Getting a Falcon!

[shmeggegie]

I'm a newbie, and I think my opinion might mean something just because it's the perspective of someone in the position of buying or building who's trying to do his homework. I've been hitting these forums, and the articles, and other sites, for months now researching for the computer I want to build. Today (coincidentally enough) I heard about falcon nw and voodoo and checked them both out. I discovered as I was playing around in their customize areas that they were using the same parts I would have and so I built EXACTLY (except for the case) the computer I'm planning to build for myself. If I ordered the parts (all of 'em, mind you. i'm not swapping anything from my current computer.) and built it myself it'd cost 2500 approx. (It's a dual athlon mp 2000+ system, ideally. I'm trying not to shirk on anything, so all the periphs are kind of top of the line. I hope.) with falcon nw, it was something over 4000, and with voodoo it was almost, but not quite, 6000. So, when you say there's no price difference, well, you're lying.
However, I think there's something to say for these companies. Voodoo makes the NICEST case I've ever seen. I want to get a petition together to get them to sell their cases independently. They take the ugliest Coolermaster case I've ever seen and make it look outstanding. falcon uses aluminum, so whoopee for them, too, I guess. Also, both of those are pre-modded for people afraid of their clumsiness with a dremel, etc... there's a place for that kind of product, even if it is expensive. Further, to compalin about voodoo because of their TECH SERVICE FORUM is silly. You're not going to hear about anyone's wonderful voodoo box that had no problems in a TECH SERVICE FORUM. you'll only hear about the problems. Honestly, I think it's nice of them be as good about their [-peep-] ups as they've been. They are just a handful of guys building highly customized boxes ALL DAY EVERY DAY, and if I were one of them, I'd [-peep-] it up, too. Hell, except MAYBE for fatburger, I bet most people who populate these forums have problems with their own boxes as often. The question is: what do you think your money's worth? to me, my money is worth the parts and my effort is priceless. I love the process I'm going through learning to do this myself. The Hell with Voodoo and Falcon as far as I'm concerned. But if I had a ton of money and wasn't willing to put the effort that's required to learn about building a computer, I'd jump on voodoo in a second.

Sorry this was so long. I just figured there are a lot of people on sites like this who try to tell newbies what they want and why, and maybe a newbie opinion will help enlighten things a little.

 

[dhlucke]

I'm sorry, but even if I had tons of money I wouldn't just burn it on voodoo. A system there starts at $3000 with basically nothing in it. I find that stupid. I configured a basic system there and it cost $4500. That's just too much. That was without a monitor and speakers too.

The case is about it, but maybe somebody has a link to a reseller that sells awesome cases that are moded already.

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>

 

[Guest]

Bottom line guys is that a computer is more than just a sum of its parts. A chimp could put a computer together and run. I have put a couple together myself (I'm not a chimp, though my wife says I smell like one) I haven't the time because of my job responsibilities so I am letting Falcon do the dirty work for me. PS....I forgot to include my hard drive and dvd player about 350 bucks approx....that makes about 300 bucks or so difference between parts and total system cost. If you take into account the Next Day Air coverage, recovery disks, burn in, rat pad, shipping and handling, lifetime upgrade and tech support........the margin of profit for Falcon isn't that high...........Falcon doesn't charge an excess like Voodoo does, and let's YOU specify the parts that you want in the system. You want a Papst fan in the front intake?.......no problem, a certain video card?..........ditto. They send you an itemized list of what each of your components costs. You can compare the costs your self.

Oh yea....the Falcon just edged out Oni's computer for rig of the year. The testers found KY jelly was causing a short on the motherboard!

WISE GUYS deserve it.

 

[FatBurger]

Hell, except MAYBE for fatburger, I bet most people who populate these forums have problems with their own boxes as often.

Heh...me never have any problems? That'll be the day :lol:

BTW, Falcon's cases do look nice, but for $1500 I'd be glad to make one that looks exactly the same and deliver it to your house in person.

<font color=blue>If you don't buy Windows, then the terrorists have already won!</font color=blue> - Microsoft

 

[SammyBoy]

Actually, I though that AlienWare was a good PC builder, with Falcon NW right up there, and voodoo at the bottom.

That's at least what my PCGamer seems to think.

-SammyBoy

 

[mbetea]

actually, i can say my system is 101% stable. not one glitch since 2 days after i put this dual rig together (fruity-ass sound card). since putting a santa cruz in this, i haven't even rebooted or shutdown. going on 3 weeks now i think and i don't see a reboot or shutdown in sight, well, except when my dvStorm gets here 😀

I run duals because i multitask between notepad, outlook express and winamp :lol:

 

[Raystonn]

Out of curiosity, I just configured a system over at Falcon Northwest. I put together a system as close as possible to my main system. I will outline observations below:

----

My first complaint is that you do not get a very good selection of high quality components.

