#4562036 - 03/31/21 07:03 PM
I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
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Forward Observer
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This will be my third new custom rig from Cyberpower. I bought my first in 2009 and then again in 2014. I have been pleased with both but especially the last one since I am still using it with only a GPU upgrade about 5 years ago to a GTX 980. It's handled most everything I've thrown at it since then but I knew I was itching to get a newer rig. Besides, with the fact that most people aren't using optical drives anymore, the need for a full-size tower is not as great and they seemed to be pushing only the mid-size towers. None of them appear to come with bays for opticals anyway. I will keep my current rig as a back up and it has both a Blu-ray reader/writer plus a CD/DVD reader in it so that will cover my bases if I have the need. Actually, I also still have my old 2009 PC sitting in the closet that I could remove the optical drive from and put them in a case that converts them to externals if I wanted to. Hell, one can buy a low-profile external now for less than the cost of the conversion cases.
Consequently, I picked a basic unit in my price range ($2000 to $2500) and customized a few things. Actually, I didn't change much but besides stepping up from a 120mm fan liquid cooling system to a two fan 240mm system plus I ordered a white case instead of a black one. I'm tired of looking at the impossible to clean dust build-up in the nooks and crannies of my current all-black rubber-coated rig. I actually have to take it outside and use a damp rag to really clean it.
Most of Cyberpower's units, if not all, in this price range, have an RTX3070 NVidia card listed as standard. To step up to an RTX 3080 would add $500 extra plus add a week of lead time. That extra cost does not seem to reflect the actual price differences I'm seeing so it must be driven by scarcity.
Due to a shortage of components (mostly GPU's from what I understand), their build times have gone from about a week to 5 or 6 weeks. Because of this, they are posting a code for an additional 5% off at checkout. There is no rush delivery available at any price anyway.
I do have one question though.
The base PC I chose is listed to have the new i7-11700K processor. This is a new model that I think was just released officially like yesterday with the i7-10700 previously being the top of the i7 lineup. I'm not sure any retailers even have them in stock yet. However, at the same time, Intel is also releasing a new i9-11700 and I can upgrade my unit to this processor for only $154 more.
Would it be worth it or am I just obsessing over something that won't ever affect me that much?
Cheers
Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
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#4562044 - 03/31/21 07:25 PM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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DBond
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Good luck F/O, and sounds like you've had good success with Cyberpower, but the stories I've read put me off that company. And anyway I still seem to insist on slapping it all together myself. I'm only ever up on current tech when building a new box, then I stop paying attention. But I'd have to believe that the i7 is still plenty of chip. Speculating, but I reckon the i9 is a bit of future-proofing. If you keep your PCs for 6 years it may be worth the extra scratch. Otherwise I'd save the money. You pay a premium for the latest. If you haven't already pulled the trigger, have a look at Maingear https://maingear.com/
No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
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#4562055 - 03/31/21 08:56 PM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: DBond]
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Good luck F/O, and sounds like you've had good success with Cyberpower, but the stories I've read put me off that company. And anyway I still seem to insist on slapping it all together myself. I'm only ever up on current tech when building a new box, then I stop paying attention. But I'd have to believe that the i7 is still plenty of chip. Speculating, but I reckon the i9 is a bit of future-proofing. If you keep your PCs for 6 years it may be worth the extra scratch. Otherwise I'd save the money. You pay a premium for the latest. If you haven't already pulled the trigger, have a look at Maingear https://maingear.com/Thanks for the link, but I guess it's a done deal at this point although with their lead times one of the customer service people told me that I could probably still cancel up until around 4 weeks. I checked out the site you linked and configured one of their rigs to about the same specs as the one I am getting from Cyberpower. It might have something to do with the fact that Maingear appears to limit many of the component choices to only one or two top-of-the-line specific name brands while Cyberpower just lists the specs and says it will be a name brand--they just don't say which. Anyway, the Maingear configuration came out to $650 higher than what I'm paying Cyberpower before taxes. It has to be because Maingear is using a better more precise selection of components. I went through this sort of comparison years ago with a couple of other premium PC builders and came to the same pricing conclusion. To use an automotive comparison, I think Maingear is selling an Infinity style of PC while Cyberpower is selling a common Ford or a Chevy. The Infinity is more luxurious but the Ford or Chevy will still get you from point A to point B with relative comfort and reliability. Regardless of any bad stories--for 2020, with 449 ratings compiled by a site call consumer affairs, Cyberpower scored almost 4.75 stars out of 5. community affairs reviews Out of almost 10,000 Google reviews in total Cyberpower got a 4.8 out of 5. Google reviews
This is pretty much what I found when I ordered my first rig from them in 2009. You can pay more but why do so if the quality is generally consistent. Cheers
Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
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#4562084 - 04/01/21 02:49 AM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: WolverineFW]
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I just have an external optical drive floating around in the closet if I ever still need such a beast.... Knowing I had two perfectly good optical drives in my oldest rig with one being a reader/writer, I started looking for a case that will convert one into an external drive. The cases that fit were over $40 including a small wall power converter and USB cables. That's when I saw that one could buy a complete modern slimline reader/writer that doesn't require any power other than the USB for only $22 on Amazon. Heck, they even have Blu-ray externals for not much more. This is just one of the scores of such devices for sale which seem to be aimed at laptop users but would work just fine for a desktop. The funny thing is that I even ordered two optical drives for my current rig-- with one of them a Blu-ray reader/writer. I've never used the Blu-ray other than to watch a movie once just to make sure it worked. In retrospect, it was sort of stupid and wasteful to have ordered those in my build. External slimline optical driveThe new rig, I've ordered comes with a 1 TB SSD drive/4 TB mechanical secondary combo. I also have two more 1 TB external drives so I shouldn't be needing any extra storage space for a long time. Just like DBond so aptly already pointed out, I'm also one that when not looking at a new rig, I tend to stop paying much attention to what's happening with all the technology. Cheers
Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
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#4562116 - 04/01/21 12:20 PM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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DBond
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OK good luck with the new box!
