BlackBird 002 and my response to it.

[TheOtis]

So I started reading about the Blackbird from HP and Voodoo yesterday. I also read an article someone posted about it on here today.

I decided to write about it in my blog, which is here: Shove comes to push

Here's what I wrote on it. I decided I'd configure a build with the same parts as the blackbird to see how much it would cost if somebody wanted to built a similar rig themselves, I laughed when I found out the result:


Everyone had to see this coming at one time or another. HP bought Voodoo PC's awhile back. For those of you who don't know, Voodoo PC has built high-end, puurty looking PC's for quite awhile. They've always been expensive, mostly due to their ubber nice cases and cooling.

What do you get when HP and Voodoo PC mate? The HP Blackbird 002. And what do you get with the HP Blackbird?


-Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 OC'ed @ 3.67GHZ
-ASUS Striker mobo (680i, not a P35)
-2x Nvidia 8800 Ultra's
-4 gigs of Corsair Dominator memory
-Sound Blaster X-FI Sound card
-1x Seagate 320gig
-1x WD 160 gig
-One pretty sick watercooling system


And what price does this rig come at? $6,000. Yes. You read that right. Six Thousand Dollars. This is the perfect example of something someone would buy because they have too much money and don't know what to do with it.

Here's a review for it at Hot Hardware- HP Blackbird 002 High Performance Gaming System - HotHardware

I was pretty much in shock when I read that.


So, how much would it cost for you to build that rig yourself? This configuration is based off of the BlackBird HotHardware got in their lab.


Let's add up the costs-


-Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850- $1,449.99
-Asus Striker Mobo-$289.99
-2x Nvidia 8800 Ultra-$1458 ( $729.99 each)
-Sound Blaster X-FI Extreme Gamer-$99.99
-4 gigs of Corsair Dominator memory -$305.00
-1x 320gig HDD- $79.99
-1x 160gig HDD- $49.99
-Custom watercooling solution for OC'ing and GPU waterblocks- $400
-DVD Drive/burner- $49.99
-Cooler Master Stacker 830 w/ Rear Power Pro 1,000W PSU- $399


Prices are all from Newegg.com and Dangerden for watercooling.

What are we at? $4,579.96

Obviously, the case is different and so is the power supply. But the case is still a full tower case and probably has better air flow and more room then the HP one. The watercooling is different, this set-up cools the GPU's as well, not just the CPU. It may even hold more water, which would lead to better cooling. The power supply is a different brand, but provides just as much power.


Now, I'm not the best at Math in the world, but I'm pretty sure the Blackbird 002 is overpriced by around $1,420.94. For that much, you could add in multiple Raptor 150gigs, set up a RAID-5 and add a Blu-Ray drive.

The Blackbird comes in configurations ranging from $2,500 to $6,500 and are available soon. I sincerely hope no one's foolish enough to shell out the cash for one of these things. Sure, the hardwares pretty sick, but that's beyond overpriced.

And come on, how in the world could ANYBODY justify paying $6,000 for a PC.

 

[AnthraX]

What about the people that don't know how to build a computer, but still want something that kicks ***? Don't say "Building is easy, they should just try." because most people don't want to take the risk of buying parts that might be incompatible, the high chance of something going wrong, nor do they have the patience.

$1,420.94 may seem like a lot, which it is, but that's the price some people are willing to pay for the labor. Plus that amount will get you some kind of a warranty, probably better tech support since you bought HP's highest end computer, and lastly bragging rights.

Oh, by the way, I noticed you forgot to add an OS. I assume they will be using Vista Ultimate, which is $179.99 on Newegg. $1240.95 is the new ammount you would be saving by building yourself.

I agree completely with your last statement "And come on, how in the world could ANYBODY justify paying $6,000 for a PC." But it's the enthusiast market. In the enthusiast portion of the market, price is always going to be heavily inflated. The reason is so that a company can have the best performing product that sells like crap, but ends up helping the company sell more budget/mainstream products.

 

[veedubfreak]

One thing you forgot to mention. The numbers you came up with are RETAIL. Now subtract another probably 25-50% for what HP actually has to shell out for the parts when they buy in lots of probably 1000. I would dare to say that each of these machine is probably marked up by about 50% over what they cost to build.

 

[AnthraX]

One thing you forgot to mention. The numbers you came up with are RETAIL. Now subtract another probably 25-50% for what HP actually has to shell out for the parts when they buy in lots of probably 1000. I would dare to say that each of these machine is probably marked up by about 50% over what they cost to build.

Ah, very true. But they have to mark them up that high because who is actually going to spend that much on a computer? A very small amount, if any.

 

[hmammen]

Very good write up, and yes it is way overpriced....

 

[TheOtis]

What about the people that don't know how to build a computer, but still want something that kicks ***? Don't say "Building is easy, they should just try." because most people don't want to take the risk of buying parts that might be incompatible, the high chance of something going wrong, nor do they have the patience.

$1,420.94 may seem like a lot, which it is, but that's the price some people are willing to pay for the labor. Plus that amount will get you some kind of a warranty, probably better tech support since you bought HP's highest end computer, and lastly bragging rights.

Oh, by the way, I noticed you forgot to add an OS. I assume they will be using Vista Ultimate, which is $179.99 on Newegg. $1240.95 is the new ammount you would be saving by building yourself.

I agree completely with your last statement "And come on, how in the world could ANYBODY justify paying $6,000 for a PC." But it's the enthusiast market. In the enthusiast portion of the market, price is always going to be heavily inflated. The reason is so that a company can have the best performing product that sells like crap, but ends up helping the company sell more budget/mainstream products.

If someone didn't want to build a computer themselves, they could always go to their local computer specialist and have them put it together for you, it'd still be quite a bit less then buying one from them.

Well, I don't agree on the warranty part. Computer parts you get comes with warranties as well, just not all together. I do agree on Tech support though.

And yes, you're correct, I did forget to add in the OS. I wonder if they include 32-bit or 64-bit? With 32-bit that 4 gigs couldn't all be used.

But bragging rights? Come on. I'd make fun of anybody that bought that computer for the simple fact that they spent all of that on a computer that can be built with a thousand dollars less.

And yes, that is an enthusiast price point and market. But do you know any PC enthusiast that doesn't build their own computer? Does that make any sense at all?

 

[kur0suto]

I want that case tho...at least the side panel. But still wouldnt pay 2,500 just to get the side panel...btw, you forgot to calculate into the price the fact that these components are OEM. they get to save on that.
why big reaction with this though? arent clothing more of an obscene thing? companies pay 1 dollar to make it, we pay 100, etc.
D@%^ YOU AF AND JORDANS!

 

[UA_Iron]

My work computer was $6000 bucks.

Its still overpriced, you're paying a lot for labor.

 

[UA_Iron]

also, in quantities...I bet the sum of all the parts used is no more than $3500

 

[veg1992]

wow.. the hardware itself is pricey as it is.. and look how much HP jacks it up!