I have read MANY advertisements for Cyberpowerpc.com, though I have never paid much attention to them.  I generally buy high-end Dell PC’s, or I build my own.  I read MaximumPC magazine religously and I was surprised to see the high marks they gave the CyberPower Gamer Ultimate SLI QUAD.  I currently have an aging home built dual core E6700 oc’d to 3.06Ghz with an NVidia 8800Ultra.  One of the biggest issues I run into is drive performance, since I am running dual 400GB drives in a RAID-1 configuration.  My ASUS mobo basically sucks and the RAID performance really sucks.  I am going to turn this box into my new sever at home.

Back to my CyberpowerPC.com story.  I spent the last few weeks pricing out rigs and looking at many PC manufactures, I also looked at parts to build my own.  I came to the conclusion that I could buy a system from CyberpowerPC.com cheaper than I could build one, plus I get VIsta (I already have XP for a new PC if I need it) and some nice freebies.

Of course wanting to be sure, I jumped over to resellerratings.com and found very mixed results.  They have been improving over the last 6 months (7.8 ranking) and most of the issues seemed to revolve around tech support.  Since I am pretty handy with computers, and they do have a 30 day money back guarantee (I just have to pay return shipping).  I thought it would be an interesting experience to configure and buy a system and chronicle the purchase on my blog.

With the MaximumPC review in mind, I opted for the CyberPower Gamer Ultimate SLI Quad, however I stepped the configuration down a bit:

  • CoolerMaster Cosmos S Gaming Full Tower 420W Case w/ Transparent Side Panel
  • (Quad-Core)Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad Q9650
  • LG 20X DVD+/-R/+/-RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
  • Round Cable Upgrade for Optical Drive
  • INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
  • Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
  • Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (300GB (150GBx2) 10,000RPM)
  • MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) Asus Striker II Extreme nForce 790i SLI Mainboard)
  • 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Memory Module OCZ-Gold
  • Microsoft(R) Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
  • Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU
  • 1,000 Watts  Thermaltake ToughPower - Quad SLI Ready
  • HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
  • 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers
  • NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum High Performance Fan Control, Clock, & Temperature Display
  • 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)

And the Freebies:

  • FREE! (Age of Conan) Game
  • FREE! (Microsoft(R) Flight Simulator X Deluxe) Game
  • FREE! 4GB USB Pen Drive
  • FREE! CyberPower Multi-Purpose Carrying Briefcase
  • FREE! Cyberpower Unleash The Power T-Shirt

All in all, a pretty nice rig.  I used coupon code SMARTCOMPU for a 5% discount, opted for two day FedEx, and with my Tennessee address, no tax.  This rig came in @ just about $3,064.

The system configuration tool was pretty decent (probably overly complicated for a newbie).  The order process was straightforward and I received my order confirmation in less than 60 seconds.  So far the experience has been good.

More later.

UPDATE 9/20/08

CyberpowerPC.com acknowledged my order this morning and gave me an estimated ship date of 10/3/08, which should have my new computer in my hands on 10/7/08.  The date is a bit longer than I had hoped for, but if they hit the promised date, I am okay with it.  I will update shipping status on this post until my new PC  is delivered.

UPDATE 9/23/08

Just to give me some heart failure, CyberpowerPC.com changed my order status from in-process to “Order Received” again. Since there is no description on the order page of what each status means, I called CyberpowerPC, hit “1″ for sales and was immediately connected to sales. Apparently they are working on my order and the “in my hands date” is still tracking for 10/7. He did not have an explanation for why the status changed. It is somewhat confusing, but not a huge issue. On a side note, the charge for the system did hit my Credit Card this morning.

Update: 09/23/08 12:05pm

My status has changed back to the in-process screen. I do not know if my call caused that to happen.

UPDATE 10/9/08

My new PC was supposed to ship 10/3/08.  As of today (10/9/08) the status still says expected ship date 10/3/08.  No additional information.  It is crazy that their order status screen (designed to keep people like me from calling them) is not smart enough to update.

This afternoon I called CP and rang directly to Steve.  Steve was puzzled by WHY my order had not moved and put me on hold.  Steve came back and let me know that my processor (Q9650) had been back ordered and they just received shipment today.  He stated that they were working on my PC and it would ship Friday or Monday at the latest.  He immediately apologized and offered me a 5% discount on my purchase (wow!).

Minutes after the call to Steve, Steve called me back and let me know that since I already had used the 5% off coupon code, they were unable to offer me an additional 5% discount, however he would credit me $30 once I received my system.  No big deal to me, since I was calling for a status and I was not looking for a discount.

However, I am interested in how they can charge me in full for a system they have not started to build.  I will ponder that one for a bit (while I am waiting for my system to ship).  So far, their order status frontend is less than elegant.  The jury remains out on CP, however Steve was very polite and responsive.

Now read part 2 ,the unpacking HERE

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