I'm not a big fan of the look of the case but the support for high-end graphics cards makes this a much more viable system than the Alienware X51. This could be a good option for gamers who don't build their own systems and don't want to pay the boutique prices.
A. This thing is UGLY AS PHUCK B. Note: Custom motherboard and Custom power supply. If either ever goes out your screwed. C. Looks to be waaaaaay overpriced.
I learned the hard way (before I started building my own computers) that "custom" parts just mean cheap OEM crap that you cannot replace. I will never go back down that road.
In the case of the power supply, "Custom" just means it's not any specific brand and we don't know who makes it or whether it's 80 Plus/Bronze/Silver/Gold. AFAIK, both Dell and HP have long since abandoned their proprietary power supply connectors. The motherboard on the other hand is likely BTX, which would mean using anything else in the case likely wouldn't work. Dustin would have to confirm this however.
Well, you could probably build one yourself a bit cheaper, but without adding up the numbers probably not a lot cheaper. Remember that the i7-3960x CPU alone is $1049 on NewEgg. And the cheapest x79 motherboard is $204. Cheapest Gtx 580 is $459. So just with those three components you would be over $1700.
So I don't think its particularly over priced for an OEM System.
What exactly did you put in there? Let me five you my list at Newegg:
ASRock X79 EXTREME4-M mATX ($219) Intel Core i7-3960X ($1050) Corsair H70 cooler ($80) Zotac GeForce GTX 580 ($460) Mushkin 16GB (4 x 4GB) ($80) Intel 320 Series 160GB ($265) Hitachi 500GB 7200 RPM ($85) Flash reader ($20) Encore ENEWI-2XN45 Wireless N300 ($15) Fractal Design Core 1000 ($40) Corsair CX600 V2 600W ($70) LITE-ON 12X Blu-ray Combo ($60) Windows HP x64 OEM ($100) Keyboard and Mouse ($20) Total: $2564
Of course, the GTX 580 is no longer even an option at HP, and the same goes for the 160GB SSD (at least on the model I selected) so we'd be looking at GTX 550 Ti and a 256GB SSD in it's place. You can get that configuration for $2559 from HP. Making similar changes to the Newegg order, we end up with $2379.
Either way, it looks like HP is charging a premium of about $300 to build and configure their systems at the very high end. If you go with something more reasonable (like the i7-2600 h9t model), the price difference is more like $200 over building it yourself. It's not an awesome deal, but it's also not bad either -- pretty much in line with what you'd pay at a boutique.
Hopefully the case looks better in person, but in the photos it reminds me of cheap e-machine towers, very plasticky. The steel used also looks to be rather thin.
this computer looks a LOT like my "ancient" mid-tower HP desktop, that i bought some 4-5 years ago. reverse-mounted motherboard, fan at bottom-back (but this time it is a liquid-cooler and pushes air out), and tilted hard-drive cage with only 2 3.5" hdd slots (but this time it is 2 2.5 and 1 3.5).
the main difference is that this one is a bit bigger and has better looks. I can't fit a GTX580 on my case, but I have a 2500k with a 5770 here and for a small case it does a pretty nice job of keeping things cool. I just put 2 fans as intake (9cm and 12cm) on bottom back/right panels and they push all hot air out. no out-take fans for me.
It looks like any <INSERT PC MANUFACTURER HERE> generic PC in the last ~7 years or something, after they settled on fat plastic bezels that are black, and cheap looking steel panels.
I also think the spec is a bit ridiculous.
"When we asked why the 7970 wasn't being offered, HP's representatives said it was an issue of maintaining a price point."
Wait, what.. you think someone who buys a 6 core Sandy Bridge-E with 16GB RAM gives two shits about the price point?
I'd rather have a 2600K with a healthy clock bump, 8GB RAM, and a 7970.
Sorry, that said, 16GB RAM is actually dirt cheap these days, but I still think it's basically pointless in the life of the machine for the AVERAGE user.
"When we asked why the 7970 wasn't being offered, HP's representatives said it was an issue of maintaining a price point."
