Is this a good deal right now at Newegg?

[geezergamer]

Curious what you all thought of this. I presume they use their cheapest mobo, since it isn't specified, but even so, I've been unable to replicate the system at ibuypower.com for the $1699 and $30 shipping advertised on Newegg.

Anybody here have experience buying a pre-built at Newegg? Am I wrong in thinking that iBuyPower might take extra care in the quality control of those products it sells through an influential retailer like Newegg?

iBUYPOWER Gamer Supreme 941SLC Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz) 12GB DDR3 2TB ATI Radeon HD 5850 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Retail

Processor Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz)
12GB (2GB x6) DDR3-160
2TB SATAII
Blu-Ray Combo Drive
24x DVDRW
ATI Radeon HD5850 1GB
800W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I was leaning toward a cheaper setup ($1450), but that's with 6GB RAM, 1.5T HDD, no blu-ray, and a HD5770. So basically, this deal seems $250 more expensive, but with $500 worth of add-ons. Still, I can live without those add-ons. But won't I eventually just add more RAM and a blu-ray down the road anyway? Why not get them discounted AND deal with iBuyPower through a well-loved retailer with proven customer service?

Any takers on this one? Thanks for any help!

 

[unknown_13]

Would you mind putting a PC together yourself?

It will cost cheaper and the performance will be the same

BTW, do you REALLY need those 12GB RAM? ( 6GB would suit perfectly )

 

[geezergamer]

Yeah, I should have nipped that one in the budd --- I am NOT going to build it myself. No time or interest. I'm just trying to find the best retail bang for my $1500, give or take a little.

And no, I don't need the 6GB now, but I very likely will in a year or so. But the thing that bothers me most about the system, is the 'unspecified' motherboard. The cheapest one they have at ibuypower.com is the Asus P6T SE (or is it an MSI?). How badly could the motherboard choice affect future upgradeability?

 

[unknown_13]

Here:

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365&cm_re=asus_x58-_-13-131-365-_-Product

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286&cm_re=6gb_ddr3-_-20-145-286-_-Product

ASUS EAH5850/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit DDR5:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121361&cm_re=hd5850-_-14-121-361-_-Product

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026&cm_re=750w_psu-_-17-371-026-_-Product

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&cm_re=antec_900-_-11-129-021-_-Product

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754&cm_re=win7_home_premium_64-_-32-116-754-_-Product

All for $1479

 

[unknown_13]

Yeah, I should have nipped that one in the budd --- I am NOT going to build it myself. No time or interest. I'm just trying to find the best retail bang for my $1500, give or take a little.

And no, I don't need the 6GB now, but I very likely will in a year or so. But the thing that bothers me most about the system, is the 'unspecified' motherboard. The cheapest one they have at ibuypower.com is the Asus P6T SE (or is it an MSI?). How badly could the motherboard choice affect future upgradeability?

Sorry i didn't read that before i posted the parts🙁

 

[unknown_13]

That build is pretty good but still expensive. However, i suspect that you'll find better. I'd say go for it if your budget allows it

edit- i have taken a look at the other ibuypower pc's from newegg and there was one that was cheaper, with an amd 955 or 965 CPU ( there was also the HD 5850 ), but it had a amd 770 chipset. I think this iBUYPOWER Gamer Supreme 941SLC is the best of all them

About the mobo on none of the PC's was said what mobo they have. The mobo you chose can make a difference at OC'ing or future SLI or crossfire and overall stability, so not really sure about the mobo's quality, everything else is good

 

[geezergamer]

So, I'm choosing between these two.

Direct from ibuypower.com:
Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
6GB (2GB x3) DDR3-1600
1.5TB SATAII
22x DVDRW
16x DVD
ATI Radeon HD5770 1GB
750W Corsair PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Total, including tax/shipping: $1,601

or

Through Newegg.com:
Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz)
Motherboard: ??
12GB (2GB x6) DDR3-1600
2TB SATAII
Blu-Ray Combo Drive
24x DVDRW
ATI Radeon HD5850 1GB
800W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Total, including tax/shipping: $1,870

Sure, it's $270 more at NewEgg, but the extra 6GB RAM and upgrade to the HD5850 is about a $350 value right there, and then they throw in a blu-ray combo player and a 500GB larger HDD. Again, the only downside appears to be the questionable motherboard, no?

 

[JDFan]

IF you look at the pics on newegg the accessories that come with it includes a ASUS P6T SE MOBO manual so my guess would be that is the MOBO that is being used !!

 

[unknown_13]

Yes the better deal is that at newegg, and as you say the only downside is what mobo is the one in the PC from newegg

I wonder is there any way of finding out what mobo is that.....

 

[unknown_13]

IF you look at the pics on newegg the accessories that come with it includes a ASUS P6T SE MOBO manual so my guess would be that is the MOBO that is being used !!

If it's that mobo then it's pretty much fine

 

[JDFan]

If it's that mobo then it's pretty much fine

Also if you zoom in on the pic with the side of the case open you can see the MOBO model sticker right under the GPU and it also say P6T SE (of course it may be an OEM version of the board with some features missing as well !! - though Ibuypower is not as bad about that type of thing as DELL !!)

