Hey all,
I was wanting to join a computer forum after years of building my own low-cost computers for games. I have a reason to join in order to do this review now. So, hopefully I will have a good time here. I didn't see any part of the forum dedicated to hardware reviews, so I figured I would put this in the "General Gaming.
First off, this review for Cyberpower PC.
As I said before, I've always put together my own computer from components for years. Recently I had an upgrade itch, but found that all the video cards are unusually high priced and often out of stock. That led me to take a look at PC builders online and it turned out that when I added up the bare cost of the components vs a full build from one of these builders, it came out pretty close to the same price. I looked around at several pre-built computer companies and Cyberpower PC seemed to have a good website and everything seemed straightforward in my ordering. Here is a manifest breakdown of my order:
Comments/Special Instructions:
Please make sure the 3 LED fans are installed at the front of the case. Please make sure the fans are connected to motherboard fan controller. I want to set fan speed curves.
1xCPU Fan(4pin)
3xChassis Fan(4pin)
That should be enough connections. You should be able to use a single 4-pin connector for all 3 front intake fans. That allows to connect the rear exhaust fan also.
Okay, next step.
Before ordering my new rig, I contacted the Cyberpower PC customer support via chat, to ask about how the PC fans would be installed in my computer. The conversation was quite 'odd' to say the least. I wrote to the rep that I was going to order 3 Enermax Red LED fans and I wanted to make sure the fans were mounted on the front intake slots. (This seemed like a no-brainer and how they should logically be installed, especially when it's assumed that the exhaust fan that comes with the case would logically end up getting connected to the rear of the case.)
The response I got was puzzling....."We will connect the fans according to the way that our installer believes is safest for this build."
I asked again, more specifically, trying to find out what configuration will be used and got the same canned, almost bot-like answer.
I decided to ensure that the build would be handled properly by including some brief instructions in the "Comments/Special Instructions" section.
The build was not started for 2 weeks after my order. The shipping went well, no damage to the case and it seems like all was well so far. I was not contacted by their team who assembled my PC, so I can only assume there was no problem following my instructions on the build and no confusion about what was ordered.
I noticed that there was no Windows OS disc or USB drive......or even a Windows 10 reg key included in my order. I then noticed that they installed only 3 fans total, just 2 in front (leaving an empty slot at the top) and 1 fan in the rear. The factory case fan was missing from the build completely. No extra fan was in the box. This already violated my instructions that expressly commanded the 3 LED fans get mounted in the front intake slots. Also, to be missing the rear exhaust fan that comes with the case puts me in a situation where I now must go to Frys and purchase hardware to fix this that I shouldn't have to purchase. But that is not all I found. I found that the case fans that were installed were not LED fans, but rather standard Enermax fans.
I called Cyberpower PC and got their sales manager on the phone. I recognized his name from the sales chat interface that I had 3 weeks ago. I told him about the situation and he said "uh huh". I then waited a moment for him to say "we apologize for these mistakes and would be happy to fix this for you" but all I got was "uh huh" (in a rather sarcastic tone I might add). I asked if he thought this was a 'normal' build for my order. He said the same thing he said in the chat "our builders built it according to how they felt it was safest"...... I then pointed him at my Comments/Special Instructions. I asked about the fans not being LED fans and he transferred me to their technical support.
On to tech support. I told them about the issues with my build and they were as "I really don't care about our bad job" as the sales manager was. "Uh huh". Sounding like e'or from Winnie the Pooh, "yeah it looks like we substituted your red LED fans for some other fans because we ran out of stock". I then naturally asked, "why wasn't I contacted?" He had no answer. I then asked for him to ship me the LED fans and he said, "we don't have stock". I then said, ok, then credit me for the fans and I'll go buy my own. Then he said I would have to ship back the current fans first. I was like, "so, let me get this straight....not only do I have to go buy fans and re=wire your bad work, but I have to make a trip to the post office to send back the fans you put in in error?". That's exactly what they wanted. To basically make it such a hassle that I would hopefully throw up my hands and just eat the cost and handle it on my own.
Forward fast to today. I got back home from Fry's and open up the case and prepare to cut the zip ties off of their poorly bundled wiring job that made it so the case door was bulging on the wiring-side-panel, but then noticed the video card........EVGA ACX......what? ACX??? I specifically ordered the ICX!!! The ACX had a poorly designed cooling system that allowed parts of the video card to overheat under certain conditions like slight over-clocking.
I have to wait until Monday to contact Cyberpower PC yet again, but this time to ask them to ship me an ICX video card. I get a psychic impression that they are going to tell me "oh, we're out of stock, so we substituted the ACX without asking you". (Just like the case fans, right?)
I had to then go over every single component in my build to ensure that nothing else was "substituted" without my permission.
