The Story:
Oscot recently upgraded a team members PC. The Oscot Team was very meticulous in researching both the competitors and off-the-shelf hardware in order to build the best machine for your money. Here we have outlined for you a direct hardware list of our Ultra custom built machine, one of HP’s highly acclaimed Blackbird machines, and Dell’s XPS 720 system for a side by side comparison. We will refer to the custom built PC as “Ultra” (case model), the HP as the “Blackbird”, and Dell’s XPS 720 as “XPS” for the purposes of this documentation.
The HP and Dell were spec’d out to match as much as possible direct from the vendor. They were ALL chosen with no monitors. The custom built Ultra PC has no mouse and keyboard, but with the money we’re saving you, you’ll manage.
| Ultra (Custom PC) Specs | Blackbird Specs | XPS 720 Specs |
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| Case Specs:
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• 750 Watt or 1KW Power Supply - SLI, ATX2.0, EPS12V, SSI industry compatibility |
Processor:
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Video:
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• NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM ( link ) |
• nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB ( link , a possible video card) |
Motherboard:
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Memory:
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Hard Drives: • 320GB 7200rpm SATA |
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Drives: • Plextor PX810a 18x DVDRW Black Retail ( link ) • Asus Black 16x DVD-ROM/48x CD ROM ( link ) |
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The Goal:
We want our visitors to keep in mind that our custom-built PC does differ slightly from the Blackbird specs. We cannot discount the amount of engineering, design and thought that went into their PC. What we are merely trying to do is match/exceed some or all items, in order to save some money.
They have certainly built a PC for the Gaming and Power PC users to applaud. HP needs to be brought down a notch in terms of their high hopes for ridiculous profit margins. HP’s Blackbird 002 Air Cooled PC comes in at $3,469.00, with shipping and a one year warranty. I mean come on HP, we can buy a Mac for that much money ;). On the other hand, the total cost for the Ultra setup was less than $1500 (Which leaves us with money to buy a Mac).
When it comes to Dell, we’re not sure what to think. They have the right idea but aren’t executing, as they should. In the gaming world high quality components from name brands means the difference in performance. We are not particularly impressed with Dell’s setup, but did like their case. I wonder if they will just sell me that? Dell’s matching bid came in at $2450 before taxes and a possible but doubtful shipping charge.
Ultra PC was built with two things in mind; power and value. The total cost for the Ultra setup was less than $1500. I know what you’re saying… but but but… they have a better case, and they have a tremendous one year warranty, and it’s HP & Dell support, and blah blah blah. Let’s see if we can’t get more for our money doing things with a goal in mind.
Let’s upgrade our Ultra to be a more comparable system to the amazing Blackbird 002 and the trying to be amazing XPS 720. Here we have compiled and upgrade list to make it a fully comparable machine so everyone can see our unbiased fairness. Since the XPS and Blackbird are quite comparable (in hardware specs, not necessarily brands) fresh out of the box, we’ll just run the upgrades for the Ultra to meet or exceed their expectations.
Upgrades:
In order to take advantage of Newegg.com’s great deals you need to shop smart. When looking for a product, sort by lowest price, and check out the items with the highest rating for the lowest price. This helps your money go as far as possible. Most of our compare shopping was using www.newegg.com pricing, www.pricewatch.com is a great place to get your deals as well.
Here we outline three possibilities for each of the items we “lack” in the Ultra Custom PC vs the Blackbird 002 vs Dell’s XPS 720. With three different price structures in mind; conservative, liberal, and money is not the problem. Each possibility represents the appropriate price structure, all of which have advantages over the equipment we used in the Ultra PC, and giving the Blackbird and XPS less, if any advantage over the Ultra.
