Power PCs

[efc]

Received my June issue of Maximum PC yesterday and again was not disappointed. There were two reviews for monster machines in this issue. One was from I Buypower and the other was from OC system. I won't list all components however:

I Buypower Titanium XP
3GHzPentium 4c
800 MHz bus MB
ATI 9800 Pro 128 MB video
1 gig DDR 400
$2395

OC System Orion Behemoth
3.58GHz Pentium 4b (overclocked from 3.06GHz)
Abit IT7-MAX MB
512 PC3500 (DDR400)
9700 Pro 128 MB Video
OC Systems guarantees stability of overclocked systems.
$2842

Results:
Sysmark 2000................. IBuy 320 ..............OC 310
Premier 6.01.............................315................No Result
3D Mark 2001 SE.......................83.5 fps.........No Result

The OC machine was so unstable that it could not finish most of the testing. This is the first time I have seen a system review that was so negative. They called the system a ticking time bomb and stated that overall instability is reason enough to stay away.

[Big Booger]

Sounds interesting enough.. a tad bit pricey, but if performance is your forte, then you have to pay to play.
:D

[Dehcbad25]

Power PC always look interesting. If I had the money I would buy a machine from Voodoo computers or from Alienware though.
Since I don't have the money, I build it myself with time :D
PS, since efc posted benchmarks, what about is TZ people agreed in a benchmarking system and we posted hardware with its result?
It would make a good comparason with REAL systems, right?

[efc]

It might be fun to watch you guys with the monster machines duke it out. Everyone would have to use the same test, same version.

The reason I used test results in the original post, was not to illustrate how good the I Buypower machine was. It was to show that you could spend nearly $3000 and end up with a system that was totally unstable.

[Big Booger]

Certainly it would be silly to pay 3000 grand on a machine that is unstable, but I think it only became unstable when they overclocked it..

So I am guessing factory clocked settings worked fine?

Also did it only become unstable at the max overclock speeds? Or was it unstable throughout?
:D

[efc]

This machine is sold in the overclocked state. MaximumPC balked at including the machine sent to them for testing.

Their statement: "After all, overclocking a single 3.06GHz Pentium to 3.6GHz is possible if you have a generous processor with lots of headroom, but repeating that feat for hundreds, maybe thousands, of CPUs is unlikely at best".

OC, balked at their balking, to use their words. So they tested the machine as submitted and sold.

That is the reason I posted the results. Beware of buying this system.

From the article: "We thought we would need to run repeated stress-test to prove that the OC system was capable of running without incident for long periods of time, but it took only our normal benchmark suite to prove that the rig was a ticking time bomb. It couldn't run our simple Adobe Premiere 6.01 benchmark, and it required multiple SYSmark2002 runs to even record a final result. And sadly, despite the videocard's huge heat pipe, the rig never made it through a single run of 3dMark2001 SE."

[zipp51]

I saw the ads for overclocked systems,and I think it is rediculous.If someone is so interested in buying an overclocked computer then surely they can build their own and save over a grand.But then again for the buyer money must be no object and they probably don't care to do the research for building such a machine.You can easily fry components if you don't know what your doing.Small market if you ask me and may as well buy an Alienware gaming system they are more dependable.

[Big Booger]

I would never buy an overclocked system to begin with..
:D
I wonder if they got their money back from the system that they tested :D

hehehe

[cash_site]

I thought that OC voids your warranty, so who covers it now?

I guess then you could overclock it more, and if it burns out they would replace it, right?

But you're just looking for trouble if you buy an OC machine.

[Big Booger]

Good thought cash.. I guess the company that sells it produces the warranty.. but with the manufacturer you are definitely out of luck.

It seems like a stupid thing to do, but I can imagine some people would like the fastest machine possible.. overclocked or not.
:D

[efc]

Here is a link to OC system. The OC Behemoth is the system discussed above. I can see how people might get sucked into buying this thing.



Link to OC (http://www.ocsystem.com/)

[Stripe]

okay where's shadow_warez in all this? :D :D :D

Anyways, cash is definately right. OC voids the manufacturer warranty. Makes you wonder though on the OC system, is that a real 3.58 GHZ or just a lower one that has been OC'd?

Also, with the system failing that much, it's obvious that they didn't OC it well either...

[FastGame]

Originally posted by efc
It might be fun to watch you guys with the monster machines duke it out. Everyone would have to use the same test, same version.
I'm waiting for the "religious type" person to do his upgrade :)

Alienware is the way to go for high end pre-built but you can build the same thing for much $$$ less, don't know about Voodoo computers but I like the name.