That confused me too. I get the part about only using a single GPU because of the form factor and power supply, but someone buying an Extreme edition socket 2011 CPU isn't exactly looking at bang-for-buck ratios.
HD 7970 is brand new and commands a price premium. It probably means that HP couldn't get as large of a volume discount as they'd like. AMD is basically selling all of the 7970 cards they make right now for full price, so why should they sell 50K to HP at a discount when they could just continue selling them to end users for more money?
All prebuild PCs have horrible CPU\GPU ratio. In games Core i5-2500 will give you same fps and money could be spend on additional GPU. Hell, even i3-2100 will be the same in almost all games. It's like builders have no idea that GPU is always bottleneck. And of course nvidia bias. There is absolutely no reason to buy 580 now.
That was one sweet case, I wish they sold that as a standalone. Also the last Voodo Omen. The Firebird wasn't as appealing since it had a smaller upgrade path but it could have been interesting to some people. Sucks that HP shut all of that down after buying Voodo out.
I appreciate that this comment leaves it ambiguous about whether Dustin had a pizza party (I hope) or wiped off the fingerprints (less fun). Good stuff!
There are cases that I don't personally find attractive, but I understand why others do, and I'm sure the same. And if one likes this case, then one likes this case, and that's one's right.
But I've been looking at the photos for the last 10 minutes, trying to figure out how one could like this case, assuming of course that you would remove all the stickers. And I don't get it.
This is too trivial to bother with, but I'd like to suggest a "who likes, who hates" survey - something that would help me suspend disbelief.
Very tactfully worded. Personally, I don't think many people would find this case more appealing than your average, cheap-looking $20 computer case. There are uglier cases, but this certainly isn't a looker.
If anyone is thinking of buying one of these, please get in touch with me. I can match the performance and beat the looks with an OCd 2600K and a 7950 in a Casecom matx case, for a substantially lower price...
For those that don't build their own machines there are other options than this proprietary HP. Just did a quick google, found Ironside Computers and built up a HAF 922 with an i7-2600k, SSD, regular HDD, 8GB ram, AMD 7970, Corsair Enthusiast 650w for about $1,900.
Of course I would personally never purchase bleeding tech like the 7970 because the cost isn't worth its performance, but hell... for $600 cheaper than that HP you have a system with parts that aren't proprietary and the best single GPU on the market.
cases are too plastic and boring. not really bad looking exactly, but not so interesting either. i'd rather have an old grey 386 case with it's clean minimalist look. also, HP uses a bunch of proprietary SD card readers and they put an a$$ load of metal brackets and header patch cables inside, the end result being that the inside is extremely cluttered and it's difficult to work on. they are not upgrade friendly. :(
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Flunk - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I'm not a big fan of the look of the case but the support for high-end graphics cards makes this a much more viable system than the Alienware X51. This could be a good option for gamers who don't build their own systems and don't want to pay the boutique prices.cknobman - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
A. This thing is UGLY AS PHUCKB. Note: Custom motherboard and Custom power supply. If either ever goes out your screwed.
C. Looks to be waaaaaay overpriced.
I learned the hard way (before I started building my own computers) that "custom" parts just mean cheap OEM crap that you cannot replace. I will never go back down that road.
Sabresiberian - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
One thing you can count on in any review of a case, is that someone will post saying it's ugly.No, no it's not fundamentally ugly, but your belief that your opinion means anything more than personal preference is.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
In the case of the power supply, "Custom" just means it's not any specific brand and we don't know who makes it or whether it's 80 Plus/Bronze/Silver/Gold. AFAIK, both Dell and HP have long since abandoned their proprietary power supply connectors. The motherboard on the other hand is likely BTX, which would mean using anything else in the case likely wouldn't work. Dustin would have to confirm this however.Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
The motherboard is actually micro-ATX. It can be replaced.Ratman6161 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
Well, you could probably build one yourself a bit cheaper, but without adding up the numbers probably not a lot cheaper. Remember that the i7-3960x CPU alone is $1049 on NewEgg. And the cheapest x79 motherboard is $204. Cheapest Gtx 580 is $459. So just with those three components you would be over $1700.So I don't think its particularly over priced for an OEM System.
