OCZ Technology Group, a company primarily known for memory products, on Monday unveiled the world’s first Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits for notebooks based on Intel Centrino 2 platfor. The novelties promise to be considerably faster than comparable DIY barebones based on previous-generation Centrino “Santa Rosa” platform - thanks to quad-core processors support as well as ATI CrossFire multi-GPU technology - as well as to add some brand-new capabilities not available previously. 

OCZ DIY Gaming Notebook Centrino 2 barebones come with 15.4” or 17” displays with 1280x800 or 1920x1200 resolutions respectively, Intel PM45 core-logic, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card with 512MB GDDR3 memory for 15.4” model or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 in CrossFire mode for 17” version, CD/DVD burner or CD/DVD burner with Blu-ray disc support, keyboard, touchpad, battery and so on. End-users have to install central processing unit (CPU), memory and hard drive themselves.

For some reason, among validated components for the DIY mobile computers with 15.4” screens OCZ does not list quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme mobile central processing units, which may be a huge drawback for gamers demanding extreme performance. Still, those who want to have special levels of speed can acquire a system with 17” screen. Perhaps, the company could not develop sophisticated CPU cooler for smaller size notebooks, or maybe it decided to provide higher end processor option only to those, who acquire more advanced laptop with larger screen. Despite of certain limitations, the new mobile systems will be faster compared to previous-gen thanks to higher-speed processors with faster processor system bus.

Under OCZ Do-It-Yourself (DIY) notebook initiative OCZ Technology group will allow customers to get notebook barebones, which are usually sold to system integrators or suppliers, directly from OCZ, configure their laptops according to recommendations of OCZ and then assemble the machine themselves, which saves some money to the end-user due to lack of labor cost. Eventually, customers will be able to install different components into their laptops provided that they can obtain them.

“At OCZ, empowering the enthusiast end-user in the mobile gaming space is an exciting opportunity for us, and with the powerful technology found in our latest Intel Centrino 2 based notebook we are again at the forefront of this growing market. With OCZ DIY notebooks, end-users have complete control of the cost/performance ratio of key components, giving consumers the opportunity to personalize a true gaming and multi-tasking powerhouse notebook by using a validated component list and our easy to follow step-by-step manual included with every DIY package,” said Ryan Edwards, director of product management at OCZ.

But even though OCZ improved certain drawbacks of previous-generation DIY laptops that were powered by Intel Centrino “Santa Rosa” platform, e.g., it installed more advanced graphics card and allowed customers to install a Blu-ray optical disc drive, it still provides no options to install screens with higher resolutions, higher-capacity batteries, different keyboards and so on. As a consequence, a lot of gamers will hardly get inspired with OCZ’s DIY notebook initiative. Still, some gamers will definitely choose to build their computers themselves and balance performance according to their needs.

Tags: OCZ, Intel, Centrino