BMW enters gaming PC scene with Haswell-powered M8

At the ongoing Computex event, BMW’s creative consultancy DesignworksUSA showcased a new compact gaming PC for its new client—ASRock. The PC bears the BMW moniker with a similar naming convention to its cars. To be more specific, it has been dubbed the M8.

The PC has been designed so that it can be placed in both vertical as well as horizontal positions. The side of the case is partially transparent so that the insides of the PC is visible. Modification is possible thanks to the magnetic side panels that can be removed for quick access to the hardware.

The BMW M8 looks rather unconventional

The PC has a knob—dubbed A-Command—in the front, which acts as a multi-functional control button with an integrated OLED display. It shows a bunch of information, thus removing the need for an extra monitor. The knob shows information such as status of usage, heat, date and time.

“Gaming is all about emotion and individuality”, says Laurenz Schaffer, President of BMW Group DesignworksUSA. “So we created a design which is very much an exaggerated mode of expression. It speaks to the gamers’ souls and offers iconic differentiation in a small Gaming-PC.”

The BMW M8 does look somewhat stylish

LL Shiu, Chief Operating Officer of ASRock, said, “One does not play games on a boring gaming rig. Gamers should be able to feel the adrenaline rush the moment they power on their PCs, just as drivers get fired up the moment they start their engines. That’s why we have decided to collaborate with BMW Group DesignworksUSA.”

On the technical side of things, we know that it can connect to Wi-Fi over 802.11 ac and has Bluetooth 4.0. The sound is handled by a Creative SoundCore 3D quad-core processor. The only technical specifications we know of the M8 are that it supports Intel’s 4th generation line-up of processors. The PC has support for up to 16GB of RAM and a dual-slot graphics card.