PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme: E6600 Made Easy
by Jarred Walton on August 29, 2006 4:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Internals and Construction
As this is a midrange system, one wouldn't expect the Enpower Sabre Extreme to be jam-packed with stuff on the inside. Removing the side panel reveals that that is indeed the case.
The interior is tidy and all the cables are secured and/or tucked out of the way. There's plenty of room to add additional components in the future should you so desire, although the choice of motherboard prevents you from ever installing something like a CrossFire or SLI setup. On the other hand, a sound card, TV tuner(s), or various other expansion cards could be added as necessary. An added benefit of the minimalist configuration is that ample airflow should be available to all of the internal components, keeping noise levels and temperatures low and improving stability.
Given the use of a 350W power supply, we wouldn't recommend installing more than a couple hard drives and maybe a second optical drive along with a couple expansion cards. If you want to do more than that, you may find that you need to replace the default PSU with a beefier unit. For the default configuration, however, everything works well and should be more than sufficient.
In terms of overall design, the case doesn't have most of the convenience features found in more expensive offerings. All of the hard drives, optical drives, expansion cards, 3.5" drives, etc. are secured using standard screws. The side panels are also held in place using standard screws rather than thumbscrews. This probably means that it takes the PC Club technicians a bit longer to assemble computers then, for example, the Dell assembly-line people. However, screws and the screwdriver have been around for a long time, and the simple fact of the matter is that they work well. They may not be the most convenient tool at times, but they aren't difficult to use and they aren't likely to break off like some plastic latches can do.
We want to emphasize that it is entirely possible to get much higher-end cases and power supplies from PC Club if that's what you want. You can also add multiple hard drives, a sound card, a TV tuner card, etc. Depending on your intended use and configuration, upgrading at least the PSU might not be a bad decision. It is possible to spend an additional $300 just on the case and power supply in the PC Club configurator, although we do wish there were additional options especially for choice of case. Some people might like the ASUS 3600 Vento but we are not among them; however, the end decision is left to the individual.
As this is a midrange system, one wouldn't expect the Enpower Sabre Extreme to be jam-packed with stuff on the inside. Removing the side panel reveals that that is indeed the case.
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| Click to enlarge |
The interior is tidy and all the cables are secured and/or tucked out of the way. There's plenty of room to add additional components in the future should you so desire, although the choice of motherboard prevents you from ever installing something like a CrossFire or SLI setup. On the other hand, a sound card, TV tuner(s), or various other expansion cards could be added as necessary. An added benefit of the minimalist configuration is that ample airflow should be available to all of the internal components, keeping noise levels and temperatures low and improving stability.
Given the use of a 350W power supply, we wouldn't recommend installing more than a couple hard drives and maybe a second optical drive along with a couple expansion cards. If you want to do more than that, you may find that you need to replace the default PSU with a beefier unit. For the default configuration, however, everything works well and should be more than sufficient.
In terms of overall design, the case doesn't have most of the convenience features found in more expensive offerings. All of the hard drives, optical drives, expansion cards, 3.5" drives, etc. are secured using standard screws. The side panels are also held in place using standard screws rather than thumbscrews. This probably means that it takes the PC Club technicians a bit longer to assemble computers then, for example, the Dell assembly-line people. However, screws and the screwdriver have been around for a long time, and the simple fact of the matter is that they work well. They may not be the most convenient tool at times, but they aren't difficult to use and they aren't likely to break off like some plastic latches can do.
We want to emphasize that it is entirely possible to get much higher-end cases and power supplies from PC Club if that's what you want. You can also add multiple hard drives, a sound card, a TV tuner card, etc. Depending on your intended use and configuration, upgrading at least the PSU might not be a bad decision. It is possible to spend an additional $300 just on the case and power supply in the PC Club configurator, although we do wish there were additional options especially for choice of case. Some people might like the ASUS 3600 Vento but we are not among them; however, the end decision is left to the individual.
