PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme: E6600 Made Easy

Final Thoughts

Some people like to build their own computer systems, and it's not unusual to hear enthusiasts say that it's over half the fun of getting a new computer. Certainly, if you know how to build your own computer and you enjoy the task, there's probably no need to go out and purchase a prebuilt system for yourself. Family members and friends are another story, however, and many "computer experts" often find themselves providing free customer support and/or advice. For enthusiasts looking at getting maximum performance and all of the extra features, the DIY route is still the way to go. In other cases, it is often less of a headache to get a reliable computer from a system vendor and let someone else handle the dirty work.

For those looking to recommend a system to a friend or acquaintance, or anyone looking to purchase a good quality prebuilt system at a reasonable cost, PC Club is definitely worth a look. The Sabre Extreme EN-SE6 offers just about everything you could need in a midrange home computer system. You can also customize a system to your own particular needs as you see fit. We reviewed a $1650 configuration - including OS, software, and a 19" WS monitor - but you can spend more if you want, for example adding a GX2 graphics card if gaming is really important. As we frequently state in buyers guides, purchasing a high-end 20"-24" LCD is also something you might want to look at. $700 for a 24" display is a lot of money initially, but you can use displays through several system upgrades and there is a dramatic difference between using a 19" LCD and a 24" LCD. On the other hand, dropping from the E6600 to an E6400 or E6300 will still provide plenty of CPU power for most people and will reduce cost $100-$225. Get what fits your needs best, but don't be afraid to splurge on the areas that are important to you.

During several weeks of testing, there really were no serious issues that we found with the Sabre Extreme -- at least not once we had the BIOS configured properly. Even our worst-case stress test scenarios ran flawlessly. We would hope that would be the case with any new computer, but sadly it is not. One of the drawbacks of spending thousands of dollars on a system is that you often end up with a bleeding edge configuration, and some people are best off taking a step down in performance rather than dealing with the problems associated with extreme performance. For the vast majority of people, $1000-$1500 is a good amount to spend on a new computer, as it gets you all of the features that you need, most of the features you would want, and it hopefully doesn't break the bank.

We have frequently stated in our buyer's guides that the midrange sector is the most interesting price point, and the same thing applies to midrange prebuilt systems. There are a wide variety of options you can choose in order to build your own dream system. Spending less than $1000 often results in cut corners, and more than $2000 might give you more than you really need, or simply increase cost without dramatically affecting performance or features. Something else to think about is that rather than spending $4500 on a top-of-the-line system all at once, you can end up taking a moderate step back from top performance for one half to one third the cost. Over two or three years, you could even upgrade once or twice to a completely new midrange system and still end up spending the same amount of money. If cost isn't a particular concern and you want the absolute best performance, by all means go ahead and buy a high-end computer, but your typical home or college dormitory will find just about everything they need in midrange offerings such as the PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme EN-SE6 reviewed here.

Does that mean you should go out and buy a PC Club computer? If you're in the market for a new computer, they are worth checking out. Local computer shops and other system vendors provide similar offerings, with a final cost that should be pretty comparable. If you're something of a budding enthusiast but you don't have the time to spend building your own system right now, you might also appreciate the use of off-the-shelf components from PC Club, as you will find everything you need to try and tweak your system for better performance. Determine what level of support you need and how much you're willing to pay, and then shop around. Right now is a great time to buy computers, with the only major events coming in the near future being DirectX 10 and Windows Vista. If you don't feel a need to upgrade right now, then you shouldn't, but if you've been putting off upgrading until the "right time", this is about as good a time as you're likely to see.

As always, we welcome your feedback and any further suggestions on how to improve our system reviews.