PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme: E6600 Made Easy
by Jarred Walton on August 29, 2006 4:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Final Thoughts
Some people like to build their own computer systems, and it's not unusual to hear enthusiasts say that it's over half the fun of getting a new computer. Certainly, if you know how to build your own computer and you enjoy the task, there's probably no need to go out and purchase a prebuilt system for yourself. Family members and friends are another story, however, and many "computer experts" often find themselves providing free customer support and/or advice. For enthusiasts looking at getting maximum performance and all of the extra features, the DIY route is still the way to go. In other cases, it is often less of a headache to get a reliable computer from a system vendor and let someone else handle the dirty work.
For those looking to recommend a system to a friend or acquaintance, or anyone looking to purchase a good quality prebuilt system at a reasonable cost, PC Club is definitely worth a look. The Sabre Extreme EN-SE6 offers just about everything you could need in a midrange home computer system. You can also customize a system to your own particular needs as you see fit. We reviewed a $1650 configuration - including OS, software, and a 19" WS monitor - but you can spend more if you want, for example adding a GX2 graphics card if gaming is really important. As we frequently state in buyers guides, purchasing a high-end 20"-24" LCD is also something you might want to look at. $700 for a 24" display is a lot of money initially, but you can use displays through several system upgrades and there is a dramatic difference between using a 19" LCD and a 24" LCD. On the other hand, dropping from the E6600 to an E6400 or E6300 will still provide plenty of CPU power for most people and will reduce cost $100-$225. Get what fits your needs best, but don't be afraid to splurge on the areas that are important to you.
During several weeks of testing, there really were no serious issues that we found with the Sabre Extreme -- at least not once we had the BIOS configured properly. Even our worst-case stress test scenarios ran flawlessly. We would hope that would be the case with any new computer, but sadly it is not. One of the drawbacks of spending thousands of dollars on a system is that you often end up with a bleeding edge configuration, and some people are best off taking a step down in performance rather than dealing with the problems associated with extreme performance. For the vast majority of people, $1000-$1500 is a good amount to spend on a new computer, as it gets you all of the features that you need, most of the features you would want, and it hopefully doesn't break the bank.
We have frequently stated in our buyer's guides that the midrange sector is the most interesting price point, and the same thing applies to midrange prebuilt systems. There are a wide variety of options you can choose in order to build your own dream system. Spending less than $1000 often results in cut corners, and more than $2000 might give you more than you really need, or simply increase cost without dramatically affecting performance or features. Something else to think about is that rather than spending $4500 on a top-of-the-line system all at once, you can end up taking a moderate step back from top performance for one half to one third the cost. Over two or three years, you could even upgrade once or twice to a completely new midrange system and still end up spending the same amount of money. If cost isn't a particular concern and you want the absolute best performance, by all means go ahead and buy a high-end computer, but your typical home or college dormitory will find just about everything they need in midrange offerings such as the PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme EN-SE6 reviewed here.
Does that mean you should go out and buy a PC Club computer? If you're in the market for a new computer, they are worth checking out. Local computer shops and other system vendors provide similar offerings, with a final cost that should be pretty comparable. If you're something of a budding enthusiast but you don't have the time to spend building your own system right now, you might also appreciate the use of off-the-shelf components from PC Club, as you will find everything you need to try and tweak your system for better performance. Determine what level of support you need and how much you're willing to pay, and then shop around. Right now is a great time to buy computers, with the only major events coming in the near future being DirectX 10 and Windows Vista. If you don't feel a need to upgrade right now, then you shouldn't, but if you've been putting off upgrading until the "right time", this is about as good a time as you're likely to see.
As always, we welcome your feedback and any further suggestions on how to improve our system reviews.
Some people like to build their own computer systems, and it's not unusual to hear enthusiasts say that it's over half the fun of getting a new computer. Certainly, if you know how to build your own computer and you enjoy the task, there's probably no need to go out and purchase a prebuilt system for yourself. Family members and friends are another story, however, and many "computer experts" often find themselves providing free customer support and/or advice. For enthusiasts looking at getting maximum performance and all of the extra features, the DIY route is still the way to go. In other cases, it is often less of a headache to get a reliable computer from a system vendor and let someone else handle the dirty work.
