Razer's "Project Christine" Combines PC Power With Console Simplicity

[Andy Chalk]

Razer's "Project Christine" Combines PC Power With Console Simplicity

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Project Christine is a strange, sexy machine that promises to eliminate the complexities of PC gaming.

The PC's greatest strength - virtually limitless design flexibility - is also its biggest weakness. Sure, you can tweak everything from RAM speed to airflow on the way to building your own personal HAL, but you need some idea of what you're doing in order to make the magic happen. Quick - what type of CPU socket is on your motherboard? Some of you know, some of you will go look and a lot of you will immediately think, "What?"

This is where Razer's Project Christine comes in. It's a fully-modular PC design in which individual components like CPU, GPU, RAM and storage are self-contained and can be swapped in or out as needed. Each module is sealed and liquid cooled, the PCI Express architecture allows everything to work together without any horsing around and it supports multiple operating systems that may be selected at boot.

"Project Christine is a new concept design that will revolutionize the way users view the traditional PC," Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan said. "This is the first gaming system that is able to keep pace with technology and could allow consumers to never buy another PC, or gaming system, again."

[gallery=1995]

It's a weird looking thing but sexy too, with a touch-screen LCD display that probably has some practical function but scores most of its points just for being so damned Star Trek-ish. The obvious downside is the price: Christine is only a concept at this point but proprietary components like these will unavoidably cost more - probably a lot more - than conventional hardware. Of course, Razer has never shied away from inflicting sticker shock on its customers, and if it can actually make this work, Christine may end up closer to the Steam Machine we expected from Valve than anything that actually bears the name [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131066-Steam-Machine-Prices-Range-From-499-to-6-000-for-First-Generation].

Source: Razer [http://www.razerzone.com/christine]


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[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It looks like a bunch of prothean stasis pods.

Each component self contained and water cooled? The idea is a lot more compelling to me than that of a Steam Machine. Fully modular PC? Yes please. But it will cost an arm and a leg. So no, thanks.

I absolutely love the idea that you can have a motherboard that uses a PCI-e slot instead of a CPU socket. I'm surprised that we're only getting something like that now.

 

[shintakie10]

My god. That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It'll cost more than my car does, but I'd use that more than my stupid car.

 

[Pyrian]

Waaaaaant.

Actually, I want the idea of it. I want an open standard where everyone just makes things this way. And I want it at my company, not just at home.

 

[Baldr]

Razer is 9/10 when it comes to design and fuctionality (They only lost a point because the Razer Naga wireless hardly works wirelessly). However they traded that off with about 3/10 quality. Their products are junk, they fall apart months after unboxing leaving those cool designs or features almost useless.

 

[Scrythe]

Of course it's going to cost a hell of a lot, it's from Razer, the masters of slapping lights on conventional hardware and jacking the price up to near-Apple levels.

"We'll sell you a mousepad for $15 because it has LEDs on it."
"Here's a $90 mouse because it glooooows!"
"This isn't a normal keyboard, it's GAMING keyboard. You can tell because it lights up."

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Of course it's going to cost a hell of a lot, it's from Razer, the masters of slapping lights on conventional hardware and jacking the price up to near-Apple levels.

"We'll sell you a mousepad for $15 because it has LEDs on it."
"Here's a $90 mouse because it glooooows!"
"This isn't a normal keyboard, it's GAMING keyboard. You can tell because it lights up."

Razer is becoming the new Alienware, which is sad because two of my friends shelled out for two of their mice ranging from £70-80, I can't see myself ever spending that much on a mouse let alone a keyboard.

Though the model does look beautiful and futuristic, there's no doubt that it's going to cost an arm and a leg so only a few are going to be able to afford such a thing, again which is sad since I could see a lot of us wanting a piece of that at affordable prices.

 

[major_chaos]

Of course it's going to cost a hell of a lot, it's from Razer, the masters of slapping lights on conventional hardware and jacking the price up to near-Apple levels.

"We'll sell you a mousepad for $15 because it has LEDs on it."
"Here's a $90 mouse because it glooooows!"
"This isn't a normal keyboard, it's GAMING keyboard. You can tell because it lights up."

I don't know about keyboards (although the blackwidow seems average for a mechanical keyboard price wise) but their mice really do make a difference, I am quantifiably better with my Deathadder than I am with some $5 PoS from OfficeMax.

OT: I don't just want this I need this. Its just a wonderful combination of form and function. Unfortunately its liquid cooled which means its going to cost you more money than an entire low end gaming PC would.

 

[suitepee7]

this is all kinds of awesome... just a shame about the inevitable price tag that will come with it =\

but i'm gonna agree with the majority here, it does sound like a better idea than steam machines. i really hope the prices aren't extortionate though, because this looks and sounds amazing

 

[hentropy]

I doubt this will simplify the process for people who don't know much about PCs, looks cool and you have to give credit to Razer for trying to make it simpler for people, but nothing presented in the promo has really said it will simplify anything but installation, which isn't really the hardest part in my experience. You'll still have to know precisely what kind of video card or processor to use, and whether it's any better than what you have now and worth the upgrade.