- I was not given a choice as to what kind of RDRAM I would like to buy.
- The only quality i850 motherboard they offered was the Asus P4T-E. I would have rathered a TH7-II for obvious reasons of overclockability.
- They did not offer the hard drive I use, which is currently the fastest SCSI Ultra160 drive on the market. It is an IBM drive with a 3.4ms seek time. I had to make do with the Cheetah.
- They did not offer a CD-RW that was also a DVD-ROM drive. I use one of these to eliminate having to use up multiple drive bays. This also reduces the power draw for my system.
- They force you to purchase a third party heatsink/fan with a Pentium 4 when the retail one is great.
- They do not offer a Pentium 4 1.6A. This fact, along with the inability to specify the type of RDRAM I want and get my motherboard of choice basically eliminates overclocking. Thus, I was forced to actually select a Pentium 4 2.4GHz. As this will be running at stock FSB speeds, it will be slower than my actual Pentium 4 1.6A.
- They only offers Enermax power supplies beyond the default crappy one. Enermax power supplies have known issues on the 12V line with many motherboards. For this reason I prefer Antec power supplies. The latest "TruePower" power supplies from Antec have separate 3.3, 5, and 12V circuitry. They are the first in the industry. This allows all rails to stay within specifications at all times. Due to the lack in offersings here I was forced to grab the Enermax 550watt instead of my Antec TruePower 550watt.

----

My second complaint is they lock you into an air cooling solution. They have no option to allow you to ship them something such as a Vapochill in which to assemble the components. They do not allow you to specify decent components that are good for overclocking so perhaps this is a moot point.

---

My third, and final, complaint is the price. With all of the above-mentioned restrictions you would think I would get something in return. In exchange for accepting second-choice or unknown parts in certain circumstances, you might assume I would get a better deal. You would be very wrong. The system I configured came to $4,475.00. I will tell you right now that I did not pay half that for my current system, and <b>that counts the cost of the Vapochill</b>. I got a system that is far superior to the one that I managed to configure on their website and it did not cost me half as much.

I will allow you to draw your own conclusions.

-Raystonn


= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my employer. =

 

[AndrewT]

You can have 35 cd roms in your case if you want and it wouldn't make any diff because they use real power when running not when just sitting there empty. So having a dvd-cdrw only saves you space.

I like having a cd rom beside my cdrw, it cost a lot less to replace a cd rom then a cdrw so I only use it to write with it, replacing the dvd-cdrw cost even more. As you can tell I'm not a big fan of all in one gadgets, when one goes all gone and have to sit and do nothing till fixed or replaced.

<font color=red>Computer upgraded, now need a place to live, and a good divorce lawyer.</font color=red>

 

[kusek]

That's why I find his $300 difference laughable. He must be quoting prices that are double what you could find online.
Many of friends buy computers with the notion you get what you pay for which is true for most things including separate components. However, when you make a value added product the middleman that assembles it has to make a buck too so that theory goes out the window.

<font color=green>"No Thoroughbred for you! Come back, 2 weeks."</font color=green>

 

[Guest]

All I said was I was getting a Falcon and it was a good system. All of you computer dorks with no lives try to diss it by saying how expensive and a rip-off it is. Fine. I am sorry that I picked a forum with the "unless you build it yourself it's garbage" mentality. I have the money and the knowledge that my new rig will be the best available. Instead of trying to find ways to knock my purchase I suggest you computer wimps get an education and get a good job. I do and am buying the best money can buy. And until I see one of your low-life, brain-dead dweebs systems in Maximum PC for review, you can talk all you want.

You should all thank God that being a dork isn't a crime.

eat me,

snookims

 

[FatBurger]

And until I see one of your low-life, brain-dead dweebs systems in Maximum PC for review, you can talk all you want.

Right...because we all know that Maximum PC actually knows what they're talking about. It's not like they're a bunch of idiots who put out a magazine for the masses.

<font color=blue>If you don't buy Windows, then the terrorists have already won!</font color=blue> - Microsoft

 

[mbetea]

lol, i skimmed through it once, i think it was that mag. went back to reading the enquirer within the next 5min.
snookims-
having "the best money can buy" is a dumb and VERY subjective statement. again, you haven't shown any system specs for this "godly" rig. i would be curious what would possibly cost 2200 w/out a monitor, printer, etc. i say your statement is completely subjective because i take it this is a gaming rig or pretty much geared towards it? well, to me i don't play games so gaming doesn't mean sh*t to me. so to me this ultimate pc you have is no better than a bargin dell. most of the people here in one way or another use the computer for work everyday or are working on computers. so saying we need to get a life is an ignorant statement imo. now go take your pre-built and brag on AOL that you can run free-cell superfast.

