At CES 2015, Origin teased a new line of home theater PCs called Omega. Details were slim at the time, but what Origin did indicated that this line of HTPCs would be different than others, making gaming a top priority. Today, Origin launched the Omega HTPCs and wit new information about its latest product line.
Omega comes in five different models, with the base model starting at $999. It houses an Intel Pentium Anniversary Edition Dual-Core processor that’s overclocked to 4.5 GHz and placed on an ASUS H97 Mini-ITX motherboard. The HTPCs’ graphics are handled by NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 960 (2 GB), and there’s 8 GB of Origin-branded 1600 MHz RAM. Storage is limited to only a 500 GB HDD. As for the operating system, the base model runs on Windows 8.1 Home.
If the base model isn’t powerful enough for your needs, especially with the CPU bottlenecking the full power of the new 960, the company assures customers that there is more than enough room for expansion, with support for 4K gaming at 60 fps. Omega supports 3-way SLI with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980s, and it also supports Crossfire.
In the case of the operating system, Origin plans to support the upcoming Windows 10 as well as Steam OS, which gives you the option of turning your Omega into your own Steam Machine when the platform officially launches. At the very least, you can boot to Steam’s Big Picture Mode for now.
Storage capabilities are not exclusive to HDDs, with SSDs added as an option, and the maximum storage capacity is a whopping 14 TB. If you don’t want to use the keyboard and mouse combination, Origin will install “Mouse Emulation Software” that allows you to utilize an Xbox 360 controller to act as both mouse and keyboard. While the processors offered are all factory overclocked, Origin said users can still tinker around with the overclock speeds but doesn’t recommend it.
Depending on your preferences, the Omega could eat a sizable chunk out of your wallet. The base model starts at $999, and at press time, it’s still unclear as to how much the highest-end model will cost. Origin believes $999 is the right starting price point for what it considers a “high-performance HTPC.” Depending on the options provided for each model, Origin might blow typical HTPCs out of the water, or it could just be another brand trying to bring PC gaming to the living room.
One item of note is that Origin was clear that the Omega line is not supposed to be consoles, despite the fact that they will eventually run Steam OS as well as Windows; they’re designed to be HTPCs.
