Origin likes high-performance PCs as well as 4K. In order to push 4K adoption a little more, the company has announced its new 4K < $4K Nvidia BattleBox Titan Z promotion.
The included lineups are the Chronos-Z series, the Millenium-Z and the Genesis-Z. The idea behind the 4K < $4K is that you can get a 4K-capable gaming system for just under $4000, but there's some very strange marketing going on here. The systems themselves aren't really all that remarkable beyond carrying a Titan Z, and we were already able to order these a while ago. The differences now, and why this is newsworthy, is because of changes to the branding and pricing. Previously, these configurations would easily cost in excess of $5000.
The three offers that Origin has in store for you are the following: a gaming PC equipped with a GTX Titan Z for less than $4000, that same PC with a 4K monitor for slightly more, and a deal where you pay the full price for that same gaming PC, but you get a second Titan Z for free. Doing the math, you’ll realize that you’re getting more hardware than you’re paying for. This might not be entirely clear for the first deal, but for the last deal it is; you’ll pay around $5500 for a system with two GTX Titan Z’s – in retail, two Titan Z’s alone will cost you about $6000, and then you’ve still got to buy the rest of the PC.
Of course, many of you will question the use of a GTX Titan Z in a gaming machine in the first place, let alone two, but you can’t deny that it is scary to see hardware being sold for less than it is worth. If you are in the market for a GTX Titan Z, this deal might be worth pouncing on since you’ll get very good value for your money.
One thing often forgotten about these systems is that many folks are willing to pay a little extra for the convenience of having a system built for them, along with a warranty on the entire system rather than on individual parts. They might not be for everybody, but there certainly is an audience for prebuilt gaming systems.
We're not entirely sure how Origin PC is financing this promotion. Either they have a deal with Nvidia, or they are taking a loss on purpose. A potential possibility is also that Origin PC bought up way more GTX Titan Z's than it sold, and that this is a way of getting rid of leftover inventory. We've reached out to Origin PC about this for comment.
On another note, Origin PC is also launching a trade-in program for Alienware-branded laptops from Dell. If you have one of these and wish to buy an Origin PC system or the new EVO15-S laptop, you can sign up for the trade-in program, and Origin PC will deduct the value of your old Alienware notebook from the purchase price of your new system.
Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