CNN Reports: Statistics show that every 4.2sec someone in America is getting delled. More at 11.

 

[simactive]

------------------------------------------------------------
yeah and that's 25$ Canadian, that's like 47 cents US (soon)! LOL
------------------------------------------------------------
To AndrewT
Canadan wont become that poor to the US. 😡


\\\//3// 7//3 31337 (0///3 |=0|2 J0/\ 83 |234|)j!!!1

 

[Harisahmed]

Do you realize that most of the people on this forum are just trying to keep you from "wasting" your money. I used to be part of the rat race to always have the best gaming machine around, but I grew up. There are alot of people that will tell you the same thing when it comes to getting the latest and greatest. It only lasts until the next component becomes available, which us sometimes less than 3 months away. Then you get that "my system's not the best" feeling, which all too soon turns into the "I need a faster system" as soon as the next wave of games comes out. I had one of the best machines around (5 years ago) and it was out of date by the time any software came around that could use everything that I had upgraded to.

If the only problem you have with the DIYer's opinion on this pc is that you don't have the time, you would be better off getting a new mid range system from Dell. Save about $2500 off what you are looking to spend now and just use it to get another Dell in about 2 years when you feel like upgrading. Some OEMs like Dell will even give you a trade in on your old system, so upgrading is a lot less expensive. Upgrading this way will keep your system functioning at a level that matches the requirements for the software that is available.

 

[reader850]

This has been an interesting and encouraging thread. I am in much the same boat as Shmeggegie, a newbie with a desire to build my own, having faithfully followed the articles and posts here at Tom's for over a year. I think I could, if I started with a newbie-friendly motherboard. Could some of you veterans please recommend a couple of reliable motherboards that are close to foolproof? (A complete package with clear documentation/instructions and little risk of needing [or messing up] a bios update.) Nothing too fancy is required. For an Athlon 1800+ with DDR, and I'd prefer on-board LAN and sound. I know most of you think little of on-board video, but if a GForce 2 would be adequate for my needs, would the NVidia integrated solution be an unwise choice? Thanks for your thoughts.
(I guess I should really post this in the Motherboard section.)

 

[bront]

The Nforce boards should be good if you're looking to make a budget athlon system. The video is adequite, the sound is great, and the onboard LAN is nice, but not a big deal.

I like the Asus board (A7N266-E for video), but I don't have any personal experience with any Nforce board, so this is from purely a specs view.

The Windows Gods demand money to appease the BSOD! - Rev. Bill Gates

 

[ath0mps0]

The ECS K7S5A sounds like the best board for you - I have found them for between US$40-60 depending on the place and the day (sales). Has all the features you are asking for and doesn't need much config.

I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I had thought.

 

[rcj187]

I have the money and the knowledge that my new rig will be the best available. Instead of trying to find ways to knock my purchase I suggest you computer wimps get an education and get a good job. I do and am buying the best money can buy. And until I see one of your low-life, brain-dead dweebs systems in Maximum PC for review, you can talk all you want.

you dont have the best money can buy. you only have the best system commercially available. anyone of the "brain dead dweebs" here could build a better system for less money than any falcon. and they would even throw in a monitor as well :lol:
and as for the bit about our systems not being in some review magazine... dont you have to be a company or something for them to review your systems? i doubt they would review an enthusiasts system cos it would blow away every brand name out there which would probably upset those brand names a bit!
all the people here are trying to do is explain that buying prebuilt box WILL cost more by about 30% or more. you may not agree or you may not have time to build your own but insulting people who you might be asking for advice in a few months time isnt a good idea. besides you come across as rude ignorant and arrogant... please show a little respect



how do you set a laser printer to stun?

 

[Guest]

Stick the respect where the sun don't shine dweeb boy. I have been called a liar, dumb,ignorant,ridiculed, accused of sleeping with the ownwer, and for what? Stating that I am buying a "not built by a geek" computer. And as you can see, I am new to these boards.......you guys treat all the new guys with this much regard? Falcon has built a reputation as THE BEST built commercially available systems on the planet....PERIOD. If your rigs are that great, why aren't you building them for a living? Because your systems are nothing but glorified Minesweeper and Solitare machines built for nothing more than posting on forums about how knowledgable your computer building skills are. Wake up, smell the roses.......I don't need rude advice from pimple-faced half-wits with thier sole intention being to ridicule a persons computer purchases. My intention was to just post at the start of this thread and get some feedback as to my decision. Not to be "drug over the coals" for buying a great system. Keep building them yourselves guys, forums like this with hundreds of posts a week with computer problems needs you. Myself on the other hand, will sit back and rejoice in the fact that I have a quality company backing up my every move. To all of you that didn't post a rediculous answer, my pardons....to the rest...................................................