It's a shame the TAX adds so much !! (luckily I live in Texas so Newegg does not charge tax on orders )

 

[geezergamer]

Wow, you guys ROCK. I had completely missed the picture of the accessories, and *certainly* hadn't been smart enough to zoom in. Thanks. And now that I can be reasonably confident that it's an P6T SE, I'm pretty much sold on this setup.

It does indeed suck that CA tax adds so much, but while this might sound like rationalization, I don't mind paying tax to a 'local' California business right now, especially on an item which, for me, is much more of a luxury than a necessity.

12GB of RAM. Pffft. 😉

But iBuypower already has pretty competitive prices, and I've been wholly unsuccessful in trying to configure a similar rig for$1699 at ibuypower.com or elsewhere. I get to $1704 even before adding the blu-ray combo, upgrading the HDD to 2TB, or tacking on the additional $30 in shipping.

I'm sure I'll spend another several hours tonight looking for a better deal (and before anyone says it, yes I know building it myself is better/cheaper), but it's looking like I've found my next pc.

Thanks a lot for your help guys.

 

[AMW1011]

Much faster:

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Configurators.aspx?mid=462

1. Under powerdrive: Change power drive to 30% (all the performance you'll need)

2. Under Video card: Change to 5870 (much faster card than the others)

3. Under motherboard: Change board to Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (equal or better motherboard, has USB 3.0)

4. under power supply: Change to Corsair 850w (extremely good PSU)

5. Under Primary hard drive: Change to dual 1TB HARD DRIVE

That is a much, much faster system.

Notice you get a BLU-ray drive.

The CPU is not slower than the i7 930 95% of the time and with powerdrive 30% it is faster.

 

[geezergamer]

Much faster:

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Configurators.aspx?mid=462

1. Under powerdrive: Change power drive to 30% (all the performance you'll need)

2. Under Video card: Change to 5870 (much faster card than the others)

3. Under motherboard: Change board to Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (equal or better motherboard, has USB 3.0)

4. under power supply: Change to Corsair 850w (extremely good PSU)

5. Under Primary hard drive: Change to dual 1TB HARD DRIVE

That is a much, much faster system.

Notice you get a BLU-ray drive.

The CPU is not slower than the i7 930 95% of the time and with powerdrive 30% it is faster.

Thanks for this...I'm looking into it now and it appears very promising. I'll be sure to report back.

 

[geezergamer]

But wait, how is an i5 750 much faster than an i7 930??

 

[geezergamer]

So, I'm now looking at 3.

Direct from ibuypower.com:
Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
6GB (2GB x3) DDR3-1600
1.5TB SATAII
22x DVDRW
16x DVD
ATI Radeon HD5770 1GB
750W Corsair PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Total, including tax/shipping: $1,601

or

Through Newegg.com:
Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz)
Motherboard: ??
12GB (2GB x6) DDR3-1600
2TB SATAII
Blu-Ray Combo Drive
24x DVDRW
ATI Radeon HD5850 1GB
800W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Total, including tax/shipping: $1,870

OR

Direct from ibuypower.com:
Intel Core i5 750 (2.66GHz and 30% overclocked)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
8GB (2GB x3) DDR3-1600
(2x) 1TB SATAII
Blu-Ray Combo Drive
16x DVD
ATI Radeon HD 5850
850W Corsair PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Total, including tax/shipping: $1,899

Can someone convince me that an overclocked i5 750 would be better than a i7 930?

 

[AMW1011]

But wait, how is an i5 750 much faster than an i7 930??

Both the i5 750 and the i7 930 share a very similar architecture, the only real difference performance wise is hyperthreading, which is only useful when running multiple CPU intensive apps, like encoding video, using photoshop, winRAR, and gaming at the same time. As you can see hyperthreading is basically useless for you and most people. The other difference is triple channel memory, which shows benefits in the desktop environment and is a waste of money.

With power drive the i5 750 is set to 3.3 GHz, 500 MHz higher than a stock i7 930, and still costs less.

 

[geezergamer]

Here:

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365&cm_re=asus_x58-_-13-131-365-_-Product

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286&cm_re=6gb_ddr3-_-20-145-286-_-Product

ASUS EAH5850/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit DDR5:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121361&cm_re=hd5850-_-14-121-361-_-Product

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026&cm_re=750w_psu-_-17-371-026-_-Product

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&cm_re=antec_900-_-11-129-021-_-Product

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754&cm_re=win7_home_premium_64-_-32-116-754-_-Product

All for $1479

That does look like a good build though. But if we add another 1TB HD, bump up the 920 to a 930, add a blu-ray combo drive, and slap another 6GB RAM in there, we're at roughly $1670. 😉

 

[geezergamer]

Both the i5 750 and the i7 930 share a very similar architecture, the only real difference performance wise is hyperthreading, which is only useful when running multiple CPU intensive apps, like encoding video, using photoshop, winRAR, and gaming at the same time. As you can see hyperthreading is basically useless for you and most people. The other difference is triple channel memory, which shows benefits in the desktop environment and is a waste of money.