For those looking to recommend a system to a friend or acquaintance, or anyone looking to purchase a good quality prebuilt system at a reasonable cost, PC Club is definitely worth a look. The Sabre Extreme EN-SE6 offers just about everything you could need in a midrange home computer system. You can also customize a system to your own particular needs as you see fit. We reviewed a $1650 configuration - including OS, software, and a 19" WS monitor - but you can spend more if you want, for example adding a GX2 graphics card if gaming is really important. As we frequently state in buyers guides, purchasing a high-end 20"-24" LCD is also something you might want to look at. $700 for a 24" display is a lot of money initially, but you can use displays through several system upgrades and there is a dramatic difference between using a 19" LCD and a 24" LCD. On the other hand, dropping from the E6600 to an E6400 or E6300 will still provide plenty of CPU power for most people and will reduce cost $100-$225. Get what fits your needs best, but don't be afraid to splurge on the areas that are important to you.
During several weeks of testing, there really were no serious issues that we found with the Sabre Extreme -- at least not once we had the BIOS configured properly. Even our worst-case stress test scenarios ran flawlessly. We would hope that would be the case with any new computer, but sadly it is not. One of the drawbacks of spending thousands of dollars on a system is that you often end up with a bleeding edge configuration, and some people are best off taking a step down in performance rather than dealing with the problems associated with extreme performance. For the vast majority of people, $1000-$1500 is a good amount to spend on a new computer, as it gets you all of the features that you need, most of the features you would want, and it hopefully doesn't break the bank.
We have frequently stated in our buyer's guides that the midrange sector is the most interesting price point, and the same thing applies to midrange prebuilt systems. There are a wide variety of options you can choose in order to build your own dream system. Spending less than $1000 often results in cut corners, and more than $2000 might give you more than you really need, or simply increase cost without dramatically affecting performance or features. Something else to think about is that rather than spending $4500 on a top-of-the-line system all at once, you can end up taking a moderate step back from top performance for one half to one third the cost. Over two or three years, you could even upgrade once or twice to a completely new midrange system and still end up spending the same amount of money. If cost isn't a particular concern and you want the absolute best performance, by all means go ahead and buy a high-end computer, but your typical home or college dormitory will find just about everything they need in midrange offerings such as the PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme EN-SE6 reviewed here.
Does that mean you should go out and buy a PC Club computer? If you're in the market for a new computer, they are worth checking out. Local computer shops and other system vendors provide similar offerings, with a final cost that should be pretty comparable. If you're something of a budding enthusiast but you don't have the time to spend building your own system right now, you might also appreciate the use of off-the-shelf components from PC Club, as you will find everything you need to try and tweak your system for better performance. Determine what level of support you need and how much you're willing to pay, and then shop around. Right now is a great time to buy computers, with the only major events coming in the near future being DirectX 10 and Windows Vista. If you don't feel a need to upgrade right now, then you shouldn't, but if you've been putting off upgrading until the "right time", this is about as good a time as you're likely to see.
As always, we welcome your feedback and any further suggestions on how to improve our system reviews.
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nah - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Good work, as always. How about an update on the CPU?GPU guides ?modo - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Just went over to ibuypower.com and configured a Core 2 duo E6600 with the MSI 965 mobo, 500W PSU, 1 gig ram, 250 gig HD, 7900Gt 256mb, dvd burner, with a mini-liquid cooler for the cpu for $1245 (without monitor). Enter 'ibuypower' code when you order and you get 5% off, taking the total down to less than $1200.Better system for $200 less?