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by snookims on 04/16/02 03:33 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[FatBurger]

If your rigs are that great, why aren't you building them for a living?

Because I don't feel like spending all my time keeping track of my employees and taking tech support calls from all my customers.

BTW, nobody here has said Falcon's computers are crap, just overpriced. And you can't argue against that.

<font color=blue>If you don't buy Windows, then the terrorists have already won!</font color=blue> - Microsoft<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by FatBurger on 04/16/02 12:27 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Rob423]

Hey MoneyMike you out there !!

since you back up VooDoo so much, why don't you give us a bunch of reason's why there so good....they better be dam good IMO since they have the BALLZ to charge a starting price of 3,500 for there top system..

This Community is like a Second Family!!

 

[MoneyMike]

you rang?????

lol. i agree with all and everything snookums says. he is right, sure you can build it yourselves, but I like to go to sleep at night knowing im 100% backed-up by a quality Company. Where else can you call the owner of the company himseelf and have a chat? Or talk to the people who actually build your computer!?


My computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

 

[mbetea]

funny, i've asked 2 times now, many posts have gone by and still you do not post your system specs.

Because your systems are nothing but glorified Minesweeper and Solitare machines built for nothing more than posting on forums

weird you should mention games because that's seems to be the theme falcon pushes with their systems. if you would have taken a moment in the first place and saw that there doesn't seem to be a lot, if any people buying pre-built systems here, you might have realized this wasn't the greatest place for it. all a falcon computer seems to be is a glorified quake 3 machine. who says they build the best comps on the planet? i didn't happen to see any ads for them in DVMag, CineFx, VideoMaker, Design Graphics, 3d Artist, DCC Designer or Digital Imaging. but if that's the way you see it, then you truly do have a small mind and i'm sure your comp is the best in that small little world. oh, how fast can you encode a 2hr dv file to mpeg2 to burn to a dvd? can you burn a dvd? what about realtime editing? hmm, didn't think so, for my standards your comp is not good at all. it's only the best depending on which viewpoint you're looking at it from. my comp would suck for a gamer. just for the sole fact that i use a matrox g550. that has no capabilities as far as running a 3d game. on the other hand, for a programmer, animator, videographer/editor, musician it would be a great system. don't attack people then start crying because people are voicing their oppinions right back. the people i could see a pre-built good for are the ones that use it maybe once a week for about 20min just trying to find something online or emailing someone. which would defeat the purpose of spending thousands on a computer if you fall into that category.

CNN Reports: Statistics show that every 4.2sec someone in America is getting delled. More at 11.

 

[bront]

If your rigs are that great, why aren't you building them for a living?

Because, to make money on it, they'd have to charge about the same ammount that any other proffesional PC maker would. Given that, and any proffesional PC maker's abbility to put on a waranty, get better bulk deals, and mass production capabilities, it's not worth it to the consumer or any of us to make a living building high end computers. Besides, most people aren't willing to pay the real price of a truely high-end computer. That's why Geforce MX cards, P4 SDRAM and DDRRAM solutions, and integrated boards are popular in the mainstream market.

Some people need to pay to have someone else do to it. Might be time, might be a lack of access to some of the software, might be a need to have a 1 or 3 year warranty. For them, I say find a PC maker you trust, and stick with them. Personaly, I'd rather build my own machine. I can push my dollars farther. I offer to build them for my friends too, and if they would rather go with a prebuilt system, I advise them on what to get and what not to, because knowledge still goes a long way on getting the best bang for your buck.

One thing a lot of people forget to add in the cost of a prebuilt system, is the cost of the software. Windows XP, Office XP, anti-virus and other softwares, and even sometimes a game bundle, can cost extra, and there are times when you can build a pre-built machine for cheeper than a personal home built system.

The advantage, and the thing that makes the price deceptive, is you can hand pick your parts so you get the best, as opposed to the lowest bidder with most pre-built systems. So, the big specs might remain the same (CPU, MEM, Drive size and speed, ect), but the performance could be 5-10% better, so a better value at a similar price.

The Windows Gods demand money to appease the BSOD! - Rev. Bill Gates

 

[bront]

Or talk to the people who actually build your computer!?

I talk to myself all the time.

I do not, I ignore myself!

No, I talk to me a lot

Do not...

Do to...

......

The Windows Gods demand money to appease the BSOD! - Rev. Bill Gates