News Details

MIAMI, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- TigerDirect.com and CompUSA, leading retailers of consumer electronics and technology products, along with AMD and Systemax teamed up at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show on January 8th, for the 12th Annual Build Your Own PC Race for Charity at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort. This year, the race determined who could assemble a computer based on the AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core Dragon processor in the least amount of time.

There were over 580 guests on hand to cheer the racers on to the finish, which included journalists and other members of traditional and online media. With a time of 5:59, Al Hernandez, Technology & Consumer Reporter at Fox Morning News, won the competition. His charity, Challenged Athletes Foundation, will benefit from the $10,000 first place prize along with the computer he built and other included peripherals valued at $3,500. The Challenged Athletes Foundation assists individuals with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and competitive athletics.

"I am thrilled that I was able to pull off the win this year," said Al Hernandez. "The world class technology editors from Yahoo! Tech, Slash Gear and G4 really made it tough. The money tonight will benefit Challenged Athletes for years to come, thank you to Tiger Direct and all the sponsors for helping change so many lives."

In second place, only 3 seconds behind the winner, was Chris Ramseyer of Tweak Town and third place with a build time of 6:21 was Greg Morgan of The Tech Zone. Chris and Greg's charities will receive $2,500 and $1,000 respectively. All 30 racers' charities will receive the computer they built along with other prizes donated from our sponsors. Each system is equipped with the AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core processors.

"What an exciting event!," said Gilbert Fiorentino, Chief Executive of the Systemax Technology Products Division, including TigerDirect and CompUSA. "Charities nationwide will receive over $118,000 from this event. With the continued support of our vendor partners, we anticipate helping many other charities in the coming years."

Since the annual event began 12 years ago, it has been responsible for donating over $2 million to charities around the country. For many CES attendees in the media, this event has become a CES tradition that they look forward to attending each year. Thousands of individuals watched this year's event live courtesy of ComputerTV (http://com.puter.tv) and UStream.TV.

This year, the 30 participating technology journalists represent major media outlets and analyst firms. Some of the outlets include Wired, G4TV, Gizmodo.com, Revision3, Computer Shopper, PC World, Maximum PC, Fox Morning News, Yahoo! Tech, and the Seattle Times.

Event sponsors included: AMD, Averatec, Bankers Warranty Group, CA, Creative Labs, Crucial Technology, Diamond Multimedia, HP, I-Inc, Konica Minolta, Lenovo, Logitech, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, MSI, OCZ Technology, Pay Pal, Seagate, Sony, Systemax, Targus, Thermaltake, Transcend, Zalman and many others.

To find out more about the race, or for a full list of this year's participants, contact [email protected]. To learn more about the event's main sponsors, please visit the following race sponsors at www.tigerdirect.com, www.compusa.com, www.systemax.com and www.amd.com.

About CompUSA

The CompUSA companies (www.compusa.com) serve the needs of both personal and business computer users, selling consumer electronics, computers, digital media technology and peripherals via retail stores, catalogs and Internet channels. The CompUSA companies are subsidiaries of Systemax Inc. (NYSE: SYX).

About TigerDirect

TigerDirect (http://www.tigerdirect.com) serves the needs of both personal and business computer users, selling consumer electronics, computers, digital media technology and peripherals via retail stores, catalog and Internet channels. TigerDirect is a subsidiary of Systemax Inc. (NYSE: SYX).

About Systemax Inc.

Systemax Inc. (http://www.systemax.com), a Fortune 1000 company, sells personal computers, computer supplies, consumer electronics and industrial products through a system of branded ecommerce web sites, direct mail catalogs, relationship marketers and retail stores in North America and Europe. It also manufactures and sells personal computers under the Systemax and Ultra brands.

SOURCE CompUSA