I had helped a friend select a builder a year or two ago. So I researched all of the main players, which is how I came to read the things about Cyberpower. In the end I recommended Maingear due to a number of factors, and I have to say they built a nice box. Very neat and tidy cabling for example. I'm surprised they were so much more expensive, and sounds like you got a good deal.
No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
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#4562417 - 04/04/21 01:54 AM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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ArgonV
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What did the final specs come out to be?
It is the absolute worse time to be buying new gaming gear... But I too found myself in that boat this year! Ended up with an AMD 6700 XT at nearly double the MSRP. :/
"Go Fly A Kite!" -Jason R. FS-WWI Project Leader FS-WWI Plane Pack SiteIntel i9 10900k Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite AC 64GB Corsair DDR4 2933 Vengeance RGB Pro AMD XFX 7900 XTX Merc310 Black Edition LG UltraGear 38GN95B-B 38" monitor Corsair HX1200 PSU 1TB EVO 980 Pro M.2 PCIe x4 SSD 2TB EVO 980 Pro M.2 PCIe x4 SSD Two 2TB EVO 860 SSDs Sound Blaster ZxR Win 10 x64 Pro HOTAS Cougar #4069 w/Uber II Nxt mod #284 & UTM bushings
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#4562433 - 04/04/21 06:46 AM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: ArgonV]
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What did the final specs come out to be?
It is the absolute worse time to be buying new gaming gear... But I too found myself in that boat this year! Ended up with an AMD 6700 XT at nearly double the MSRP. :/ Well, it certainly is for buying just a GPU which is what sort of prompted me to go for just a whole new system. Here are the main items CASE: CORSAIR ICUE 4000X RGB SERIES ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Chassis + AirGuide RGB fans (White ) CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i7-11700K 8/16 3.60GHz [Turbo 4.9GHz] 16MB Cache LGA1200 (This was just released on the 30th) CS_FAN: 3X 120mm Phanteks SK120 PWM FAN - high airflow nine-blade 500-1500 RPM Radiator Fans Black FAN: CyberPowerPC DEEPCOOL Castle 240EX ARGB 240mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ Copper Cold Plate (2 x Standard 120MM Fans) HDD: 1TB WD Blue SN550 M.2 NVME SSD + 4TB SATA III Hard Drive Combo (Combo Drive) KEYBOARD: CyberPowerPC Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard (freebie) MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz Dual Channel Memory (Crucial Ballistix Sport) MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE Z590 UD AC ATX, ARGB, 802.11ac, 2.5GbE LAN, 2 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1, 5 SATA3, 3x M.2 SATA/PCIe MOUSE: CyberPowerPC Standard 4000 DPI with Weight System Optical Gaming Mouse (freebie) NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition) POWER SUPPLY: 750 Watts - Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 Series 750W 80 PLUS GOLD Ultra Quiet Full Modular Power Supply RECOVERYUSB1: Windows 10 Recovery USB [+9] SERVICE: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (INCLUDES LABOR AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT) SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO VIDEO: GeForce RTX™ 3070 8GB GDDR6 (Ampere) [VR Ready] (Single Card) WARRANTY: PREMIUM WARRANTY: Standard 1 Year Parts WARRANTY + ONE (1) YEAR SHIPPING [+19] Along with a cheap mouse and keyboard, included is free shipping from the west coast plus a 5% discount overall due to the 5 to 6 week long lead times. I think they are also throwing in a free game and a mouse pad (big whoop!) I'll never use the cheapo mouse or keyboard since I use a Yama brand backlit mechanical board (the best board I've ever used since I started gaming) and a Logitech wireless mouse but I can always put the extras on eBay. Cheers This is the case. They have an identical case with just a white panel in front instead of tempered glass which is $30 less so I may change to it since I'm not that crazy about all those lights. I'm assuming they can be turned off if one wants. I could switch the memory to 3200 Mhz which would cancel out the $30. exactly. They don't say it will be by Crucial--just that it will be a major brand.
Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
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#4562700 - 04/06/21 12:50 AM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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ArgonV
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Quite the specs!
I scored a decent deal on the previous gen i9 10900k they were trying to get rid of before the 11th series Intel came. It should serve you well!
For the RGB stuff, yeah you can turn it off or tone down the brightness and/or set a static color.
"Go Fly A Kite!" -Jason R. FS-WWI Project Leader FS-WWI Plane Pack SiteIntel i9 10900k Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite AC 64GB Corsair DDR4 2933 Vengeance RGB Pro AMD XFX 7900 XTX Merc310 Black Edition LG UltraGear 38GN95B-B 38" monitor Corsair HX1200 PSU 1TB EVO 980 Pro M.2 PCIe x4 SSD 2TB EVO 980 Pro M.2 PCIe x4 SSD Two 2TB EVO 860 SSDs Sound Blaster ZxR Win 10 x64 Pro HOTAS Cougar #4069 w/Uber II Nxt mod #284 & UTM bushings
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#4569852 - 05/25/21 04:44 AM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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ArgonV
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That is progress! Parts are in short supply everywhere.
"Go Fly A Kite!" -Jason R. FS-WWI Project Leader FS-WWI Plane Pack SiteIntel i9 10900k Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite AC 64GB Corsair DDR4 2933 Vengeance RGB Pro AMD XFX 7900 XTX Merc310 Black Edition LG UltraGear 38GN95B-B 38" monitor Corsair HX1200 PSU 1TB EVO 980 Pro M.2 PCIe x4 SSD 2TB EVO 980 Pro M.2 PCIe x4 SSD Two 2TB EVO 860 SSDs Sound Blaster ZxR Win 10 x64 Pro HOTAS Cougar #4069 w/Uber II Nxt mod #284 & UTM bushings
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#4570081 - 05/27/21 08:40 AM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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Allen
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Happy to read "its on the way"!
Sapphire Pulse RX7900XTX, 3 monitors = 23P (1080p) + SAMSUNG 32" Odyssey Neo G7 1000R curve (4K/2160p) + 23P (1080p), AMD R9-7950X (ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 420), 64GB RAM@6.0GHz, Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER MB, (4x M.2 SSD + 2xSSD + 2xHD) = ~52TB storage, EVGA 1600W PSU, Phanteks Enthoo Pro Full Tower, ASUS RT-AX89X 6000Mbps WiFi router, VKB Gladiator WW2 Stick, Pedals, G.Skill RGB KB, AORUS Thunder M7 Mouse, W11 Pro
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#4570423 - 05/29/21 11:00 PM
Re: I just ordered a new custom rig from Cyberpower
[Re: Forward Observer]
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Forward Observer
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Well, it arrived yesterday. As normal for a valuable package, the seller required a signature on delivery. However, around 6:30 PM I get an email that UPS had delivered the package. Sure enough, it was setting on my front porch where UPS had left it without ringing the doorbell or getting a signature. I should mention that I live in a gated community, so it's relatively safe to leave packages on our porches but--still, the sender pays extra to require a signature for confirmation of delivery and UPS is not holding up their end of the bargain.
The bottom corner of the outside box was squashed in and the sealing tape had busted on each end of where the box flaps meet so obviously UPS paid no attention to the "fragile--handle carefully" signs printed all over the carton.
Still, the actual PC was packed in a 2nd interior box lined with compressible but firm foam padding so everything appeared to be OK. I got it all plugged in and the Windows startup configuration process came on. Once I worked through that and got signed in, I noticed that even though the rainbow lights, on the RTX3070, were pulsating, I had no access to its control panel nor could I change the resolution to anything higher than 1024 x 768.
However, the Nvidia Experience app appeared to be installed so I clicked on that to check the drivers. It showed I had none installed so I downloaded them and then tried a fresh install. That's when I ran into issues. They would start to install and then stop midway with the screen going black. I had to hard restart to get back into Windows. In checking the device manager, I saw that that the system recognized the GPU but that it had been shut down due to a problem (error code 43) The drivers were fully installed though. I promptly called the help desk today at Cyberpower and after describing what happened, the tech immediately concluded that my GPU was faulty. He said he would start a return authorization for my card to replaced and I would get a shipping label on Tuesday since they were closed Monday for memorial day.
He mentioned that my motherboard had a display port connection that would actually give me 1080p after the GPU was removed so I could continue to set my PC up and do stuff other than gaming. My old rig is still just fine with all the games I play so I'll probably just leave the new PC alone until I get the replacement card back.
You know the old saying: Sh!t happens! Still, it appears that Cyberpower is responding in an efficient and professional manner, so I can't complain about that. We'll see how it goes from here.
Cheers
Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
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