Commodore USA Announces C64x Extreme: Quad Core in a Classic Commodore Chassis

Everyone old enough remembers Commodore 64. For many, it was their first computer. It was among the first computers aimed for home use and its unique form factor was unforgettable. Simply put, Commodore 64 had everything inside a keyboard-like chassis. The original Commodore 64 was made by Commodore International, which defuncted in 1994. Last year, a company called Commodore USA bought branding rights for Commodore brand. 

Commodore USA launched C64x Ultimate in 2010, which was a direct copy of the classical Commodore 64 with new internals. It featured a dual core Atom CPU and NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics, so not exactly top-notch hardware, considering that it was priced at $999. The company has now announced C64x Extreme with Core i7-2720QM. The complete specs are below. 

Due to the price, C64x will most likely attract mainly Commodore enthusiasts. There isn't even a discrete GPU or Windows included. C64x comes with pre-installed Mint 11, which is a Linux distribution. There is a Linux based Commodore Vision OS coming from Commodore USA later on, though, for ultimate retro experience. 

C64x uses regular mini-ITX motherboards and Commodore USA also sells a barebone model without any innards priced at $349. Not cheap, but it might be a good alternative in case you are not pleased with the configurations provided by Commodore USA. However, the form factor limits your components a lot so fitting a desktop CPU and GPU without modding is likely impossible.

C64x Extreme will start shipping on December 15th and can be ordered from Commdore USA's website.