Nimbus Z - The Project Studio Has Evolved
Totally (re)designed for audio.
When Sound On Sound magazine reviewed the original Nimbus Project Studio in June 2011 Martin Walker called it “The most powerful audio performance SOS have measured to date”. Now it’s ready to evolve to the next level. Incredible powerIntel’s Z68 chipset includes Smart Response Technology, Quick Sync Video , 6Gbps SATAIII, USB3.0 and up to 32GB’s of RAM (for more information on the Z68 chipset click here).
Designed for your gearTested and tuned for the ultimate performance with Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar and all your creative software and hardware.
Creative Computer SupportSupport designed for creative people. Rain helps you stay in the creative zone. You provide the inspiration, we’ll take care of the rest
Designed to expand your horizons
Spend more time making musicYou want to add all those tracks. You want to put reverb on everything. Sometimes you’ve gotta auto-tune the heck out the singer. You fell in love with the perfect and suitably enormous sampled piano sound. Now what you need is a computer designed to keep up with all those demands. A system that grinds through all your tracks and plug-ins without breaking a sweat. Meet Nimbus Z. You'll be very happy together.
The Nimbus Z is engineered to make sure you can do it all without worrying if your computer can keep up with your creativity. Cutting edge technology, advanced NZXT cooling and tons of room for expansion cards, drives and memory. All starting at just £849.
Time for a performance boost.The 2nd generation “Sandy Bridge” core i5 and i7 processors are generally regarded as Intel’s finest work to date. Sound On Sound when reviewing the original Nimbus in June 2011 put it like this: “..this machine is simply stunning, beating the 980X Extreme at all but the lowest, 32-sample, buffer size. I can now see why there’s been so much fuss about Sandy Bridge”. Combine that with the new performance features in the Z68 chipset and you have one powerful mover.
Advanced cooling and noise reduction by NZXT & Corsair. NZXT provides user configurable, large diameter fans, sound reduction materials inside the chassis and torrents of airflow to keep your sessions cool and quiet no matter what. With the Corsair H60 processor water cooler there’s no need to worry about heat, even when Turbo Boosting up to 4.4GHz for sustained periods of time – it’s all under control. All you have to do is make music.
Windows 7, tuned by Rain for Creative Computing.Introducing the world's most powerful, stable and compatible operating system for creative computing. This is not regular old Windows. This is Windows 7 tuned by Rain for audio, video and graphics production combined with a custom, high-performance BIOS. Compatible with everything and versatile enough for any project.
Nimbus Z is designed to grow with you.The day you decide you need a new video card, more hard drives and some extra memory is the day you fall in love with Nimbus Z all over again. With an array of high bandwidth PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots plus legacy PCI for your older gear, upgrading is diabolically simple. Add more drives, add up to 32 gigabytes of memory and watch it go.
Hardware
Plug in all your gearNimbus Z is designed and tested to work with your audio hardware. Whatever interface your hardware needs, internally or externally, FireWire, USB, PCI, PCIe or eSATA for hard drives you’ve got options, and lots of them. So plug it all in and enjoy the fact that you can concentrate on the music instead of worrying about the technology.
Next generation PCI Express expansion.Grow as much as you need. Nimbus Z has five PCI Express 2.0 slots for your high-bandwidth UAD-2 card, SSL Duende and Pro Tools HD expansion cards. And for your legacy gear, two full length PCI slots so you don't have to get rid of your UAD-1 card. And with an 80Plus Certified power supply you've got clean and smooth power to add all the cards, drives and memory you need.
Hard drives inside, hard drives outside.Introducing the new SATA III high performance hard drives, designed to prevent glitches and dropouts caused by data bottlenecks. With room for 6 terabytes of storage streaming up to 6 gigabits per second, you can keep recording days and days and never run out of space.
USB 3.0 & 2.0The next generation of high speed data streaming has arrived. Plug in your USB 3.0 external hard drive and stream your audio, video and graphics at breathtaking speeds up to 4.8 gigabits per second. And for your keyboard, mouse and USB coffee warmer, you've got six USB 2.0 ports too.
