R-Comp Interactive are pleased to announce the availability of a new powerhouse of RISC OS performance - the RISCube i7 (also available in a tower format, for those not converted to "cubism"!). The new systems are massively powerful - up to 50% faster than existing systems, whilst offering flexibility and options like never before. These systems have 4 CPU cores, capable of running 8 simultaneous threads, cutting through CPU intensive work like video editing or complex/high-resolution photo manipulation. When running RISC OS, the results are simply phenomenal - where a Kinetic RiscPC might score roughly 100pts, and an Iyonix about 290, the RISCube i7s can score just under 800pts (although this does depend on model etc). To put some perspective on this, our existing (extremely fast) range of RISCubes tends to score in the high 500s (although again, this varies depending on model). To put some real-world examples on this, the Artworks apple renders so quickly that you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a bitmap, not complex vector image - it just seems to paint straight on screen. This means that working with complex documents in RISC OS applications won't miss a beat. Even BASIC apps, which have tended to be less nippy on RISCubes (but still far faster than other non-RISCube machines!) race along on the new architecture, which is particularly pleasing - it's always good to see "across the board" performance. The i7 systems are offered in 32bit or 64bit configurations (both can run 26/32bit RISC OS apps), depending on how much RAM you have (typically 3Gb in 32bit machines, 6Gb in 64bit systems). Floppy drives are available, although due to quirks of the 64bit driver model, we'd recommend floppy users stick to the 3Gb/32bit systems for now - which, let's be honest, is still plentiful! Additionally, we are now offering totally silent solid-state drives, now that the technology has matured enough for the early problems to be sorted out. These drives have no moving parts, and seem to represent the future of data storage. However, they are currently quite pricey, and capacities still lower than their mechanical counterparts. On the other hand, the speed/access time on the solid state drives is amazing, so depending on your needs, it can really make a vast difference. At Wakefield, we'll be demonstrating a small RISCTower version of our i7 range (making a change from all the other 'Cubes on the stand!) loaded up with a solid state drive and even multiple graphics cards to show just what can be achieved. Of course, there's no need for most users to go quite so overboard, but it is fun to see what's possible! The systems are available right now, but please telephone us on 01925 755043 to discuss your requirements, as each i7 system is built to customer's needs.