The small MSI Vortex gaming PC packs some heavy hardware in a cylindrical case

By John Callaham
last updated

MSI is known for their high end gaming PC hardware products and during CES 2016, the company showed off a powerful gaming desktop that's both small and cylindrical, with a look similar to the Mac Pro. The MSI Vortex can still hold an Intel Skylake 6700K CPU and two mobile versions of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 980 graphics cards in SLI mode.

The Vortex also has what it calls the Silent Storm cooling system. which has a fan on top that draw up the hot air and allows cooler air to be brough from the bottom of the case. It's supposed to make the system quieter than the normal desktop case. The MSI Vortex is due out later this year, but it will be expensive. It will have the starting price of $2,000 if you get a system with the less powerful NVIDIA GTX 960 graphics cards. A version with the more powerful GTX 980 will cost about $4,000.

Source: MSI (YouTube), PC Gamer

John Callaham
John Callaham
20 Comments
  • That's a dropping jaw price. But i like the way in a small size.
  • Size and power altogether, difficult things to achieve and so are the Like and money.
  • Yup. This isn't going to be using off the shelf parts. Just like the Mac Pro.
  • Yeah. No kidding. How does that addage go?  Size, performance, cost?  Pick 2.
  • The +2000$ for the 980 upgrade over the 960 is heavy and just too much considering it's only the mobile variant. The later it comes out, the more insane it get's as next Gen gpus come closer with much less power consumption and heat, making the cooling solution a joke. Why not use 2 AMD Fury Nanos, they are made for such a use scenario...
  • Afaik this doesn't run mobile GPUs. It's using the proper desktop versions.
  • The article says it uses mobile cards
  • I think that 980M inside is a 970 desktop version.
  • All I can say is damn. I hope one day I'll have enough money to buy these overpriced monsters.
  • The point is why would you....its a waste of money.....
  • Remember,work hard..play hard
  • What DSR11 said.
  • $4000. Woah.
  • nice but.....forget that.....obsolete when Pascal comes out in a few months.
  • Still better than a $50000 pair of headphones. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • It sounds really, really cool! However, considering that a DIY custom built gaming PC in a more conventional form factor can be had similarly spec'd for exponentially less, I'm afraid that's the way I'm gonna end up going for a gaming PC instead. I just can't justify the outrageous price for a little more sex appeal.
  • Hah, this makes the Mac Pro look reasonably priced...
  • the mac pro starts at $3000 and still can't compete with the potential gaming performance of this machine.
  • I'd like to see a video comparison between the two of them...Winodows Cylinder vs OS X Cylinder.
  • Do I want a Mac that looks like a trash can or do I want a PC that looks like a juicer? I do like juice.