It is down to $1,300. I would have a tough time building, and I think this is the lowest the "prebuilt premium" is going to get. What I'm worried about is that the pricing is due to the system having some big flaw that limits performance despite solid parts used.
Here are all the cons I could think up:
1) Ivy Bridge i7-3770, not Haswell. Will need new motherboard to upgrade processor later. I don't really care since Haswell was a big step for desktop processors and Intel changes slot every couple of years anyway.
2) 450W PSU. Says its certified for the GTX 780 (maybe not overclocked, dunno much about power loads and modern graphics cards, but in theory they are getting more efficient right?) so should be upgradable. Can't fit two cards in the chassis anyway, so not sure why I would need a ton more power.
3) Small cache SSD vs. a real SSD. Kinda annoying, but will probably just upgrade to a 256/512GB SSD that I pick up on black friday, although some have complained hard drive slots can be tough to access in the Potenza design.
4) No blu-ray. My old laptop has blu-ray so not worried too much about this one.
5) No wifi/bluetooth (not a huge deal for a desktop, although I'll need to replace some peripherals)
6) Windows 8. But its the future right. This is more grumbling than an actual con.
Anything else you can think of? Anyone want to estimate build cost for a system like this (including cost to get someone to actually build it)? Any competitors (x-drive, falcon) offering comparable value right now. Know this forum hates on prebuilts and Maingear a lot, I'm asking y'all to talk me out of this purchase.
Microsoft Store Description:
Link: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/MAINGEAR-Potenza-Super-Stock-Gaming-PC/productID.265664700
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 3.40 GHz with Turbo Boost Technlogy up to 3.90 GHz
Memory: 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Hard drive size: 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM + 30 GB SSD for caching
Operating system: Windows 8
PC type: Desktop
Optical drive: 8x speed (Read/Write) for DVD+/-R & DVD+RW, 6x speed for DVD
Audio: VIA 8-Channel High Definition
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 with 2 GB graphics memory
Ports: 4 USB 3.0 • 6 USB 2.0 • 2 HDMI • VGA • DisplayPort • P/S2 • S/PDIF • 3 DVI • Headphone output • Line-out • 2 Microphone input • Line-in • RJ-45 (10/100/1000)
Bluetooth: No
Dimensions: 14.75 x 7.50 x 9.25 in (374.65 x 190.50 x 234.95 mm)
Weight: 15.00 lbs (6.80 kg)
Color: Black
Other: Model number: Potenza-S-H77-001MS
Maingear Website Description:
SKU: Potenza-S-H77-001MS
Potenza-S-H77-001MS
Standard Features
Chassis: Potenza with VRTX Cooling Technology
Exterior Finish: Black Brushed Aluminum
Motherboard: Asus® P8H77-I Mini-ITX Featuring USB 3.0, SATA 6G, Lucid Virtu
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 3770 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo 8MB L3 Cache HD 4000
Processor Cooling: MAINGEAR Certified Intel® Retail Cooler
MAINGEAR Redline Overclocking Service: Intel® Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Memory: 16GB Corsair XM3 DDR3-1600 (2x16GB)
Graphics and GPGPU Accelerator: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 660 2GB GDDR5 w/PhysX [PERFORMANCE]
SSD Caching For Faster System Response: 30GB Corsair® Accelerator™ SSD Caching Drive
Hard Drive Bay One: 1TB Seagate® Barracuda™ 7200rpm 64MB Cache SATA 6G
Power Supply: 450W Silverstone ST45SF 80 Plus Bronze Certified PSU - GeForce GTX 780 Approved
Optical Drive One: 8X Dual Layer DVD RW Drive Slot Loading SATA
Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit
The Final Finesse: Designed, Manufactured, and Supported in the USA - Flawless Craftsmanship and Wire Management
Angelic Service Warranty: Lifetime Angelic Service Labor and Phone Support with 1 Year Comprehensive Warranty
Here are all the cons I could think up:
1) Ivy Bridge i7-3770, not Haswell. Will need new motherboard to upgrade processor later. I don't really care since Haswell was a big step for desktop processors and Intel changes slot every couple of years anyway.
2) 450W PSU. Says its certified for the GTX 780 (maybe not overclocked, dunno much about power loads and modern graphics cards, but in theory they are getting more efficient right?) so should be upgradable. Can't fit two cards in the chassis anyway, so not sure why I would need a ton more power.
3) Small cache SSD vs. a real SSD. Kinda annoying, but will probably just upgrade to a 256/512GB SSD that I pick up on black friday, although some have complained hard drive slots can be tough to access in the Potenza design.
4) No blu-ray. My old laptop has blu-ray so not worried too much about this one.
5) No wifi/bluetooth (not a huge deal for a desktop, although I'll need to replace some peripherals)
6) Windows 8. But its the future right. This is more grumbling than an actual con.
Anything else you can think of? Anyone want to estimate build cost for a system like this (including cost to get someone to actually build it)? Any competitors (x-drive, falcon) offering comparable value right now. Know this forum hates on prebuilts and Maingear a lot, I'm asking y'all to talk me out of this purchase.
Microsoft Store Description:
Link: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/MAINGEAR-Potenza-Super-Stock-Gaming-PC/productID.265664700
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 3.40 GHz with Turbo Boost Technlogy up to 3.90 GHz
Memory: 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Hard drive size: 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM + 30 GB SSD for caching
Operating system: Windows 8
PC type: Desktop
Optical drive: 8x speed (Read/Write) for DVD+/-R & DVD+RW, 6x speed for DVD
Audio: VIA 8-Channel High Definition
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 with 2 GB graphics memory
Ports: 4 USB 3.0 • 6 USB 2.0 • 2 HDMI • VGA • DisplayPort • P/S2 • S/PDIF • 3 DVI • Headphone output • Line-out • 2 Microphone input • Line-in • RJ-45 (10/100/1000)
Bluetooth: No
Dimensions: 14.75 x 7.50 x 9.25 in (374.65 x 190.50 x 234.95 mm)
Weight: 15.00 lbs (6.80 kg)
Color: Black
Other: Model number: Potenza-S-H77-001MS
Maingear Website Description:
SKU: Potenza-S-H77-001MS
Potenza-S-H77-001MS
Standard Features
Chassis: Potenza with VRTX Cooling Technology
Exterior Finish: Black Brushed Aluminum
Motherboard: Asus® P8H77-I Mini-ITX Featuring USB 3.0, SATA 6G, Lucid Virtu
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 3770 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo 8MB L3 Cache HD 4000
Processor Cooling: MAINGEAR Certified Intel® Retail Cooler
MAINGEAR Redline Overclocking Service: Intel® Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Memory: 16GB Corsair XM3 DDR3-1600 (2x16GB)
Graphics and GPGPU Accelerator: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 660 2GB GDDR5 w/PhysX [PERFORMANCE]
SSD Caching For Faster System Response: 30GB Corsair® Accelerator™ SSD Caching Drive
Hard Drive Bay One: 1TB Seagate® Barracuda™ 7200rpm 64MB Cache SATA 6G
Power Supply: 450W Silverstone ST45SF 80 Plus Bronze Certified PSU - GeForce GTX 780 Approved
Optical Drive One: 8X Dual Layer DVD RW Drive Slot Loading SATA
Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit
The Final Finesse: Designed, Manufactured, and Supported in the USA - Flawless Craftsmanship and Wire Management
Angelic Service Warranty: Lifetime Angelic Service Labor and Phone Support with 1 Year Comprehensive Warranty
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram