iBUYPOWER LAN Warrior II: NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 590 in a Small Shell
by Dustin Sklavos on March 29, 2011 3:00 PM ESTConclusion: No Small Potatoes
While iBUYPOWER's LAN Warrior II still isn't what one would consider "small," it's certainly impressive given its relative size in comparison to other, more robust gaming towers. Carrying it isn't a joyous experience but it's not as back-breaking as moving my desktop tower around, and iBUYPOWER is able to pack an awful lot of power into this small case. They even offer the system with two GTX 590s in SLI, a veritable surfeit of performance, and I can believe they'll run safely--just remember to buy a large display (or three) to make use of all that performance potential. The massive 200mm intake fan on the side works miracles in keeping the internals very, very cool; in fact, it's practically a Christmas miracle that it runs as frosty as it does (disclaimer: review written in March).
Of course it's not all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns: while the overclock on the review unit was definitely rushed, given prior experience we have no reason to believe a retail system will be better tuned. On the one hand that can be time consuming work, but on the other hand...it's part of what we're paying the boutique for. It doesn't matter that Sandy Bridge processors are incredibly efficient even with auto voltages; thermal headroom and power savings are being left on the table when they don't need to be.
The case is also a mixed bag: while it produces excellent thermals and reasonable acoustics, and it comes with a handle, it still won't compare to higher end, higher class cases. We can get the system to start at just $533 and at that price, a $69 case doesn't seem like such a big deal. But when we start putting components we actually want inside it and the pricetag begins to swell, the value of the enclosure doesn't rise commensurate with that increased expense. It's not a bad case, but look...the Queen of England doesn't sleep in a suburban split-level either.
When all is said and done, though, the LAN Warrior II is the kind of system we do like to review here. The form factor at least makes it stand out, as does the excellent thermal design and the fact that you can cram it with an obscene amount of performance. It's the kind of machine that, like the Puget Serenity and AVADirect's Nano Gaming Cube, sets the boutique apart from their competition. The price from configuring on their website certainly isn't unreasonable, either: while it's roughly $50 north of the price we were quoted, that's not a massive difference in the grand scheme of things. Just building it yourself, we're looking at roughly $1,200 just for the video card, processor, and motherboard. Factor in the 128GB SSD, the Blu-ray writer, the 8GB of high-end DDR3, and the power supply, and the markup actually seems pretty reasonable.
iBUYPOWER's LAN Warrior II isn't a mind-blowing machine, but it's very respectable, and it's priced about right. If you're looking for a lot of power in a smaller form factor, you could do a lot worse than the LAN Warrior II.
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warisz00r - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
lol niceoverzealot - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Looks like it might be a sealed unit, in that case:Very, depending on the kit.
Never.
Not if manufactured correctly.
Not if manufactured correctly.
No.
If it dies or any of the above occurs, you replace the unit. Preferable under warranty.
Penti - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Just to add, water pumps are impeller based, theres no mechanics that's dry and needs lubrication, they don't need lubrication and there's no bearings that need it too, the o-rings can dry out after many years but that's it.IdBuRnS - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
Everyone I know who has bought an ibuypower computer has eventually returned it due to complete system instability, constant BSODs and piss-poor technical support.I literally do not know a single person who has bought one of their computers and has been happy. I've also browsed through their forums and they are full of unanswered support requests.
It's too bad you guys don't rate the actual customer experience.
Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Unfortunately that's not something we can really review. Stuff like this can be tough to gauge, too, but this particular build seemed to use largely reliable parts from name brands. That's about the best we can hope for, although seeing the overclock on the BCLK instead of the multiplier alarmed me a little.IdBuRnS - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
I can't comment on components for every bad build that I've heard of but the few that I know the specific component breakdowns the customers chose name-brand parts. I know the one that I built for my dad was composed of "good" parts from the major component manufacturers (ASUS, EVGA, etc) and the computer was completely unusable. Constant BSODs, they sent replacement RAM, no fix, he sent the computer back and the tech on the phone said they would replace the complete computer. After 3 weeks the computer showed backup and it was the exact same one, down the same serial numbers on parts. The computer was still BSOD'ing constantly and the next tech claimed that they never say they will replace computers...My dad finally had to force them to give him a refund and got a Dell XPS instead. What a headache.
kevenc - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
ldBuRnS you say that the ibuypower computers pretty much suck; do you have any recommendations for other builders of watercooled overclocked PCs? Is Cyberpower any good?IdBuRnS - Friday, April 1, 2011 - link
I have my own suspicions that ibuypower and cyberpower are actually owned by the same people...To be honest I really don't have any other first-hand experience with other OEMs- it's really hard for me personally to justify buying a pre-built system from a Digital Storm or Falcon or others when I can literally build the same computer for less. Don't get me wrong, I've certainly wanted to and there are times when it would be a lot more convenient to be able to just pick up a phone and get some tech support, but my wallet has kept me from doing it so far.
I wish I could be more help- maybe someone else will see your question and have some good recommendations.
high5me - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Not a bad review, only reason why Digital Storm pulls ahead, is because of the x2 580 sli.. I've bought two systems from them (digital storm) and both have failed prematurely before their 30 day window. They're way too overpriced.Other than that, i enjoyed the review.
wwswimming - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
I won't charge you anything to store it at my place.