Iketh - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I have it at about $500 cheaper if you build it yourself.JarredWalton - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
What exactly did you put in there? Let me five you my list at Newegg:ASRock X79 EXTREME4-M mATX ($219)
Intel Core i7-3960X ($1050)
Corsair H70 cooler ($80)
Zotac GeForce GTX 580 ($460)
Mushkin 16GB (4 x 4GB) ($80)
Intel 320 Series 160GB ($265)
Hitachi 500GB 7200 RPM ($85)
Flash reader ($20)
Encore ENEWI-2XN45 Wireless N300 ($15)
Fractal Design Core 1000 ($40)
Corsair CX600 V2 600W ($70)
LITE-ON 12X Blu-ray Combo ($60)
Windows HP x64 OEM ($100)
Keyboard and Mouse ($20)
Total: $2564
Of course, the GTX 580 is no longer even an option at HP, and the same goes for the 160GB SSD (at least on the model I selected) so we'd be looking at GTX 550 Ti and a 256GB SSD in it's place. You can get that configuration for $2559 from HP. Making similar changes to the Newegg order, we end up with $2379.
Either way, it looks like HP is charging a premium of about $300 to build and configure their systems at the very high end. If you go with something more reasonable (like the i7-2600 h9t model), the price difference is more like $200 over building it yourself. It's not an awesome deal, but it's also not bad either -- pretty much in line with what you'd pay at a boutique.
alterecho_ - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
It seems to be possible to fit in a 7950 in the X51:http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1414/pg14/al...
So i think the X51 has potential for future cards.
ViperV990 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
Hopefully the case looks better in person, but in the photos it reminds me of cheap e-machine towers, very plasticky. The steel used also looks to be rather thin.Dr0id - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
And it needs to lose the tacky stickers on the very plasticky case.marc1000 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
this computer looks a LOT like my "ancient" mid-tower HP desktop, that i bought some 4-5 years ago. reverse-mounted motherboard, fan at bottom-back (but this time it is a liquid-cooler and pushes air out), and tilted hard-drive cage with only 2 3.5" hdd slots (but this time it is 2 2.5 and 1 3.5).the main difference is that this one is a bit bigger and has better looks. I can't fit a GTX580 on my case, but I have a 2500k with a 5770 here and for a small case it does a pretty nice job of keeping things cool. I just put 2 fans as intake (9cm and 12cm) on bottom back/right panels and they push all hot air out. no out-take fans for me.
in general, i really like this design.
IceDread - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I don't think I've ever seen an uglier computer.MrSpadge - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I did, but that was in the 90's.piroroadkill - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I'm not sure if we're looking at the same case.It looks like any <INSERT PC MANUFACTURER HERE> generic PC in the last ~7 years or something, after they settled on fat plastic bezels that are black, and cheap looking steel panels.
I also think the spec is a bit ridiculous.
"When we asked why the 7970 wasn't being offered, HP's representatives said it was an issue of maintaining a price point."
Wait, what.. you think someone who buys a 6 core Sandy Bridge-E with 16GB RAM gives two shits about the price point?
I'd rather have a 2600K with a healthy clock bump, 8GB RAM, and a 7970.
piroroadkill - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
Sorry, that said, 16GB RAM is actually dirt cheap these days, but I still think it's basically pointless in the life of the machine for the AVERAGE user.Golgatha - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
"When we asked why the 7970 wasn't being offered, HP's representatives said it was an issue of maintaining a price point."That confused me too. I get the part about only using a single GPU because of the form factor and power supply, but someone buying an Extreme edition socket 2011 CPU isn't exactly looking at bang-for-buck ratios.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
HD 7970 is brand new and commands a price premium. It probably means that HP couldn't get as large of a volume discount as they'd like. AMD is basically selling all of the 7970 cards they make right now for full price, so why should they sell 50K to HP at a discount when they could just continue selling them to end users for more money?Herp Derpson - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
All prebuild PCs have horrible CPU\GPU ratio. In games Core i5-2500 will give you same fps and money could be spend on additional GPU. Hell, even i3-2100 will be the same in almost all games. It's like builders have no idea that GPU is always bottleneck.And of course nvidia bias. There is absolutely no reason to buy 580 now.
