Best 'bang-per-buck' pre-built high end PCs

[cptwhite_uk]

I was browsing on another forum and someone was wanting to buy a pre-built gaming PC after following a suggested link I was really suprised by what you could get for the price! Chillblast are offering the following spec:

Base System:
Fusion Sentinel - Customised

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 overclocked to 3.00GHz (QUAD Core)
with Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Motherboard:
Asus P5K (exact model unconfirmed)

Memory:
4Gb PC6400 DDR2

Graphics Card:
Chillblast Geforce 8800 GTS 512MB PCIe


Hard Disk Drive:
500GB 7200RPM Hard Disk


Optical Drive:
Standard 20x DL DVD±RW SATA Optical Drive

Power Supply:
High Performance 500W PSU

Sound Card:
On-board High Definition Audio

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit OEM

A pre-overclocked Q6600 to 3Ghz, a 8800GTS 512Mb, 4Gb PC6400 RAM, and 500Gb SATA hard drive are the highlights...

All that for £779 inc. VAT

and if you go with the standard spec (because I customised it a little for the third party cooler, case, and thermal paste), you can still get the main components listed in italics above for £705 inc. VAT. To buy all that would cost you in the region of £650...

and you get a 2 year warranty, non of the hassle of assembly! I think for my next PC I will seriously consider a pre-built if I can get one for such a low price.

Can anyone beat this deal?

[Blitzen]

I doubt its good value because:

a.

Motherboard:
Asus P5K (exact model unconfirmed)

I wouldnt want that board personally.

b.

Power Supply:
High Performance 500W PSU

Doesnt say alot really

c.

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit OEM

High end rig with 32Bit windows? Nah.

Looks to me they are off loading older bits now.

[Fraz]

I was going to say Chillblast when I saw the tread title. The "High Performance 500W psu" is a ThermalTake, I believe.

I think Chillblast are making some great systems, for a lot less than the equivalent you could get from Dell, which would have all OEM components.

[cptwhite_uk]

In responce blitzen

a) it's pre-overclocked so the mobo can't be a complete bag of ****e if it's able to overclock
b) does it matter if it's guaranteed?, you can switch to a corsair 620W for +£40 if you felt it important enough.
c) You can change OS to Windowx XP home or Vista home 64bit for same charge, or switch to Windows XP Pro for +£25

While these extra charges probably command some extra profit, they're hardly taking the piss, they're reasonable as far as I'm concerned. Anyway it's guaranteed for two year with the default spec, so there shouldn't be a problem...

[staffsMike]

No Asus P5K will be terrible but it might just be the plain old P5K.

P5K runs a 1333MHz FSB which is what it takes to run a Q6600 at 3.0GHz therefore the board has been overclocked at all.

[Blitzen]

a) it's pre-overclocked so the mobo can't be a complete bag of ****e if it's able to overclock

I didnt say it was.
I actually said i wouldnt want one as they cant even say which flavour.

b) does it matter if it's guaranteed?, you can switch to a corsair 620W for +£40 if you felt it important enough

More cash again

You asked for opinions and i gave you mine.
I dont think its good value (especially if they think a ThermalTake is 'high end'

[cptwhite_uk]

Fancy presenting a better deal?

If you want to re-jig the components list:

Q6600 cpu (clocked to 3Ghz) (£150)
4Gb PC6400 (£60)
Asus P5K Motherboard (£50)
500Gb 7200rpm Drive (£50)
DVD/R (20x speed) (£15)
8800GTS 512Mb (£170)
Corsair 620W Modular (£85)
Coolermaster CM690 case (£50)
Windows XP Home OEM (£52)
On-board Audio

£770 inc. VAT (cost to buy components as listed above £682 approximately...)

Or with Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme (£26)

£800 inc. VAT (cost to buy components as listed above £708 approximately...)

Would love to see a better deal than this.

[staffsMike]

"Ultima OC 8800GTS" Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz @ QX6950+ 3.30GHz+ Quad Core SILENT DDR2 System

similar money..rubbish company but good components.

SLi 9600 pc looks ok to
"Ultima OC 9600GT SLI" Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz @ 3.00GHz+ Quad Core SILENT DDR2 System

[cptwhite_uk]

Good deal, but I don't think I'd ever buy a full system for OCUK. Also that price doesn't include the case or operating system, adding both would add a minimum of £113 to the price =

£847.36

Suddenly the price isn't so comparable

[staffsMike]

Does it really not include the case?

sorry I thought it did lol

[Mossy]

Have a look at the New 3XS Performance-GTX System

3xs Systems

I can configure with a Q6600 if you want just let me know.

[kasavien]

I would have said 3XS too, got mine over 2 years ago and it's been solid.

[Pob255]

That's not too bad, although there are holes, some have been pointed out also should note these

Memory:
4Gb PC6400 DDR2
+
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit OEM

4gb and a 32bit OS


Processor:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 overclocked to 3.00GHz (QUAD Core)
with Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

The acf7p is a good cooler but it's not that good.

[cptwhite_uk]

I do understand your point but 32bit and 4Gb isn't totally invalid, you will still see 3.5GB and RAM with a 512Mb vid card, it's just limited to 2Gb per app. Also the point is mute because you can get 64bit without extra charge, if you feel so inclined.

Surely an Arctic freezer 7 pro is going to be better than Intel's stock cooler though, and if that can handle a Q6600 @ 3Ghz (as you can specify when ordering, in fact it's the default!) then surely the Freezer pro should do the job fine. Otherwise they'd have a lot of warranty cliams on their hands.

[Chillblastben]

I didnt say it was.
I actually said i wouldnt want one as they cant even say which flavour.


More cash again

You asked for opinions and i gave you mine.
I dont think its good value (especially if they think a ThermalTake is 'high end'

Hi Blitzen

Just to make this point clear, the Asus motherboard in this PC is the P5K. There is no further nomenclature to distinguish this board from its more illustrious brothers. Some of our machines use the P5K Premium or Deluxe, and value systems the P5K-SE - this is all detailed on the website.

This system uses the "Asus P5K" - that is its full name

With regards to 32 bit, you can select any other OS - including XP or 64 bit using our configurator section. For people who like to play older or pickier gaming titles, we still recommend 32 bit Vista for the easiest transition from XP. New games obviously work fine on either

With regards to the high end 500W PSu, this varies depending on availability. Currently we are using OCZ 500W PSUs - but as Fraz says, we have used Thermaltakes before as well - both are very decent for their price and are more than enough to power this specification.

Cheers,

Ben

[FifthFreedom]

You could try looking at cyber power systems.

They have some good deals over there.

Gamer Infinity SLI 900

That one looks similar to your above spec and is fully customizable.