FireWire made for audio and videoAll Firewire is not created equal. To guarantee compatibility with your audio interface Nimbus comes with a fully tested Via chipset FireWire port that works with everything we’ve thrown at it. If you insist on a Texas Instruments FireWire port then we can add in a couple on a PCI card – no problem.
Pure, high-efficiency power.Nimbus Z gets its juice from an 650 Watt power supply that's virtually silent and 80Plus Certified for high efficiency and smooth delivery at any power load. It also means you've got tons of power for extra drives, expansion cards and memory whenever you feel like upgrading.
Visably Smart HD video outputNimbus Z comes as standard with Intels Visably Smart graphics technology. “Quick Sync” offers 2x faster media processing and “InTru 3D” gives full 3D BluRay playback with active shutter glasses in full high-definition resolution. You can use any two of the VGA, DVI-D, HDMI or DisplayPort outputs for dual monitor viewing. LucidLogix Virtu GPU technology means that even if you add a high-end discrete graphics card you can still utilise the power of the onboard processing.
Burn CDs, DVDs and Blu-RayThere's something about holding that disc in your hand that makes a project feel complete. Whether its Dual Layer CD, DVD or the optional Blu-Ray, you've got SATA II performance and a large buffer to prevent failed burns. Feel free to add another drive or two for disc-to-disc transfers.
Gigabit Ethernet for high speed networkingPop an ethernet cable into the industry-standard RJ-45 port and get connected with gigabit speed. Once you're hooked up, just a flick of the wrist pulls down all the data you need from the web or network attached storage. Optional WIFI does the same trick with no strings attached.
Music Software
From Pro Tools to Premiere.
Technical Specifications
ProcessorIntel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz or i7 2600K 3.4GHz Quad Core
6MB or 8MB L3 Smart Cache
Up to 4.4GHz unlocked Turbo Boost
Core i7 Hyperthreading for 8 virtual cores
2nd Generation Sandy Bridge technology
Memory4 memory slots for up to 32GB of high performance DDR3 1600MHz XMP RAM
Hard Drive6 hard drive slots with two on SATA III 6Gb/s high speed ports
We only use Western Digital Caviar Black high performance SATA III drives
Super fast SSD drive option running up to 525MB/s read & 500MB/s write
Utilise Intel’s Smart Response technology with a small SSD drive as a side cache to the system drive.
Optical DriveSATA DVDR/RW drive as standard.
Specific models available on request.
Optional Blu-Ray player or writer
Video & GraphicsIntel's “Visibly Smart” HD3000 integrated graphics with DVi, VGA, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. Up to two outputs can be used for running dual monitors. Support for Intel’s Quick Sync Video conversion and InTru 3D full Blu-Ray high definition 3D playback. Add a workstation graphics accelerator designed for professional 2D and 3D video and graphics production and also employ LucidLogix Virtu GPU Virtualisation to harness the power of both the integrated and the discrete video.
Onboard AudioHD Audio playback
7.1 Surround Sound
Dolby Home Theatre
Optical S/PDIF output
I/O Ports2x USB3.0 Ports
6x USB2.0 Ports
2x Firewire ports on Via chipset supporting all audio interfaces (TI chipset card available on request)
1x eSATA port
PCI/PCIe Expansion
2x PCI slots for legacy cards
5x PCIe 2.0 (2x16, 3x1)
Connectivity1x Gigabit Ethernet port
Wifi optional
SoftwareWindows 7 tuned for audio and video production
RainZone Internet Safe Zone for virus free surfing and downloading
SupportOne year limited hardware warranty
Optional three year extended hardware warranty
Lifetime email and phone tech support
Quiet Cool DesignBalanced component architecture
NZXT cooling system
Water cooled CPU
Large diameter fans
Acoustic lining
InputOptional keyboard and mouse, wired or wireless
Power650Watt quiet power supply, 80Plus certified
Size & Weight215 x 466 x 520 (WxHxD mm)
15-20 Kgs depending on options
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