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unclebud - Friday, September 1, 2006 - link
having to push the optical drives closed instead of being able to press the eject button to do it? terrible designhopefully it won't require a couple hundred customers rmaing their drives to change it someday
JarredWalton - Saturday, September 2, 2006 - link
I've never had a problem pushing the tray to close a CD-ROM. The trick is that you push it gently rather than trying to slam it shut. I could see children having a bit of an issue doing this, but I would wager heavily that most children pushed the tray in regardless of whether or not you can access the eject button.Iceboie - Thursday, August 31, 2006 - link
Will we see an article in the future for us who wants a Conroe system but on a low budget scale?JarredWalton - Saturday, September 2, 2006 - link
Just drop from the E6600 (tested) to an E6300, dropped the graphics card down to a lower-cost version, maybe get a smaller hard drive, and you can quickly get the cost down to under $1000 (not including monitor). The system as a whole is fine, so basically just get whatever CPU and other settings you can afford.giantpandaman2 - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Nice Review. Only things that'd be nice to add is how long it takes to get a system shipped to you and how difficult is it to RMA something. Can you take it to the store? Do they give you a run around? Is it painless? I figure you guys could use a girlfriend/buddy to bring in the computer so you can remain anonymous. :) Sounds like getting things fixed should be pretty easy since they have stores, but it'd be nice to know for sure.giantpandaman2 - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
oops, I know you can take it to the store.Capt Jook - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Hi all,James here, manager of the Tigard, Oregon PC Club. Just wanted to say thanks for a great review and maybe answer a few questions.
RMA through the web can be a bit of a pain...at the moment we do not offer a cross-shipping option for defective parts, so it can take a week or two to get back a good part after you send in the faulty one. In store, if we(PC Club) build the system and it is in warranty, we swap a new part right off of the shelf, 1 year warranty or 3. On 3 year warranty systems, we also cover End of Life(EOL), so if a CPU is 2 years old and EOL...we give you the logical replacement or an upgrade. We usually hire enthusiasts at our stores, so many people feel welcome when they want to discuss multipliers or voltages, etc.
We do use all standard, off the shelf components...nothing proprietary. Our "restore" CD is actually just an XP CD. We are sure to give the customer physical copies of all of the software installed on the system, in case of a catastrophic drive failure. We have a http://pcclub.com/forum/index.cfm">Customer support Forum that has help available 24/7. Mostly other PCC customers, but I know of at least 10 store level employees that frequent the forum on a daily basis(myself included).
The Allied 350W PSU has seen at least 10,000 hours of(combined) testing in the configuration listed. All of our system configurations must pass at least 5,000 hours of testing by our Engineering Department before they are released for sale to the stores and the web.
Each store is required to have a tech on duty 7 days a week, 362 days a year(we are closed xmas, Thanksgiving and 4th of July), so service is available if you are local to a store.
Thanks for your time!
JarredWalton - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
Thanks for the additional information, James. (I'm up north of you in Olympia Washington, so the closest store to me is in Tacoma.) I actually do know a couple enthusiasts that work at PC Club stores, so I agree that the local support should be good. I wish I had some place like PC Club close by my house, as other than ordering online my only options are an overpriced brick-and-mortar store down the street, or I can try my luck at Best Buy. Needless to say, nearly all of my purchases come from web sites.giantpandaman2 - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
Thankfully I'm in Bellevue. I can go anywhere. :Pyyrkoon - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
I own a Vewsonic VA1912wb 19" widscreen monitor, and its a great monitor, however, its also rated @ 8ms, not 5ms listed in your review (I know what Viewsonics webpage says, but according to my box, manual, and newegg, this is incorrect) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82.... Perhaps Viewsonic has since reworked this part, but In my opinion, that would call for a new part # ?As for the Pre-built system, interresting choice of motherboards, they frown on OC'n, yet they offer the best OCable motherboard for the C2D ? You would think, they would have picked something a bit more stable like the ABIT AB9 Pro or something . . .