Steiger Dynamics Unveils the LEET – Extreme HTPC

I posted this on the forum yesterday and it was just a tad premature, as there have been a couple changes to the release since that time (changes I’m proud to say were at least a little bit influenced by our esteemed editing team), so ignore my old post and read on!

Today we present to you a new company, Steiger Dynamics. They are bringing a whole new level of PC to home theaters. Here’s their press release:

STEIGER DYNAMICS Unveils The LEET™ – The World’s First Liquid Cooled & Most Powerful Gaming Home Theater PC (HTPC)

LOS ANGELES, CA – STEIGER DYNAMICS proudly presents the world’s first liquid cooled and most powerful Home Theater PC (HTPC), bringing high-end gaming to the comfort of your living room.

HTPC reinvented

The LEET™ is a full spec, custom-built PC with a distinct design, form factor, and functionality for the living room. By integrating media center, server, and high-end gaming functionality, the LEET™ represents a whole new generation of home computers – blurring the line between enthusiast desktop PCs, gaming consoles, and home entertainment devices. Connected to a Full HD (3D) TV and surround sound system, the LEET™ delivers an unprecedented high-definition gaming and home entertainment experience to the PC, audio, and video enthusiast. Due to its sleek design, ultra-silent operation, and easy integration with other home theater components, the system perfectly blends into any existing living room setup.

“The living room will play an increasing role in PC gaming. Enthusiasts are looking for the maximum graphics and entertainment experience. Needless to say, their modern living room is more suitable for this than their office. With the LEET™ we created a product that will get PC gamers out from behind their desks,” says Martin Hehensteiger (Co-Founder & CEO, STEIGER DYNAMICS).

“We achieved our goal of creating the ultimate no-compromise living room computer with all the performance and functionality one could possibly imagine. Simply put, the LEET™ is the very best HTPC ever built,” says Martin Gossner (Co-Founder & CTO, STEIGER DYNAMICS).

Steiger Dynamics LEET
Steiger Dynamics LEET

Brute Performance

Based on ASUS’ top-of-the-line Z77 and X79 motherboards, the LEET™ supports latest generation Intel Core-i7 four- and six-core processors. State-of-the-art liquid cooling solutions allow overclocking to over 5 GHz while keeping the system extremely silent.

“The LEET™ lives up to its name – it is truly elite,” says Thi La (Senior VP & GM of Memory and Enthusiast Component Products, Corsair). “Our Neutron GTX SSDs in RAID 0 mode deliver read speeds beyond 1,100 MB/s. And – when it comes to pure system performance and snappiness – the combination with up to 64 GB Dominator Platinum RAM elevates this Home Theater PC into a league of its own.”

Mind-blowing Graphics

The LEET™ features up to a 4K-ready Quad-SLI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 configuration. Connected to a large screen TV or projector, the LEET™ lets you play latest PC games with astonishing Full HD graphics, all while sitting in the comfort of your couch.

“The LEET™ utilizes the full potential of EVGA NVIDIA based GeForce graphics cards,” says Bob Klase (VP of Sales, EVGA). “It handles with ease the most graphics-intensive current and future games in high-definition and stereoscopic 3D. All while using the highest possible graphics settings. On a large TV, this experience is entrancing and immersive.”

All-in-one Functionality

In addition to high-end gaming, the LEET™ delivers a full-fledged Microsoft® Windows® 8 experience, Blu-ray TM playback in Dolby® TrueHD™, lossless HD Audio®, HD cable TV, and online streaming services like Netflix and Spotify®. The systemstores up to 1,000 Blu-ray TM movies or 3 million MP3s, and its home server functionality allows immediate media streaming to any mobile device.

“The LEET™ creates a user experience that has simply not been offered before. A Home Theater PC with endless functionality and uber performance – that’s really impressive. And thanks to the mutually developed custom liquid cooling solution, it is dead silent,” says Gabe Rouchon (CEO, Swiftech).