 

[Alistair_Darkheart]

Looks and sounds awesome.

Hopefully after they've been selling such for a while the prices with go down to a more competitive rate as they start streamlining production.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Razer is 9/10 when it comes to design and fuctionality (They only lost a point because the Razer Naga wireless hardly works wirelessly). However they traded that off with about 3/10 quality. Their products are junk, they fall apart months after unboxing leaving those cool designs or features almost useless.

I've had my Razer Imperator mouse for over a year now (forget when exactly I got it, but it's been probably close to a year and a half by now) and it still runs flawlessly. Granted it doesn't have 10 million buttons on it that could potentially fail like on the Naga, but I think it's a very sturdy and reliable piece of hardware.

Of course it's going to cost a hell of a lot, it's from Razer, the masters of slapping lights on conventional hardware and jacking the price up to near-Apple levels.

"We'll sell you a mousepad for $15 because it has LEDs on it."
"Here's a $90 mouse because it glooooows!"
"This isn't a normal keyboard, it's GAMING keyboard. You can tell because it lights up."

Like the other guy who replied to you said, I'm way better at games like Dota and FPS's now that I have my Razer mouse. When I have to go back to my old mouse (when I'm away from home and dont bring my razer mouse) or using someone elses mouse, they just feel soooo slow and unresponsive. My mouse is also wayyy more comfortable than my old mice and the side buttons are very convenient and placed well.

And the price for my mouse wasn't completely unreasonable, IMO. A tad high but worth it for the better performance it gives.

 

[J Tyran]

The idea of a fully modular PC is a nice one, being able to change some parts without a complete rebuild like the Motherboard and CPU would be great. Arbitrary socket changes are annoying sometimes.

 

[Baldr]

Razer is 9/10 when it comes to design and fuctionality (They only lost a point because the Razer Naga wireless hardly works wirelessly). However they traded that off with about 3/10 quality. Their products are junk, they fall apart months after unboxing leaving those cool designs or features almost useless.

I've had my Razer Imperator mouse for over a year now (forget when exactly I got it, but it's been probably close to a year and a half by now) and it still runs flawlessly. Granted it doesn't have 10 million buttons on it that could potentially fail like on the Naga, but I think it's a very sturdy and reliable piece of hardware

My original Razer Naga mouse wheel broke after about 6 months. My razer Carcharias disintegrated after about 6 months. My new wireless Naga doesn't work very well wirelessly, so now I just use it as a wired mouse, I've had it for about a year. The only other problem I have with it is the cord wrapping looks like it went through a cheese grater, the same thing happen to the other two.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Razer is 9/10 when it comes to design and fuctionality (They only lost a point because the Razer Naga wireless hardly works wirelessly). However they traded that off with about 3/10 quality. Their products are junk, they fall apart months after unboxing leaving those cool designs or features almost useless.

I've had my Razer Imperator mouse for over a year now (forget when exactly I got it, but it's been probably close to a year and a half by now) and it still runs flawlessly. Granted it doesn't have 10 million buttons on it that could potentially fail like on the Naga, but I think it's a very sturdy and reliable piece of hardware

My original Razer Naga mouse wheel broke after about 6 months. My razer Carcharias disintegrated after about 6 months. My new wireless Naga doesn't work very well wirelessly, so now I just use it as a wired mouse, I've had it for about a year. The only other problem I have with it is the cord wrapping looks like it went through a cheese grater, the same thing happen to the other two.

That sucks for you I guess :x My mouse is wired and the braided cable is still in perfect shape.

[joke] Also my Razer mousepad hasn't had any hardware malfunctions yet either [/joke]

 

[Galen Marek]

Going to be honest, I want the case, it looks awesome. I remember a similar case by, I think Coolmaster(?) being release a couple of years ago. Always wanted it but it cost a lot of money.

Seeing this case, makes me want a new case like it even more.

Razer is 9/10 when it comes to design and fuctionality (They only lost a point because the Razer Naga wireless hardly works wirelessly). However they traded that off with about 3/10 quality. Their products are junk, they fall apart months after unboxing leaving those cool designs or features almost useless.

I feel sorry for you. None of my Razer products ever fell apart or broke. My Naga doesn't fail me going strong for a couple of years, my Nostromo is solid. I had the Onza but didn't like its feel so got rid of it, but it was solid while I had it.
Bummer what happened to your stuff mate

 

[EHKOS]

This is actually a pretty cool idea. It's times like these where I want to hop in a time machine back a year and say "Hey guys, guess what I just thought of!"

Unfortunately it will be more than expensive seeing as we're paying for the brand logo too. Razer is not cheap.