With power drive the i5 750 is set to 3.3 GHz, 500 MHz higher than a stock i7 930, and still costs less.

I'm sure you know the specs better than I do, but still, I dunno. I'm not exactly getting trampled by people rushing out to buy i5 750s. If the i7 and/or 930 is a waste of money, than why is seemingly everyone -- people on this site anyway -- building their rig around one?

 

[AMW1011]

I'm sure you know the specs better than I do, but still, I dunno. I'm not exactly getting trampled by people rushing out to buy i5 750s. If the i7 and/or 930 is a waste of money, than why is seemingly everyone -- people on this site anyway -- building their rig around one?

The i7 has two things going for it.

1. Its the highest echelon of the fastest CPU architecture on the market. Your on a board of enthusiasts, most enthusiasts want the absolute best that they can afford. Why balance a system when they know that they will upgrade in 6 months anyway. If you want to be technical, the Phenom II 965 is almost as fast as the i5 750 and i7 930 and costs much less. Your assuming that the people on these boards were weighing the price v. performance when they made their purchases. However, you must also realize that when the LGA 1366 chipset came out, with the i7 9xx series, it made a huge splash and nothing could touch it. The LGA 1156, i5 7xx and i7 8xx, chipset came out about 6 months later, at that point many people on these boards had already upgraded. Such is the pains of early adoption.

2. The LGA 1366 chipset has some advantages that hardcore enthusiasts can enjoy. LGA 1156 is limited to 16 lane PCIe, meaning you have PCIe bandwidth of x16/x0, x8/x8, x8/x4/x4 ect. Now x8 bandwidth wont bottleneck any single GPU card, like the 5870 or 5850, but x4 will. LGA 1366 is not limited in this way. Meaning if someone on these boards wants 3 or 4 video cards running, LGA 1156 is not for them. Also, the 6-core CPUs will be coming out for LGA 1366 first, which means that those people who want to blow a lot of money on a 6-core CPU just to have one, IE enthusiasts, need LGA 1366 and not LGA 1156.

For the enthusiasts LGA 1366 makes sense.

I'll be blunt here, your not an enthusiast. You don't want to build the PC yourself and you don't want go the that last level of this hobby. That's fine and all, I can see why some people would just not want to bother as it is a responsibility that some may not need.

For you an i5 750 or a Phenom II 965 would give you almost the exact same performance for less which will let you upgrade other things, like the video card, that will show you a larger performance increase.

 

[geezergamer]

<snip>

"those people who want to blow a lot of money on a 6-core CPU just to have one, IE enthusiasts, need LGA 1366 and not LGA 1156.

For the enthusiasts LGA 1366 makes sense.

I'll be blunt here, your not an enthusiast."

<snip>

I'll have to look up the definition of "enthusiast" again to see if I qualify; I keep forgetting the all the requirements above and beyond enthusiasm.

But how about people who like LGA 1366 because it will enable them to spend a reasonable amount on a 6-core when the time comes, as a very substantive means of upgrading a three year old computer? Are they "enthusiasts" as well, or just simply smart?

I'm sure your i5 is nice, but I hardly think that these i7 owners are jealous of you and suffering "the pains of early adoption." But perhaps they just won't commit to the "last level of this hobby."

rofl.

 

[unknown_13]

The i7 is very very future proof. Its architecture, triple-channel DDR3 and the X58 form such a great system that you will not need and upgrade for 2-3 years or more. (especially the people who bought an i7 system in late 2008, their system will last for almost 4-5 years)

Core i5 brought the nehalem architecture to the "mainstream" segment.
Although you don't get triple channel and x16/x16 mode in SLI or CrossFire you still get a powerfull system with the i5.

But, as said the i7 is more future proof😉
The choice depends on the customer

 

[AMW1011]

I'll have to look up the definition of "enthusiast" again to see if I qualify; I keep forgetting the all the requirements above and beyond enthusiasm.

But how about people who like LGA 1366 because it will enable them to spend a reasonable amount on a 6-core when the time comes, as a very substantive means of upgrading a three year old computer? Are they "enthusiasts" as well, or just simply smart?

I'm sure your i5 is nice, but I hardly think that these i7 owners are jealous of you and suffering "the pains of early adoption." But perhaps they just won't commit to the "last level of this hobby."

rofl.

You totally misunderstood what I was saying. I don't own an i5 750 because its a smarter choice, I own it because it is the best I can afford. When I say you are not an enthusiast, you must understand that I am using the term as "fanatical" as many people see us as. As any term, it is open to interpretation.

In three years, we may have cheaper 6-cores, yes. In three years I guarantee we will have a new socket as well. If you want an affordable six core than AMD is your best bet as they will be releasing one soon.

When I say "pains of early adoption" I was not referring to everyone who bought an LGA 1366 system, only the ones who would have been equally served with the LGA 1156 or AM3 system for less.

Before you go insulting me or questioning my bias, why don't you look up some of my posts and see that an i5 750 recommendation is extremely rare from me. The only reason I'm not pushing the Phenom II 965 on you is that ibuypower has some pretty poor deals on them, and don't offer powerdrive with an AMD CPU which limits them quite a bit in comparison.