Case: | ||
Conservative: We found this Thermaltake Case for $179.99, subtract the $69.99 we paid for ours and we are at $110 more than our original price. Effective and efficient, this is the choice for the conservative. | Liberal: For our second case, we were not so conservative and went with something more full function/style. We found this Thermaltake Case that certainly looked more appealing, while also having some features that make it worth the $299 asked for. Subtract the original price paid and bring our upgrade price to $230. | Money is not the problem: Infamous for their build quality and ingenuity, most top-quality machines choose no less than Lian Li Cases. They not only keep your machine performing at its highest, but also provide a distinctive style, like this full tower chassis . But at $399, you would be digging deeper, but most definitely getting your money’s worth at $330 additional cost. |
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| Video Card: | ||
Conservative: To match HP we would have to spend $240 for a GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 video card. Subtract $150 for original price and our cost is $90. Not bad, probably not worth it, but for the critics, there it is. | Liberal: The more than enthused gamer is going to want some more guarantee that his games will be “more” flawlessly displayed. For our Liberal we have found GeForce 8800GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 video card. A price tag of $299, $149 after original price discounted and some bragging rights included with this one. | Money is not the problem: For you my friend, we spared none and asked for the full enchilada, we found you the GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready video card. For $409 you can have this high def coding machine that can just about do it all. The final cost to you subtracting upgrade price is $260. |
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| Memory: | ||
Conservative: In order to match the specs set in the Blackbird’s core configuration we went with CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) memory. At $74 each package, currently after rebate, this is a great bargain and keeps our price well below HP’s machine. Although the down side is it will take up all four slots to match the 4 GB’s of memory, so upgrades from here can leave you with parts to spare. Total initial cost, $118 after rebates, minus original memory cost of $90, put this upgrade at $38. Talk about value. | Liberal Liberal: This is more a waste of money, but this may improve stability and performance. We chose the CORSAIR Dominator 4GB(4 x 1GB) memory. Has been described to perform better but has mixed reviews. At $377 original cost, and $287 upgrade price, this isn’t worth the money for almost the same memory the conservative is getting. | Money is not the problem: Money is not the problem: This one is the only option left for those who want more and all that their money can provide, CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) . At a price of $842 this is made for those of us that can dig deep, but imagine the possibilities of flawless execution that this memory can provide for your computing needs. This comes in at $752 in upgraded pricing. |
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| Power Supply: | ||
Conservative: You are probably not too worried here, but getting an efficient power supply is important. Over the course of time it will save you money and keep the environment greener. We have found the Rosewill RX850-S-B ATX12V power supply for you. Efficient and effective this is a good bang for your buck. At a cost of $149 you can get into this for $40 in the upgrade pricing. | Liberal: The liberal who wants to be green while spending it a bit more but still saving the environment would probably be satisfied with the Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 ATX12V power supply. Just $50 more than the conservative and you’re leaving him with the short straw. Final upgrade cost is $90. | Money is not the problem: You are probably planning on adding liquid cooling, lots of cooling fans, plenty of hard drives, and other non-essentials to give your machine its unique touch. We can supply your powerhouse with ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1100 ATX12V and still be energy conscious with and 80 PLUS Certified energy power supply. At $359 original cost, and $250 upgrade price it certainly adds to the bottom line. |
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Motherboard:
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| Conservative Upgraders – “For the price of the Blackbird I want a more complete PC”: | Liberal Upgrades – “More Bang For More Buck”: | Money is not the problem – “I rely on my PC for hardcore gaming and/or development and don’t need sunlight, just power.” |
Case: $110 Video Card: $90 Memory: $38 Power Supply: $40 | Case: $230 Video Card: $149 Memory: $287 Power Supply: $90 | Case: $330 Video Card: $260 Memory: $752 Power Supply: $250 |
For a grand total of roughly: $2000 after some taxes and shipping. Not bad, in at $1480 cheaper than the HP and $460 cheaper than the Dell. Even if you paid the neighbor to put it together or the local PC shop, you are still in your pocket for $1330 for the HP and $310 for the Dell less.
| For a grand total of roughly: $2450 after some taxes and shipping. We are still in $950 cheaper than HP. Add in the goodies above minus the LCD/TV the conservative republican is getting, and you are still saving $450. Not bad. | For a grand total of roughly: $3350 after some taxes and shipping. Finally a product that matches HP’s pricing structure, but exceeds the HP capabilities in several ways and is a custom PC built to satisfy your needs, tastes, and wants. Oscot welcomes anyone who wants to donate enough money for us to really put these machines to the test, ;). Until that day comes, here’s what we came up with. |
Conclusion:
In this article it was also assumed that you would be charged up to $150 for someone to meticulously make your machine as clean looking as the Oscot Team’s Ultra PC. The downside of building your own PC is that you must be support and this scares many first time users. Keeping positive, there are support forums for every outlet that develops hardware and plenty of dedicated individuals who are more than willing to share experiences and help you get your issues resolved. Some even have phone support, and the biggest benefit is that you actually get full warranties on your hardware. Like 3 years for a motherboard, lifetime for memory, 5 years for hard drives, etc… all through the vendors you purchased equipment from.
Being your own support also means you should pay attention to what is going on, and in this process you will eliminate the need for paying for local support for minor problems. PC’s are much like cars in the respect that if you pay attention to what’s going on it will save you time and money. Heres a helpful hint to remember, Google is everyone’s best friend when looking up error messages. Here at Oscot we try to add and update our content often and hope that it may help you some day when you are in need. It is ludicrous to think we can cover it all but we try our best to supply our visitors with the basics and whatever we can. We think that if we helped one person with our tutorials the effort put into writing it was well worth it.
Bookmark us, and come by often to check our updates. Make us your choice for all your computing information and spread the word. You alone have the knowledge and ability to fix anything as long as you have the desire to be educated.
Oscot – Because Education Should Be Free
If you want to have a fully custom pc like our Ultra PC built for you with lower prices and value in mind, contact us .
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