Right now I'm seriously disappointed in the wasted time. I took 2 days off from work so that when I got this new gaming rig, I would be able to game non-stop for a 4-day weekend, but instead I spent the half of the 4-day weekend trying to fix CyberPower's mistake. I don't want to use this computer or try to change anything on it since I don't know what nonsense this company is going to pull on me next. I might have to send this thing back after waiting 3 weeks for my computer.
I highly recommend that no one EVER, EVER order a computer from CyberPower PC. You are better off building it yourself, and chances are, if you order from them, you're going to end up opening up the case and having to put your hands on things anyway. It might as well be your own build you're putting your hands on instead of worrying about any warranties or other 'gotcha' gimmicks this company might pull. So far, the customer service managers of both the sales and tech support departments seem to be on the same scripts and they had their answers ready for me and they rolled off of their tongue's like they say these same things to callers on the phone everyday, hours a day. I know, just on gut instinct from the tone in their voices that they have had the same disagreements, same 'go arounds' on the phone with possibly hundreds of other people before me who found their builds to not meet the 'basic' expectation a customer would expect when adding the option from the website. IE, 3 color LED fans on the front intake slots that look like the picture on their build page. It's kind of common sense when your order says Red LED fans that they should be Red LED fans. It's kind of common sense when your order says EVGA ICX that the card should be that model and not an ACX.
These things might not have been that big of a deal had they called me ahead of time and told me about, that way I could have cancelled the order and organized my weekend accordingly for a 'build' and not a game-playing marathon.
I was wanting to join a computer forum after years of building my own low-cost computers for games. I have a reason to join in order to do this review now. So, hopefully I will have a good time here. I didn't see any part of the forum dedicated to hardware reviews, so I figured I would put this in the "General Gaming.
First off, this review for Cyberpower PC.
As I said before, I've always put together my own computer from components for years. Recently I had an upgrade itch, but found that all the video cards are unusually high priced and often out of stock. That led me to take a look at PC builders online and it turned out that when I added up the bare cost of the components vs a full build from one of these builders, it came out pretty close to the same price. I looked around at several pre-built computer companies and Cyberpower PC seemed to have a good website and everything seemed straightforward in my ordering. Here is a manifest breakdown of my order:
- BLUETOOTH: None
- CABLE: None
- CAS: Corsair Crystal Series® 460X ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ front & Side tempered glass [+52]
- CASUPGRADE: None
- CC: None
- CD: None
- CD2: None
- COOLANT: None
- CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i7-8700K 3.70GHZ 12MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1151 (Coffee Lake)
- CS_FAN: 3X 120mm Enermax Twister Pressure 120MM PWM Cooling Fans [+29] (500-1,200 RPM T.B. Silence Black Color with Red LED Twister Bearing 8-14 dBA)
- ENGRAVING: None
- EVGA_POWER: None
- FA_HDD: None
- FAN: Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED CPU Cooler w/ PWM fan - Efficient Cooling Performance [-10]
- FLASHMEDIA: None
- HD_M2SSD: None
- HD_PCIE1X_SSD: None
- HDD: 1TB WD Blue Series SATA-III 6 GB/s SSD - Seq R/W: Up to 545/525 MB/s, Rnd R/W up to 100/80k [+71] (Single Drive)
- HDD2: None
- HEADSET: None
- IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
- KEYBOARD: None [-5]
- MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz Dual Channel Memory (ADATA XPG Z1)
- MONITOR: None
- MOPAD: None
- MOTHERBOARD: ASRock Z370 Pro4 ATX w/ RGB, USB 3.1, 2 PCIe x16, 3 PCIe x1, 6 SATA3, 2 M.2 SATA/PCIe [Intel Optane Ready]
- MOUSE: None [-3]
- NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
- OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)
- OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
- POWERSUPPLY: 800 Watts - Standard 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready
- PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]
- RUSH: Standard processing time: ship within 12 to 15 Business Days
- SERVICE: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (INCLUDES LABOR AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT)
- SLI_BRIDGE: None
- SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
- SPEAKERS: None
- USBHD: None
- USBX: None
- VIDEO: EVGA GeForce® GTX 1080 SC2 iCX Gaming 8GB GDDR5X (Pascal)[VR Ready] [+26] (Single Card)
- VIVE_HEADSET: None
- WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 Year Parts WARRANTY
- WNC: None
- WTV: None
Please make sure the 3 LED fans are installed at the front of the case. Please make sure the fans are connected to motherboard fan controller. I want to set fan speed curves.
1xCPU Fan(4pin)
3xChassis Fan(4pin)
That should be enough connections. You should be able to use a single 4-pin connector for all 3 front intake fans. That allows to connect the rear exhaust fan also.
Okay, next step.
Before ordering my new rig, I contacted the Cyberpower PC customer support via chat, to ask about how the PC fans would be installed in my computer. The conversation was quite 'odd' to say the least. I wrote to the rep that I was going to order 3 Enermax Red LED fans and I wanted to make sure the fans were mounted on the front intake slots. (This seemed like a no-brainer and how they should logically be installed, especially when it's assumed that the exhaust fan that comes with the case would logically end up getting connected to the rear of the case.)