tipoo - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
That was one sweet case, I wish they sold that as a standalone. Also the last Voodo Omen. The Firebird wasn't as appealing since it had a smaller upgrade path but it could have been interesting to some people. Sucks that HP shut all of that down after buying Voodo out.faster - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I went to HP's website to check this bad boy out. Their base model was $2349, not $999. Thats a huge difference.SteveKosh - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
The H9 series startsat $999. But I do agree that it looks like it says it for the h9se.JarredWalton - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
If you'll read the text, we specifically mention that the SNB-E config is the least sensible of all the H9 options.faster - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
It is also worth mentioning that they only offer 2 choices of video card - a 550ti or 6850. Fairly lame for a "high end" desktop costing over $2000.StrangerGuy - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
...That's ugly as sin. And nothing screams cheapness like glossy plastic.Gunbuster - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
Did you have a pizza party before the photo shoot? Wipe those fingerprints off!Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I did.TrackSmart - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
I appreciate that this comment leaves it ambiguous about whether Dustin had a pizza party (I hope) or wiped off the fingerprints (less fun). Good stuff!SteveKosh - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
"That leaves the highest performance users hanging in the breeze until March 7th when the AMD Radeon HD 7950 will become available."To my knowledge the 7950 is out already. I think you mean the 7850.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
No, it means that HP is not offering the HD 7950 in the Phoenix until March 7.gdinero79 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
The last-generation SSD seems like an odd choice for a system like this.spencerp - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
That sucks. I really like my Blackbird and was hoping to continue its lineage.cjs150 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
3G SSD?What were they thinking of
No overclocking
Limited GPU options
No crossfire/SLI (not that I am a fan of either)
What market is this aimed at?
And how noisy is it
dave1_nyc - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
There are cases that I don't personally find attractive, but I understand why others do, and I'm sure the same. And if one likes this case, then one likes this case, and that's one's right.But I've been looking at the photos for the last 10 minutes, trying to figure out how one could like this case, assuming of course that you would remove all the stickers. And I don't get it.
This is too trivial to bother with, but I'd like to suggest a "who likes, who hates" survey - something that would help me suspend disbelief.
TrackSmart - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
Very tactfully worded. Personally, I don't think many people would find this case more appealing than your average, cheap-looking $20 computer case. There are uglier cases, but this certainly isn't a looker.GuyIncognito_ - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
> This is too trivial to bother with, but I'd like to suggest a "who likes, who hates" survey -> something that would help me suspend disbelief.
I vote <hate>.
Blibbax - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
If anyone is thinking of buying one of these, please get in touch with me. I can match the performance and beat the looks with an OCd 2600K and a 7950 in a Casecom matx case, for a substantially lower price...bhima - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link
For those that don't build their own machines there are other options than this proprietary HP. Just did a quick google, found Ironside Computers and built up a HAF 922 with an i7-2600k, SSD, regular HDD, 8GB ram, AMD 7970, Corsair Enthusiast 650w for about $1,900.Of course I would personally never purchase bleeding tech like the 7970 because the cost isn't worth its performance, but hell... for $600 cheaper than that HP you have a system with parts that aren't proprietary and the best single GPU on the market.
softdrinkviking - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link
cases are too plastic and boring. not really bad looking exactly, but not so interesting either.i'd rather have an old grey 386 case with it's clean minimalist look.
also, HP uses a bunch of proprietary SD card readers and they put an a$$ load of metal brackets and header patch cables inside, the end result being that the inside is extremely cluttered and it's difficult to work on.
they are not upgrade friendly. :(