Now if only I could get that green bug head case :D

[Dehcbad25]

You don't know Voodoo computers???
I mean, is not that they are famous like Alienware, or sell as much as Dell, but they are nice to watch. If I had extra money (a lot of extra money) to burn I would get a Voodoo (http://www.voodoopc.com/)
What is great is the finishing in the paint, and how they fold the cables in what they called Origami style

[Dehcbad25]

PSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH
Wow, I went and tried to build a system
Like the most expensive one, and I passed the 10K :eek:
Whith that money I can buy a car, not a computer, and a cool car too.
(should I know since I bought a new car yesterday)

[Stripe]

Another good pc maker that I found that you don't see a lot of advertisimg for is called Falcon Northwest (Falcon Northwest (http://www.falcon-nw.com/) )

Comparible to Alienware but I think a little less expensive.

[cash_site]

I went through some of those pre-built websites, and they were charging some exuberant amounts of dollars for systems. So I thought about costing all the components separately and it came pretty close to the pre-built.

How and where do you save money in building a complete system by yourself and not prebuilt ??

[Big Booger]

Usually in the software titles you get with the prebuilt system, is where you save your money.. that and their warranties.. as some manufacturers are pretty nasty when it comes to returns, most pre-built stores offer fairly decent warranties.

Another reason is if you are not experienced, and you happen to damage components while installing.. then it's your loss.. as with pre-built there is no need to worry.. they take the liability.
:D

[efc]

Below links are for the companies that I order from regularly. They not only ship what they promise, the prices are very competitive. Both of these companies have "build to order" programs. You can specify every component in the order.

http://www.cnetpc.com/

http://www.cpusolutions.com/

Also try Dalco Electronics for that hard to find item. Register for a weekly email featuring free shipping.

http://www.dalco.com/

[FastGame]

Originally posted by cash_site
I went through some of those pre-built websites, and they were charging some exuberant amounts of dollars for systems. So I thought about costing all the components separately and it came pretty close to the pre-built.

How and where do you save money in building a complete system by yourself and not prebuilt ??
This is a high end AMD system you can build yourself. All prices are Retail US and unless I made a mistake (??) they all include shipping. I'm taking into account you already have software and perf's(KB, mouse...)

Case>Antec PLUS1080AMG ATX-12V Performance Plus AMG SOHO File Server 430W=$119
Motherboard>Asus A7N8X-Deluxe=$127.63
CPU>AMD ATHLON XP 3000+, 333FSB, 640K CACHE=$267.86
Ram>Corsair PC3500 DDR 256MB 433MHz=2x74=148
HD>Maxtor DiamondMax PlusUltra 120GB 7200RPM Model 6Y120P0 Hard Drive 8MB OEM=113
GFX card>ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR DVI TV OUT 8X AGP=$388
Sound card>Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 -RETAIL=112
Toshiba 16x DVD Drive=34
Lite-On LTR-52246S CD-R/RW=40

Total=$1349.49 US :D now go back to those Custom sites and see how much a rig they build that matches the performance level of this rig cost ????

The Falcon Northwest Mark VI will cost 2,+++.++ and that price is the case & everything in the case not all the pref's same as the above rig !

The whole trick is selective parts buying....why would you buy a $1++.oo plextor drive when a $40 LiteOn will stomp it's guts ? get the idea ? you can save even more money ($150+easy) on the above rig by replacing that XP 3000 with an XP 2400/2600 that will OC easy as pie to the XP 3000.....

Where you really save money is taking everything you have now and upgrading it to a Monster rig, replace your CPU, motherboard,GFX card and ram...oh you may not have the "Green Bug Head" case and all the fancy Big Name stickers but you'll have the same Eye Popping benchmarks :eek:

BTW my rig is better than the one above and I have less than $2,000 invested :)

[Dehcbad25]

Cash, What FG and BB said is true. It is kind of difficult to get the best from both worlds.
Stripe also noted a great pre-built co.
Now, what you get with those premium price companies (Alienware, Voodoo, Falcon Norhtwest is that they go thru rigorous checkpoints (mostly Alienware, and Voodoo, but Falcon also does a great job), so when you get your PC, you know nothing is going to go wrong with it (unless you poke around where you shouldn't, like OC)
Those are systems but the gamers that want maximun performance, but also extremely stable systems, and don't care about money (or dady pays it)
These companies, make sure that when they match hardware, it is going to behave well with each other, and can get the extreme out of it.
Now to put together a system requires some kind of knowledge about the market, and which components to match. Now computers are much more compatible, but some components togetehr will give you extra points in benchmarks. That aside, you have to know what you are buying, so you don't buy blindly, and get something that you might regret a month later. Basically, you have to be up to date in the hardware market to do it, and if you put it all together, adding software it can get quite expensive for normal users.
To FG numbers add OS $200 for WX pro, and any other software (most machines will include some extra software, some times junk, but other is usefull), Floppy Drive, Cables (since your drive is OEM, and this can go up to 20 for rounded) Some extras like Fans if you want to add, or any other toy.
If you know what you are doing, and want to make a good rig, +plus you have the soft, you ahead and build, if not order pre-build. That is the advise I give to any PC shopper.
We can complain about high prices, but they are for a reason.:D