Steiger Dynamics LEET
Steiger Dynamics LEET

Freedom of Control

Users have the freedom of choice when it comes to wireless control. Whether they prefer any kind of smartphone or tablet, remote control, touchpad, or mouse and keyboard, the LEET™ offers all these options and more. In addition, users will be able to play games with Xbox 360® controllers or their favorite race and flight simulation gear.

Cameron Helm, a LEET™ trial customer remarked, “playing Battlefield 3 with a wireless mouse and keyboard from my couch worked perfectly. I am very sensitive to input lags and ergonomics, and I felt no difference to my wired desktop setup.”

Engineering Excellence

Pursuing STEIGER DYNAMICS’ no-compromise approach, every system is handcrafted with ingenious passion, uncompromising quality, and unparalleled attention to detail. The exclusively designed hand-brushed aluminum chassis has an unmatched wall-thickness of 0.2” (5mm). The system’s integrated 7” front screen features the exclusive LEET™ Monitor App, designed to be easily readable from the sofa. This tool constantly monitors and displays system parameters like available drive space, CPU/GPU clocks and load levels as well as respective temperatures.

All system cables are single sleeved and custom-tailored to the chassis, accounting for an extremely clean interior and optimized airflow. The LEET™ is built-to-order and incorporates only the highest-quality components from carefully selected, best-in-category partners. Prior to shipping, every single system is thoroughly stress-tested and benchmarked for 72 hours.

Steiger Dynamics LEET
Steiger Dynamics LEET

Customers First

The LEET™ comes with a 30 day money-back guarantee, 3 years limited warranty, and lifetime customer care. “A no-compromise product like the LEET™ deserves only the very best product support. Therefore, we made ‘Customer Care’ a core value of our company.” Martin & Martin (Founders of STEIGER DYNAMICS)

Line-up and Pricing

The LEET™ is available in three different lines – Pure, Core, and Reference. The Pure line starts at $1,998 and caters to Media Center, Audio and Video Enthusiast. The Core line is available from $2,698 and is tailored to the hardcore overclocker and gamer. The 6-core CPU based Reference line starts at $3,398 and features only top-of-the-line components, delivering the highest processing and graphics power available today.

LEET Base Configuration Pricing
LEET Base Configuration Pricing

Additional Product Specifications
• “Wife-approved” black or silver hand-brushed full aluminum LEET™ chassis with an unmatched wall
thickness of 0.2” (5mm), perfectly blending into any existing TV and Audio setup
• Integrated 7” Samsung front screen showing the exclusive LEET™ Monitor app
• Front panel with SD/Memory Card reader, USB 3.0 and front HD-Audio connectors
• Liquid cooling solutions for extremely silent 24/7 operation
• Single sleeved cables and cable management for an air-flow optimized, clean interior
• Optional acrylic glass lid and LED lighting
• Up to 5 GHz overclocked Intel Core-i7 Hexa-Core CPU
• Up to 64 GB 2133 MHz DDR3 Memory
• Up to NVIDIA GTX 690 Quad-SLI graphic cards
• Up to 1 TB SSD system drives in RAID 0 mode
• Up to 12 TB storage space for up to 1,000 Blu-ray™ movies or 3 million MP3s
• Optional Full-HD Quad Cable-TV tuner
• Blu-ray/DVD/CD drive/writer
• User-preferred wireless control
• Microsoft ® Windows® 8
• Dimensions (HxWxD): 8.7 x 17.1 x 15.4 inches (22.0 x 43.5 x 39.0 cm)

About STEIGER DYNAMICS

STEIGER DYNAMICS is a revolutionary system builder bringing high-end PC gaming to the comfort of your living room. The company was founded in 2012 by McKinsey Consultant and UCLA Anderson MBA graduate Martin Hehensteiger (CEO) and Mercedes-Benz Product Strategist Martin Gossner (CTO). Both of them became attached to PC gaming with shooters like Doom, grew up with multiplayer-games like Quake, went semi-professional in Counter-Strike and are now enjoying the ultimate 3D gaming experience in their living rooms with latest games like Crysis 2 and Metro 2033. STEIGER DYNAMICS’ products are developed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, and the founders ensure that every system is built as if it was their own. For more information, please visit www.steigerdynamics.com and www.facebook.com/STEIGERDYNAMICS.

