HP rolls faster Pavilion Elite HPE desktops
updated 12:00 am EST, Wed January 6, 2010
Pavilion Elite HPE gets Core i7, 9GB of RAM
HP as part of its CES introductions upgraded the cornerstone of its home desktops, the Pavilion Elite. The Pavilion Elite HPE (High Performance Edition) moves the baseline speed up by giving every model a quad-core processor as well as a minimum 8GB of RAM and 1TB of disk space. At the very high end, HP supplies a 2.66GHz Core i7 with as much as 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.
The company is unusually cautious and doesn't provide pricing but starts the range out with a system using a 2.8GHz AMD Phenom II and a Radeon HD 4350 for graphics. Later configurations add a 2.5GHz Core 2 Quad and a 3.2GHz Phenom II; the latter gets a video upgrade through a GeForce GT220. In stock trim, the Core i7 model carries 9GB of RAM to take advantage of its tri-channel memory as well as a GeForce GTX 260 for mid-range graphics.
All of the HPE models should be available before mid-January and will have options for 802.11n Wi-Fi, TV tuning, Blu-ray and HP's in-house removable hard drives.
