Toxophilix
Bright Spark
This is a first-day review of my new PC together with a few comments on the experience of buying it and the quality of PCS's service. I may add some further comments when I have used the machine for a few weeks.
Ordering and Buying
Firstly, I want to say that this has been an outstanding online purchase experience. When I was looking at PCS a few weeks ago I thought, "Well, these are very good prices but margins in the PC business are famously tight, so what corners are they cutting?" Well, I still couldn't answer that question because the efficiency of service and quality of goods has been excellent.
Particular highlights are:
The advice available on the PCS forums. To anyone thinking of buying from PCS: do post your spec on the forum. It's 100% worthwhile and could save you a fortune. In my case particular thanks are due to Keynes.
The fact that I could make multiple changes to my order during the pre-production phase, all of which were carried out perfectly with no confusion, no oh-well-you-changed-your-mind-what-do-you-expect screw-ups. (This isn't something you can take for granted when buying anything.)
The fact that you can see who is actually working on your machine. It's a small thing but there's something reassuring about it and I think PCS could use it in a future advert. If you buy a Dell or Lenovo you don't know who did what to it. In this case I can say:
Built By Sanjit Ghosh
Tested By Zbear Ramzan
QC'd By Garnet Heller
Packed By Anthony Cunliffe
Perfect delivery operation: rock-solid packaging and to-the-minute punctuality from DPD.
Comments on the PC itself
This is a machine is for a mixture of gaming on Windows, software development on Linux and Generally Doing Stuff.
The key elements in the spec were as follows:
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W PRO SERIES HX850-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR
So, impressions so far.
The Storm Trooper case is a well-made tank. It has the same slightly rubbery finish that IBM Thinkpads used to have (that's a compliment, I loved my Thinkpad) and feels as though it will have the same durability. It's big - something like the size of a large labrador and almost as heavy (though easier to carry as it has a handle and keeps still). Inside, there's plenty of room as it's designed to contain far more kit than I have. That's fine and part of the reason I chose it - it will make installing a new GPU or a new drive much easier than in a smaller case.
The machine seems well-built. Cables are stowed tidily, all components correctly seated and everything working perfectly from the off.
Windows was pre-installed and the setup was free of problems. I then installed Linux Mint Nadia into a partition on the HDD. Again, no issues whatsoever.
Another plus is that there is none of the usual bloatware that comes with a new PC.
Idling and while surfing or in other light tasks the PC is extremely quiet. There's a just perceptible hum from the CPU fan. Every now and again the Caviar Black gives a muffled croak, like a frog under a thick layer of blankets. Of course, it's going to get a lot louder when gaming. I'll add a comment on that later, if there's anything unusual to report.
Windows is silky-smooth running from the SSD. The internal wifi on the P8Z77-V LK works beautifully.
Some pictures:
Here is the internal packaging used to protect the PC in transit. There's a huge warning label on the outside of the case pointing out that you need to remove it before switching the thing on ...
The Storm Trooper posing with a pint of milk. It's really not a small case. No sir.
Here's the rear panel showing the connection of the wifi aerial. Also, you can see that the motherboard's video-outputs have been sealed off so you can't make the mistake of connecting your monitor to them.
This is the contents of the welcome pack. As the PSU is a modular one there are piles of spare connectors. Also spare drive caddies, driver disks for NVidia and Asus, an SLI bridge, Windows CD and manuals. Also a sticker advising that the Intel SSD is, er, fast. Which it is.
View attachment 2634
I installed Linux from USB. Very smooth process. All devices were recognised and worked immediately, including the internal wifi which I'm setting up here.
Ordering and Buying
Firstly, I want to say that this has been an outstanding online purchase experience. When I was looking at PCS a few weeks ago I thought, "Well, these are very good prices but margins in the PC business are famously tight, so what corners are they cutting?" Well, I still couldn't answer that question because the efficiency of service and quality of goods has been excellent.
Particular highlights are:
The advice available on the PCS forums. To anyone thinking of buying from PCS: do post your spec on the forum. It's 100% worthwhile and could save you a fortune. In my case particular thanks are due to Keynes.
The fact that I could make multiple changes to my order during the pre-production phase, all of which were carried out perfectly with no confusion, no oh-well-you-changed-your-mind-what-do-you-expect screw-ups. (This isn't something you can take for granted when buying anything.)
The fact that you can see who is actually working on your machine. It's a small thing but there's something reassuring about it and I think PCS could use it in a future advert. If you buy a Dell or Lenovo you don't know who did what to it. In this case I can say:
Built By Sanjit Ghosh
Tested By Zbear Ramzan
QC'd By Garnet Heller
Packed By Anthony Cunliffe
Perfect delivery operation: rock-solid packaging and to-the-minute punctuality from DPD.
Comments on the PC itself
This is a machine is for a mixture of gaming on Windows, software development on Linux and Generally Doing Stuff.
The key elements in the spec were as follows:
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LK: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W PRO SERIES HX850-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR
So, impressions so far.
The Storm Trooper case is a well-made tank. It has the same slightly rubbery finish that IBM Thinkpads used to have (that's a compliment, I loved my Thinkpad) and feels as though it will have the same durability. It's big - something like the size of a large labrador and almost as heavy (though easier to carry as it has a handle and keeps still). Inside, there's plenty of room as it's designed to contain far more kit than I have. That's fine and part of the reason I chose it - it will make installing a new GPU or a new drive much easier than in a smaller case.
The machine seems well-built. Cables are stowed tidily, all components correctly seated and everything working perfectly from the off.
Windows was pre-installed and the setup was free of problems. I then installed Linux Mint Nadia into a partition on the HDD. Again, no issues whatsoever.
Another plus is that there is none of the usual bloatware that comes with a new PC.
Idling and while surfing or in other light tasks the PC is extremely quiet. There's a just perceptible hum from the CPU fan. Every now and again the Caviar Black gives a muffled croak, like a frog under a thick layer of blankets. Of course, it's going to get a lot louder when gaming. I'll add a comment on that later, if there's anything unusual to report.
Windows is silky-smooth running from the SSD. The internal wifi on the P8Z77-V LK works beautifully.
Some pictures:
Here is the internal packaging used to protect the PC in transit. There's a huge warning label on the outside of the case pointing out that you need to remove it before switching the thing on ...
The Storm Trooper posing with a pint of milk. It's really not a small case. No sir.
Here's the rear panel showing the connection of the wifi aerial. Also, you can see that the motherboard's video-outputs have been sealed off so you can't make the mistake of connecting your monitor to them.
This is the contents of the welcome pack. As the PSU is a modular one there are piles of spare connectors. Also spare drive caddies, driver disks for NVidia and Asus, an SLI bridge, Windows CD and manuals. Also a sticker advising that the Intel SSD is, er, fast. Which it is.
View attachment 2634
I installed Linux from USB. Very smooth process. All devices were recognised and worked immediately, including the internal wifi which I'm setting up here.
+rep