Now, obviously this is not for the light of wallet. There is a reason these systems cost so much, and after speaking with Mr. Gossner on the phone today, I’m starting to become a believer. A couple quick points to reiterate that make this type of premium system so, well, premium priced –

  • Custom chassis – This is one of the biggest selling points in my opinion (and that of anyone that looks at them). Heck, people commented they’d just want the case by itself if they can’t afford the whole system (hint hint Steiger…). If my experiences over the years with Lian Li aluminum cases is any indication, the case itself accounts for several hundred dollars of that bottom line, especially with the integrated 7″ screen.
  • Custom PSU Wiring – They mention that they have single sleeved cables, but that’s not the only thing that they do. Mr. Gossner said there is little room to maneuver in these cases, meaning not much room for cable management. So what they do is customize the length of all necessary PSU wires, then they single sleeve them for the cleanest look they can get. That definitely increases cost.
  • Fans – They don’t mention it because many people don’t know about such things, but our readers are a bit different. Anyone who has water cooled a system has at least heard of Scythe Gentle Typhoon fans. Well, that’s what goes into these systems, and unless my memory is incorrect, they use AP-15’s to be precise. Those retail for $15.99 a pop at Sidewinder.
  • Did I mention it looks really good?

It remains to be seen if these can really be considered worth the price of admission. On their face, yes, they’re expensive; but when you dig into just why they’re that expensive, maybe it’s worth it. Thankfully, we expect to get the chance to find out when they loan us a system for review in January!

For more information, you can check out their site at http://www.steigerdynamics.com and on FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/STEIGERDYNAMICS.

Jeremy Vaughan (hokiealumnus)

About Jeremy Vaughan 197 Articles
I'm an editor and writer here at Overclockers.com as well as a moderator at our beloved forums. I've been around the overclocking community for several years and just love to sink my teeth into any hardware I can get my paws on!

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Avatar of Culbrelai
Culbrelai

Member

1,803 messages 9 likes

These are really OP for HTPCs...

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fornoob

Member

618 messages 0 likes

I should have missed something about the use of an HTPC... six cores?? RAID 0 SSDs?? :shock: :screwy:

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Avatar of Robert17
Robert17

Premium Member

3,689 messages 130 likes

I selflessly volunteer to take on the task of stress testing one of these systems to validate the 3 year warranty; I'll write up a review with pics at that time. PM me for shipping instructions. I know, I know, you can thank me in 3 years. :cool:

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Avatar of MattNo5ss
MattNo5ss

5up3r m0d3r4t0r

8,808 messages 0 likes

Glad to see they were able to put a better GPU in all the models since they are marketing this as a "power gaming" HTPC :thup:

I think it would be worth the extra $30 to put the 3770K back in the middle model. That could be a deal breaker for sales, especially since their niche seems to be enthusiasts. Also, if they would like to reduce cost further, then they could put less powerful PSUs in the base models since all the PSUs currently used are overkill for the hardware. Just more stuff to consider now or in the future :D

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Avatar of EarthDog
EarthDog

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

76,322 messages 3,084 likes

I like that they jumped up in the GPU department. And agree with Matt on getting the K series for the "Core" system (or at least an upgrade otion), and a lesser PSU on the "Pure" system.

THese days, a QUALITY 550W PSU (like they have in Seasonic) will handle ANY single GPU and CPU with heavy overclocking (example - on my daily driver I have a 3570K @ 4.5GHz and a 680 overclocked to 1270 boost and +300 on the ram and it doesnt break 410W at the wall, so around 350W actual). Perhaps offer an optional 750W model in case users would like to SLI/Crossfire. With that wattage, I ran 3770K @ 4.9GHz, 2 7970's @ 1200/1750 and hit 735W at the wall (so around 660W actual use).

