New Arm-based gaming PC set to take on Intel and AMD rigs

image of the PKS Gaming Rig
(Image credit: PKS/Weibo)

We’ve been expecting a PC based on the little-known quad-core Arm processor from the time it was launched in July this year. But surprisingly, instead of utilizing the low-power CPU for an entry-level desktop PC, its designers have rolled it inside a gaming PC

The Phytium FT-2000/4 from the Chinese state-owned China Electronics Corporation (CEC) isn’t well-known outside the mainland, but the processor caught our attention earlier this year thanks to its considerably lower TDP of around 10 W. 

We expected the company to leverage the CPUs low power consumption to compete with inexpensive processors from AMD and Intel inside small form-factor desktops. It’s taking on the American processing behemoths all right, but with a well-stocked gaming rig.

Game on

Our sister publication Tom’s Hardware caught wind of the gaming PC from photographs posted on Chinese microblogging website, Weibo. 

It reports the PKS gaming PC pairs the FT-2000/4 processor with 32GB of DDR4 memory and a discrete graphics card with 8GB of memory. In terms of connectivity, the machine offers one Gigabit Ethernet port, six unspecified USB ports, one HDMI port, and one DisplayPort output, as well as support for dual-displays. 

There’s no information about the exact graphics card that’ll do the heavy-lifting, nor any details about the operating system that the machine’s running. As Tom’s notes, the latter is important as it could have a strong bearing on the number of gaming titles that can be played on the rig.

In any case, the new PC reveals an interesting new potential for Arm processors. It’ll be interesting to see if other mainstream hardware vendors build on the idea, especially with Arm’s acquisition by gaming giant Nvidia inching closer to fruition.

Via: Tom’s Hardware

Mayank Sharma

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’s TechRadar Pro’s expert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.