Falcon Northwest Tiki 2022 Review: Tiny Gaming PC That Slays
Falcon Northwest Tiki (2022): GPU Overclocking, Final Thoughts And Our Review Verdict
Cranking up the power limit on our GeForce RTX 3080 Ti didn't have a noticeable impact on the temperature, but it sure did have an impact on performance. While the difference isn't massive, it was enough to bring our little machine that could up past the older 11th-generation Talon's performance, and that system came powered with a GeForce RTX 3090. Not bad at all, for a free tweak.
Notably, despite the extra power, our card was never thermally limited. In fact, the GPU core never went above 74°C. We didn't fiddle with increasing the voltage to the card, but the chassis certainly wouldn't be a limiting factor for folks who want to overclock their GPU. Frankly, given the recommended settings chart on the previous page, we don't think there's much need, but do your own thing, Tiki owners.
Falcon Northwest Tiki (2022) Conclusions: Worth Every Cent
What is there to say about a Falcon Northwest PC? If you buy one of these machines, you should know exactly what you're getting into, and that's a top-shelf gaming PC assembled meticulously and supported with superior customer service. In that sense, it's not unlike buying a premium automobile, like a Ferrari. The whole experience from sales to support is tailored to you individually, and they'll even wire up cables so you can install your own drives in your new machine down the road, if you ask them to do so.
This Falcon Northwest Tiki rests among the fastest gaming PCs we've ever tested, and its GeForce RTX 3080 Ti punches above its weight class, partially due to the excellent GPU airflow design of the Tiki's chassis, and partially due to the impressive potency of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU. Considering that this computer is barely bigger than a box of breakfast cereal, its performance is more than impressive. Load up any game you want in 4K Ultra HD and slam the settings to the ceiling. Unless we're talking about Cyberpunk 2077, it'll run just fine.
As the old saying goes, "small, cheap, good; pick two." Well, in this case, it's little and it's good, so you know what decision you'll have to make. The Falcon Northwest Tiki as tested will run you $4,327 US dollars. That's a lot of scratch for what is essentially a very fancy work and play workstation. Sure, it's a powerful PC and you can use it for all kinds of tasks, but its gaming-oriented CPU choice makes it less optimal for the heaviest of multithreaded workloads of higher-end workstation use cases. For its intended purpose the Tiki slays, but this configuration at least is ideally intended as a gaming machine.
The question then becomes whether you would buy a Tiki at all. We priced out an almost equivalent DIY system with many of the same parts at about $3,300. At our configuration's asking price, that equates to roughly a 30% markup for an expert build, custom small form factor chassis, tech support, and a long, comprehensive warranty, which you could argue is not exorbitant.
Falcon Northwest will even put a custom graphic on the case for you.
Specifically, what you get for your money is professional assembly, pre- and post-sale support, and a three-year parts and labor warranty. That includes overnight service for the first year; if you have a serious hardware problem with your Falcon machine within the first year, they will cover the costs to have it shipped overnight both ways for repairs. You also get some nice extras with the machine, including a coffee cup and some "Falcon Fuel" fancy coffee to put in it.
Our take on it is this: if you have the budget to buy a PC this powerful, your time is probably more valuable than the extra cost. Paying for a Falcon Northwest machine gives you the ability to rest secure in the knowledge that your system will be properly assembled and tested by professionals, and if anything goes wrong in the first three years, you're completely covered. You won't have to go tracking down Newegg invoices or waiting for lengthy manufacturer RMA processes.
Plus, you get to brag that your PC is a tiny Falcon Northwest Tiki that will take down opponent machines twice its size or more; and that might arguably be worth the price if admission on its own.
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