The response I got was puzzling....."We will connect the fans according to the way that our installer believes is safest for this build."
I asked again, more specifically, trying to find out what configuration will be used and got the same canned, almost bot-like answer.
I decided to ensure that the build would be handled properly by including some brief instructions in the "Comments/Special Instructions" section.
The build was not started for 2 weeks after my order. The shipping went well, no damage to the case and it seems like all was well so far. I was not contacted by their team who assembled my PC, so I can only assume there was no problem following my instructions on the build and no confusion about what was ordered.
I noticed that there was no Windows OS disc or USB drive......or even a Windows 10 reg key included in my order. I then noticed that they installed only 3 fans total, just 2 in front (leaving an empty slot at the top) and 1 fan in the rear. The factory case fan was missing from the build completely. No extra fan was in the box. This already violated my instructions that expressly commanded the 3 LED fans get mounted in the front intake slots. Also, to be missing the rear exhaust fan that comes with the case puts me in a situation where I now must go to Frys and purchase hardware to fix this that I shouldn't have to purchase. But that is not all I found. I found that the case fans that were installed were not LED fans, but rather standard Enermax fans.
I called Cyberpower PC and got their sales manager on the phone. I recognized his name from the sales chat interface that I had 3 weeks ago. I told him about the situation and he said "uh huh". I then waited a moment for him to say "we apologize for these mistakes and would be happy to fix this for you" but all I got was "uh huh" (in a rather sarcastic tone I might add). I asked if he thought this was a 'normal' build for my order. He said the same thing he said in the chat "our builders built it according to how they felt it was safest"...... I then pointed him at my Comments/Special Instructions. I asked about the fans not being LED fans and he transferred me to their technical support.
On to tech support. I told them about the issues with my build and they were as "I really don't care about our bad job" as the sales manager was. "Uh huh". Sounding like e'or from Winnie the Pooh, "yeah it looks like we substituted your red LED fans for some other fans because we ran out of stock". I then naturally asked, "why wasn't I contacted?" He had no answer. I then asked for him to ship me the LED fans and he said, "we don't have stock". I then said, ok, then credit me for the fans and I'll go buy my own. Then he said I would have to ship back the current fans first. I was like, "so, let me get this straight....not only do I have to go buy fans and re=wire your bad work, but I have to make a trip to the post office to send back the fans you put in in error?". That's exactly what they wanted. To basically make it such a hassle that I would hopefully throw up my hands and just eat the cost and handle it on my own.
Forward fast to today. I got back home from Fry's and open up the case and prepare to cut the zip ties off of their poorly bundled wiring job that made it so the case door was bulging on the wiring-side-panel, but then noticed the video card........EVGA ACX......what? ACX??? I specifically ordered the ICX!!! The ACX had a poorly designed cooling system that allowed parts of the video card to overheat under certain conditions like slight over-clocking.
I have to wait until Monday to contact Cyberpower PC yet again, but this time to ask them to ship me an ICX video card. I get a psychic impression that they are going to tell me "oh, we're out of stock, so we substituted the ACX without asking you". (Just like the case fans, right?)
I had to then go over every single component in my build to ensure that nothing else was "substituted" without my permission.
Right now I'm seriously disappointed in the wasted time. I took 2 days off from work so that when I got this new gaming rig, I would be able to game non-stop for a 4-day weekend, but instead I spent the half of the 4-day weekend trying to fix CyberPower's mistake. I don't want to use this computer or try to change anything on it since I don't know what nonsense this company is going to pull on me next. I might have to send this thing back after waiting 3 weeks for my computer.
I highly recommend that no one EVER, EVER order a computer from CyberPower PC. You are better off building it yourself, and chances are, if you order from them, you're going to end up opening up the case and having to put your hands on things anyway. It might as well be your own build you're putting your hands on instead of worrying about any warranties or other 'gotcha' gimmicks this company might pull. So far, the customer service managers of both the sales and tech support departments seem to be on the same scripts and they had their answers ready for me and they rolled off of their tongue's like they say these same things to callers on the phone everyday, hours a day. I know, just on gut instinct from the tone in their voices that they have had the same disagreements, same 'go arounds' on the phone with possibly hundreds of other people before me who found their builds to not meet the 'basic' expectation a customer would expect when adding the option from the website. IE, 3 color LED fans on the front intake slots that look like the picture on their build page. It's kind of common sense when your order says Red LED fans that they should be Red LED fans. It's kind of common sense when your order says EVGA ICX that the card should be that model and not an ACX.
These things might not have been that big of a deal had they called me ahead of time and told me about, that way I could have cancelled the order and organized my weekend accordingly for a 'build' and not a game-playing marathon.