pros.
According to PCWorld, the pricing of Samsung's newly released ArtPC Pulse base model that comes with the Skylake Core i5 is $1,200. The high-end Pulse model that is powered by a Core i7 CPU comes with a price tag of $1,600. The base ArtPC Pulse system comes with a 256 GB NVMe SSD and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, while the high-end Pulse model increases the memory specs to 16 GB of RAM and offers additional file storage on a separate 1 TB 5400RPM HDD.
In terms of graphics performance, both ArtPC Pulse models come with a Radeon RX 460 GPU with 2 GB of RAM. The Radeon RX 460 is just an entry-level graphics card that could be suitable for 1080p gaming but not for the virtual reality of 4K gaming. With a weight of 7.4 pounds and 5.5 inches in diameter, Samsung's Pulse entertainment desktop computer is lighter and slimmer than the Mac Pro.
The newly unveiled Samsung high-end PCs can be already pre-ordered on Amazon. The ArtPC Pulse systems will be available for shipping on Oct. 28.
