 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Personal Computers |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Kelt Reeves |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Kelt Reeves, President |
| Website | falcon-nw.com |
Falcon Northwest is a private company headquartered in Medford, Oregon. It designs, assembles, and markets high-end custom computers. The company was founded in 1992 and was one of the first to specialize in PCs built specifically for gaming.[1]
Falcon Northwest was founded in April 1992[2][3] by gamer hobbyist and former pilot Kelt Reeves.[4] Falcon Northwest released the first pre-built computer model intended specifically for gaming, the Mach V, in 1993,[5][6][7] starting the "gaming PC" category of computer products.[8][9] The company was founded in Florida, but later moved to Coos Bay, Oregon, then Ashland, Oregon, and finally Medford, Oregon.[4]
In the late 1990s, Falcon grew to $3 million in annual revenues[10] and opened a new manufacturing facility in Oregon.[11] Later on, the company collaborated with Intel on early liquid cooling components.[12] Intel worked with Falcon Northwest in secret, in order to avoid the appearance of endorsing overclocking by selling liquid cooling products under its own brand.[12]
Falcon Northwest sells high-end computers that are optimized for gaming, scientific, or military applications.[13] As of 2013, about half of its sales were from gamers.[13] Falcon's computers are consistently highly-ranked in benchmark tests,[6] but cost $1,500 to over $10,000 depending on the user's configuration.[14] Many Falcon PCs are sold with custom paint jobs,[15] high-end graphics cards,[4] and special low-latency components.[13] Though it was originally known for tower desktops like the Mach V, and also sells laptops, as of 2017 Falcon is best-known for its smaller, portable mini-PCs.[16][17][18]
Their products include:
In benchmark tests by Maximum PC in 2018, Falcon Northwest's Tiki mini-PC performed better than a tower computer with a high-end graphics card, but was also the most expensive computer the reviewers had ever used.[19][20][21] Similarly, Falcon's FragBox mini-PC was praised by Tom's Guide in 2017 for its appearance and power, but the configuration cost $5,000.[22] Tom's Guide said it was "one of the best options out there" for consumers that have the budget for a high-end portable gaming computer.[22]
PC Magazine said in 2018 that the Talon tower gaming PC from Falcon Northwest set records in benchmark performance tests and has high-quality components but was too expensive for most consumers.[23] The same publication gave Falcon's Mach V desktop gaming computer a 5 out of 5.[24] A 2015 review in PCWorld, praised the Mach V's performance but noted the high price that comes with buying a computer running three graphics cards.[8]
In 2022, PC Magazine reviewed the Falcon Northwest FragBox,[25] Talon,[26] and Tiki.[27] In each case, the reviewer gave the computer a 4.5 out of 5 rating. The reviews praised the three models' performance, noise, and build quality, though, like previous reviews, noted that all of Falcon Northwest's products had a high price as a result.[25][26][27]
