cyberpowerpc.com = ibuypower.com?

[luckyquark]

These two websites have almost exactly the same interface, images, and pricing systems. However, ibuypower.com has a much better rating on here. Are these two websites under the same orginization, and has anybody had any dealings with either, or both, of them?


P.S. Go check them out, its amaizing how similar their websites are.

[JoeCompUser]

I checked out their WHOIS information over at Network Solutions. Turns out CyberPowerPC is using Yahoo Store to power their web site. IBuyPower.com looks independently run from their DNS info.

From that information alone, it doesn't look like the two companies are the same.

[Tazman]

I've noticed the same in different mags I subscribe to. There are some differences in the pricing scemes.

I have spent about 10 grand on systems I've built for customers in the past year from iBuyPower. Don't let the site fool you, you can order the parts and do the builds yourself if you so choose.

Here's my take on iBuyPower.

The prices are hard to beat when configuring a system. They have a pretty decent choice of components, inventory is always stocked (I've never had to wait for a backorder part). Shipping is average.

A order I placed in January got messed up and they sent the wong motherboard, hard drive and video card. I called for an RMA and the parts were overnighted - I still had to ship the other parts back but they paid the shipping.

My suggestion is that if you do order, call the order in and ask for Gordon - he's efficient and knowledgeable.

I recommend iBuyPower highly and that's a whole lot coming from me - I can be extemely demanding when I spend that kind of money .

Mike

[stellaphile]

The puter i am on right now was purchased from Cyberpower. Would not buy from them again. The computer would always crash when i was running extensive stuff, i.e. games. Figured it was overheating, so to combat it i just opened the case and blew a box fan in it 24/7. Everytime i called to talk to tech support, i had to ask for another rep because i could not understand the quasi-english they were attempting to speak. The problem was not discovered until the processor and mb burnt up. After $700 out of my pocket to fix it imediately, b/c it is a home/business computer, we discovered that the wizards at Cyberpower had forgotten to remove the packing tape from the processor's heat sink! About 4 months later and a few stern phone calls, they did eventually replace the processor and mb. Anywhoo, those are my 2 cents.

[jonbach]

Both IBuyPower and CyberPowerPC are down right now, which seems to be a little more evidence that they're the same. However, I was a little obnoxious -- I did a WHOIS on each domain and called each of the admin contacts, to find out if they were just down for now, or closed. They both said they were just down for now, and that they were working on their servers right now. When asked, the IBuyPower contact said they had no affiliation with CyberPowerPC.

I agree their prices are great. I am the owner of http://www.pugetsystems.com and we get "can you beat this price" requests all the time, referring to one or the other of the companies. No way can we beat those prices...I think the only way you can is to cut way too many corners and provide absolutely minimal support, and those are two things we're not willing to do!

[michaels39]

From what I've heard,they are one and the same.I've researched a lot of builders looking for a good place to get a custom system,and I wouldn't touch either one of them.Their ratings are universally awful,poor quality workmanship and even worse customer service.Sure,they have good prices,and some builders do charge way too much for their systems,but in Cyberpower/Ibuypower's case,you get less than what you pay for.

[leinssa]

I believe they are the same companies as well.

jonbach, I am in the market for a new PC, but $5700 for a liquid cooled rig is way too expensive for my taste (All American Computers is even worse...$6000+ for a PC with a clear case!)

I priced it out on Newegg and I can build a liquid cooled rig with a 1TB RAID5 hard drive setup and similar specs as your top machine for $3000. Either you get ridiculously over priced systems or "el cheapo" places with no tech support. Where's the happy medium???

[jonbach]

I don't think we're looking at a apples to apples comparsion. I have no doubt you could build our $5700 PC yourself for somewhere around $5000 or maybe a little more, but not $3000. For example, did you know our custom liquid cooled chassis and liquid cooling components costs around $1000 in just materials? If you're comparing that to a Koolance case or some other liquid cooling kit, that is a good example of where the comparison isn't matching up.

[leinssa]

From your web page at www.pugetsystems.com/liquid_custom.php: I typed in the parts you listed at this web page into Google and I get these prices:

Danger Den Black Ice Pro III radiator - $60
AquaStream Pump - $152.62
AquaTube Reservoir - $50

CPU/GPU Blocks go for about $50

If I ballpark coolant and tubing using your parts (and 2 blocks), it's ~$400. The best Danger Den kit is $305. The TJ07 case goes for $300. So that's $700 case and liquid cooling.

I came up with $2600 at Newegg with a RAID-5 setup and then $300 would be for the liquid cooling. This would be using the Danger Den kit (which got a 9 kickass rating from Maximum PC), part of which you use for your kit.

And you are right...apples to oranges in terms of target market. Take Maingear for example. I think their cases are really neat, but I don't need a custom automotive paint job for my PC, nor will I pay $4500 because it comes in fiery red.

I will never buy from CyberPowerPC or iBuyPower: not worth the risk. I'll either go build my own using Newegg parts or wait to see what ABS comes out with next year.

[jonbach]

You're missing a few things

Mounting hardware and misc fittings $30
TJ07 window panel (custom cut) $120
AquaBay for Aquatube $35
Black Faceplate for AquaBay $15
Aquajet nossle and LED $15
Antivibration mounts for AquaStream $10
Water blocks (2 x NV78 and Swiftech Storm) are more like $230 total

Total increase over your estimate: $405. Not to mention we haven't talked about shipping costs on all these items.

I think it is a natural tendency to be optimistic about pricing when coming up with a total for complicated systems like this...is isn't until you really get into it that you see all the costs adding up.

Anyhow, I don't want to get into big debate, so I'll leave this thread alone now...I just felt the need to defend us a little bit. It tends to get to me when we work hard to provide a great product at the lowest price we can, and then have it be called overpriced