HP announces new desktops featuring AMD Radeon R9 380 GPU (Updated)
HP has announced new desktop PCs in its Pavilion and Envy product families and a 4K display. The new PCs will be outfitted with new hardware, including AMD's yet-to-be-announced Radeon R9 380 graphics card and Intel's fifth-generation Broadwell processors.
Updated on 7 May 2015:- HP has said that the mention of Intel fifth-generation processors was a mistake on the respective product pages. The HP Envy and Envy Phoenix Tower will ship with Intel fourth-generation processors as mentioned in the initial press release.
Originally published on 6 May 2015:-
While we’re still waiting for AMD’s answer to NVIDIA’s 900-series Maxwell graphics cards to drop, HP has gone ahead and announced a new family of all-in-one (AIO) desktop and tower PCs that will feature AMD’s next-generation graphics hardware. It also introduced a new 4K display to go with its latest desktop offerings.
Here’s a table summarizing the key specifications, prices and expected availability of the new products before we dive into the pertinent bits:-
Image Source: Tom's Hardware
HP Pavilion
The HP Pavilion family is receiving updates to both its AIO and tower PCs – the AIO line-up will feature a new design with an adjustable pedestal floating display that will stand out in any living room, while the tower PCs will have new color options. Both product families will also be updated with newer hardware components.
The HP Pavilion AIO desktop features an edge-to-edge IPS glass display that sits on an highly adjustable hinge. (Image Source: HP)
In addition, the new AIO PCs will feature an edge-to-edge full HD IPS glass display available in 21.5 inches, 23 inches or 27 inches. The HDMI output will allow users to hook up a second monitor or even a TV. Finally, the new PCs will supposedly sport AMD’s 300-series cards, and users can choose between the AMD Radeon R7 A330 or A360 graphics cards. The “A” prefix is new, and it remains to be seen what position it designates in AMD’s upcoming graphics card line-up.
The new HP Pavilion Tower will be available in several new colors, including sunset red. (Image Source: HP)
The HP Pavilion Tower will come in new colors, namely, blizzard white, natural silver, nobel blue and sunset red. Unlike its AIO siblings, HP hasn’t listed support for the new AMD GPUs and has only said that it will support up to a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745.
All PCs in the Pavilion family can be configured with up to 3TB of storage to store large multimedia files.
HP Envy Tower and Envy Phoenix Tower
Moving on to the higher end HP Envy PCs, the HP Envy Tower and Envy Phoenix Tower sport a brush metal chassis with a new vertical design for a more premium look and feel. They will also both feature DDR4 memory and up to a 512GB SSD.
The HP Envy Tower features a stately brushed metal silver chassis. (Image Source: HP)
As expected of a performance PC, the Envy Tower can be configured with either a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980, and here’s the kicker, or an AMD Radeon R9 380. We’re not sure if this means that the R9 380 will rival the GeForce GTX 980 in performance, but HP’s announcement has certainly made us more eager for the official announcement from AMD.
However, here’s also where it gets confusing. HP’s press release is a bit patchy, and when it comes to the HP Envy Phoenix Tower, the company has seemingly omitted to mention what AMD graphics card it will support. It has only said that it will support a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 or an AMD Radeon discrete graphics card.
Compared to the HP Envy Tower, the Envy Phoenix Tower sports a more aggressive black brushed metal design with red lighting down the front. (Image Source: HP)
The HP Envy Phoenix does appear to be configured for maximum performance. It is the only PC in HP’s announcement to feature unlocked Intel K-series processors that will support overclocking and will boast up to a whooping 32GB of RAM. It will even come with an option for closed-loop water cooling, no doubt to help cool the overclocked CPU.
Further ambiguity also continues to surround the new HP Envy PCs. HP’s press release says that the PCs will support Intel fourth-generation processors, but the product pages for both the Envy Tower and Envy Phoenix Tower mention Intel fifth-generation processors. It’s hard to say whether this is deliberate or a slip-up on HPs part – either way, this could mean that we’ll see the new AMD GPUs and Intel processors sooner rather than later.
HP Spectre 32 Studio Display
Image Source: HP
Rounding off HP's announcement is the 32-inch HP Spectre Studio 4K (3840 x 2160) display. The new display should go well with the newly-announced systems, in particular the high-end HP Envy Tower and Envy Phoenix Tower. Available in blizzard white, the display supports HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort and MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link). It also comes with DTS Audio integrated speakers in the form of right and left front-firing BeatsAudio 6-watt speakers.
In addition, the display ships with something HP calls "Low Haze screen enhancement", which purportedly allows viewers to enjoy the crispness of a glossy display without the glare.
Source: HP
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