Vadim Cepheus Q80

Not impressed with that case in the slightest but that could be down to my tastes. I would have expected better performance for that much money.

I can't actually find out how much it costs. But I know the graphics crads would be about $1600 with a $1000 processor and $400 in ram put inside a $300 case with a $600 watercooling system..... So damn I'm not sure i really do wanna know how much they charge

Originally Posted by Mother-Gooser
Not impressed with that case in the slightest but that could be down to my tastes. I would have expected better performance for that much money.

In 2D is pwns, but in 3D you're waiting on drivers if you select Vista to be preinstalled. Personally I think the Lian is a gorgeous case, although there are several options on the Vadim site to choose from.

Originally Posted by Mother-Gooser
Not impressed with that case in the slightest but that could be down to my tastes. I would have expected better performance for that much money.

The let down in performance is down to the OS specified by the customer and, of course, Nvidia's Vista drivers. With Windows XP (and an optional upgrade to Vista when driver support matures), this thing goes like the stink.

Originally Posted by Fozzy
I can't actually find out how much it costs. But I know the graphics crads would be about $1600 with a $1000 processor and $400 in ram put inside a $300 case with a $600 watercooling system..... So damn I'm not sure i really do wanna know how much they charge

It's around £5,100 as far as I'm aware.

AHA I knew I'd missed something because I just couldn't see why it was under performing. As for the looks, you hit on the head there bindi, it really is a personaly thing.

Very much looking forward to stable and efficient vista drivers from NVIDIA. Of course, ATi are gonna get it right first time ;)

Thats how i want the insides of my Lian Li v2000 to look like :)
Thanks for the amazing review ;)

Originally Posted by Fozzy


I can't actually find out how much it costs...

... damn I'm not sure i really do wanna know how much they charge

Tut tut Fozzy! You obviously never read right to the end of the review/article...

Originally Posted by Bit-Tech


Final Thoughts:

For £5,000...

If someone were to give me £5,000 i'm sure i could do better.

(or do the same for far less)

for £5000 i'd like something a bit neater than glue from a glue gun around the side window and grill. That looks cheap and nasty as hell. Yes it's inside but still poor considering the cost.

I'm not sure that's value for money, last time I checked, Vadim charges a huge premium for customising and overclocking... personally I rather build a PC myself.

Originally Posted by Mankz_91
If someone were to give me £5,000 i'm sure i could do better.

(or do the same for far less)

People say this every. damn. time. If you buy a prebuilt PC, you're buying it for the support and lack of hassle. OK you might be able to build one cheaper, I'm sure most people could, but you're completely on your own when it comes to stuff breaking.

Originally Posted by Mankz_91
If someone were to give me £5,000 i'm sure i could do better.

(or do the same for far less)

:( It's just not comparable to the sort of thing we do. This is something you order and can have arrive at your doorstep in a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by Darkedge
for £5000 i'd like something a bit neater than glue from a glue gun around the side window and grill. That looks cheap and nasty as hell. Yes it's inside but still poor considering the cost.

Fair point but once you see the thing in the flesh you won't give it a second thought - it truely is awe inspiring. Anyway, who hasn't used a blob of glue gun glue to tuck a little circuit board, or some such thing, into a hidden corner of their mod.

That's a very impressive system. I'd say it's well worth the extra expense.

One quick note: The Lian-li V-series cases are not BTX. BTX is a totally different form factor, not just ATX upside-down.

And, hot glue is your friend. It's perfect for sticking headers and plugs to the motherboard, if you've got a system that gets moved around a lot.

I used to work at the same company as Vadim (around 8 years ago I guess) and I remember him going off to make his own computers. Gotta give him credit; the man done good.

I'm not a fan of the hot glue work either, but I'm not sure there's a cost effective alternative for machines that get put together in a couple of weeks. Suggestions on a postcard...

wow they only charge £1k premium for that system, IMO thats pretty impressive, for the lack of hassle, all the work that goes into organising it and such, damn good deal IMO

I dont like the styling either, but i assume they have choices or somthing

BTW did somone send u their PC for review ? like to get a discount or somthing ? and who was it :p (if u know)

Would have been interesting to see what this could have done while running XP

If I was mad enough to spend that kind of money on a pre-built PC I would make my way over to Voodoo PC's. For the same money I can get a better case, cleaner interior, equal or better performance and the same personal service for £1000+ less, but that again is a matter of taste as Bindi said.

The hot glue, and horrible wiring of the front led instantly make me sick when you need to drop £5000 for this.

The kind of person buying this will probably have never put together a water cooled PC, otherwise they would know how much cheaper you can do it for.

The tube routing is nice, however the thing is so jam packed that for someone not so familiar with water cooling it's going to be a nightmare changing a piece of hardware (although given the spec it may be some time before thats necessary). With the tubing looking like its been measured to the mm, I would hate to drain and refill the coolant when necessary due to the position and type of res they have used.

Its all a matter of personal taste but I cannot see how they can possibly justify the price tag. For that money you could probably personally build a killer Core 2 Duo (Promethia Cooled) and SLI setup cooled by EK or DD blocks.

I dont understand, 700 quids worth of watercooling, and the cpu temp hits 57c on boot?

looks so nice must be loud as hell tho !

Originally Posted by Mankz_91
If someone were to give me £5,000 i'm sure i could do better.

(or do the same for far less)

Yes you or any of us could

Originally Posted by Article
Vadim admits that you could build a machine with exactly the same specifications, design, build, resource and cut chassis for around £1,000 less than the company charges

Well it's nice to see what you can buy but I doubt many here would want one. There's no fun for modders in a pre-built modded system. Alienware is slightly different as they have 'designer' cases rather than modified LianLi cases.

That looks really, really loud :|

power!!!! but at a big price tag.

With regards to support how long do you realistically think Vadim will continue operating? I cannot see a long term future for a company with such a small niche market, especially when the big guns Dell and HP are vying for a chunk of it!

Originally Posted by JADS
With regards to support how long do you realistically think Vadim will continue operating? I cannot see a long term future for a company with such a small niche market, especially when the big guns Dell and HP are vying for a chunk of it!

Dell and HP aren't interested in one of a kind custom builds - they want the company with 500 desktops and minimal hands-on support. Sure, they make half hearted attempts at gaming machines with a little OMGWOWZRAOLNOOB!!!! factor, but the person dropping five big ones on a machine won't consider something with a Dell or HP badge. Specialist manufacturers can always find a space if they know how to market themselves.

The company I work for is almost solely an HP shop (because I like HP and I get to choose:)) but when it came to getting a workstation for our 3DS-Max guy, he wanted a Boxx machine, and so that's what we bought. And I had to admit that they had a better knowledge of the 3D market than Sun or HP, and were able to put together a machine to our spec rather than offer a selection of off-the-shelf machines that needed upgrades purchased separately.

Originally Posted by Tim S
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/02/09/vadim_Cepheus_Q80_/1.html

Thanks for the review, Tim. One quick note: it looks like from their "Customise" tab on their site, you can select XP Home, MCE or Pro w/ "Vista Voucher." Beside the OS selection tool, it explicitly says, "Windows Vista has still issues with the drivers. example - X-FI cards are causing bluescreens etc." Seems like this should be mentioned in your review.