These are really OP for HTPCs...

What does OP mean? Normally its Original Poster but, not sure it means that in this case.

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Avatar of MattNo5ss
MattNo5ss

5up3r m0d3r4t0r

8,808 messages 0 likes

Overpowered :D

For just an HTPC it is very OP, but it's supposed to be a gaming system too.

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Avatar of hokiealumnus
hokiealumnus

Water Cooled Moderator

16,560 messages 25 likes

Yikes, I didn't even notice the missing "K" on there. That's disappointing to say the least. It makes the custom water cooling completely pointless. I thought motherboard & GPU were the only things they changed. Ouch.

Come to think of it, water cooling is already pointless in the base model...who needs to water cool a 3220....and who would pay two grand for a system with a 3220 + integrated GPU? As a "value" proposition, I think the mid-range is the best of the three. Trust me, in the review, I'll be going over every piece of hardware in the system they send to see how much cheaper it would be had I built it. My hope is that the labor-intensive install, absolutely premium case and premium part selection (i.e. AP-15 fans) plus some allocation for warranty will make it worth the price for those with that kind of cash to drop at once.

Also, agreed it's OP (new acronym for this old guy) for an HTPC, but it's perfect for a HTPC gaming system, which is where they're aiming these systems. :)

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Avatar of wagex
wagex

Chapstick Eating Premium Member

6,422 messages 58 likes

i can see it being maybe half the price tbh unless im way out of the "loop" on WC these days. :D

get a silverstone / lian li micro cubie lookin case cut a window in the top slap in some WC and stuff bam :D

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MattNo5ss

5up3r m0d3r4t0r

8,808 messages 0 likes

In case everyone didnt know, they have a "configurator" to upgrade parts after selecting the base model. I just noticed they've added the 3770K to their configurator as an option for $30 more, so no issue with lower CPU in the base. I didn't check their configurator for that change before I posted. They could add lower wattage PSUs to the base and keep higher wattage PSUs as an option in case people want to select SLI configs from the GPU section.

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Avatar of hokiealumnus
hokiealumnus

Water Cooled Moderator

16,560 messages 25 likes

Well, why speculate? Let's do the math for the Core system.

System
ASUS P8Z77-V - $189.99
i7 3770 - $299.99
8GB Corsair 1866 - $89.99 (Dom Platinum, which seems to be their choice)
EVGA GTX 660 - $229.99
120GB Corsair Neutron SSD - $139.99
660W SeasonicX Gold - $159.99
Blu-Ray / DVD Writer - $64.99
Win 8 - $69.99
Case (speculating here) - $300 Well, I was way off. I'm told the cost of the case + cabling is closer to $800!
AP-15 fans, 4 @ $15.99 - $63.96
Front panel reader - $40
Total parts - $2,148.88

Water loop (pricing from Sidewinder Computers)
Swiftech Apogee Drive II - $134.99
Swiftech MCR120-XP - $33.99
Swiftech MCR220-XP - $39.99
Tubing - Feser White, 5ft @ $2.49/ft - $12.45
Res (assuming there is one, just guessing at price) - $34.99
Compression & Rotary compression fittings, at least six if not eight (another guess, typically these are $9.99 to $15.99; we'll assume four rotary compression and four straight compression) - $103.92
Water Loop total - $360.33

Parts plus loop - $2,509.21

On top of that, you pay for the extensive install labor (with PSU wire customization, water loop install, overclocking & stress testing), warranty and they also have to make a profit. When looked at from that perspective, it's not too bad of a price.

People will get sticker shock before they realize what all goes into these things. Once looked at from that perspective, it seems like the price borders on reasonable.

Glad the K is in their configurator, thanks Matt!

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