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Add in the OS and monitor, and the total comes to $1522 with the discount. ($1361 without $229 LCD = $1293 with discount.) You need a 16MB cache HDD and a DVDRW with LightScribe if you want to make things "equal" on components. You can also add some extras that may or may not be available elsewhere. Anyway, it's still slightly cheaper; is it worth considering? Sure - it comes with a 3 year warranty. How's the support? I don't know. As stated in the conclusion, PC Club has some reasonable offers people might want to look at - especially if you live near a local store and would like that sort of support. There are a ton of competing system vendors out there.yyrkoon - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
MSI . . . I can not speak for everyone else, but I've had less than good results using MSI products. They may work fine for a period of time, but can not really be comparred to someone like ABIT, or Gigabyte. Who makes the PSU ? Why do you need a 'mini-liquid cooler' ?I've personally configured (but not bought) a simular C2D budget system, but using a E6400, and a 7600GT, and overall cost was around $800usd. Of course, I had planned on migrating a PSU (Antec), and HDDs from an older system. This is why I almost always suggest quality parts, as quality parts often last for years, and can be reused (in the case of a PSU, and HDDs here). You can go even cheaper if you use something along the lines of the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA motherboard, and migrate memory, and video from current system. *shrug* My personal experience with Asrock however, is that usually they are very solid boards (for the price), but are often less than top tier stable, and more often then not, are fairly quirky, and missing Features such as offering a SATAII controller, but disabling (or not including) command queuing(which is part of the SATAII spec, unless I'm mistaken).
QueBert - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
funny, while I don't really care for MSI, never had a problem with them. Now Gigabyte UGH, on my 3rd board right now for this 939. And my last Gigabyte board (Athlon XP) gave me problems from day one. It's crazy how one person can never have a problem with a brand, and the guy next to him has nothing but problems. I think MSI has gotten a lot better then they were in the past. I live 2 blocks from a PC Club, and i can tell you this, whatever prebuilt systems they sell, they've done A LOT of component testing. As I've never heard somebody complain about an Enpower system, besides those who screw things up themselves with viruses and such. I only shop at PC Club, unless it's something they don't carry. They cost a bit more then Newegg, but the service is great. I walk in, they know me by name. They sold me a MB + Memory, I was dumb and didn't check, the MB was DDR2 and the memory was DDR1, I wanted DDR1, so they took the open MB back, no hassle.bob4432 - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Nice article and seems like a decent system for the $$$$. One question - where can we get the bf2 1.3 benchmark you are using?thanks,
bob :)
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Sure, http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/benchmarks/bf2...">have at it. Standard "this is beta" disclaimers apply. If you don't know how to tweak a batch file, you're on your own. :)--Jarred Walton
bob4432 - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
thanks, i had the 1.22 but lost it, then 1.3 came out.regnez - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
why is that in the feature list the graphics card is a 7900gt and in the benchmark setup it is a 7900gtx? is this a typo or was the graphics card switched out for the benchmark setup?also, it does not seem as if a 350 watt psu is enough to power that graphics card...
and one more thing: this system is called a mid-range system in the review, and I quite disagree. a mid range system would be something in the price range of $700-$900. this is a high end system, and it would not take much ($400 ish more) to bring it up to enthusiast level.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
It was a typo; the system (as configured and tested) uses the 7900 GT. In terms of power, look at the power tests on page 9. Even with a 25% overclock and maximum load, the system draws 213W of power. That's not even accounting for PSU efficiency; remember that the PSU rating is what can be output, not the total wall power draw. Say it's 75% efficient; that means the system is using about 160W of power at maximum load. I've got a few generic 350W PSUs running similar configurations, and none of them have ever had issues.Finally, there is always debate about where market segments overlap price ranges. We consider budget to be $750 or less (maybe a bit more for budget gaming). Midrange is a huge segment that goes from around $1000 to $1500. At ~$1600, this is close enough, though it's definitely at the top of the midrange ladder. High-end starts at $2000 and can go way up from there. It's just a term anyway, and if you think $1500 is too high you're welcome to that opinion. The base configuration of the EN-SE5 comes with an E6300, 7300GS TurboCache, 160GB HDD, and costs $800 (including the OS). It's not longer really gaming worthy, but it will do everything else very well.