iBUYPOWER Erebus GT: Custom Cooling for Less

Testing Issues and a Statement from iBUYPOWER

I mentioned the problems that surfaced during shipment of the iBUYPOWER Erebus GT on the previous page (a minor coolant leak due to the reservoir cap not being completely fastened, and a loose lighting strep), but there were also issues with stability.

Speaking frankly if anecdotally, the idea of a desktop (especially a heavily overclocked desktop) that can actually enter and exit sleep mode properly is practically mythical in nature. I've never owned or serviced a desktop that could do it without locking up or getting stuck in a power cycle when I tried to wake it up. My experiences there are fraught. [Ed: I have a couple old Core 2 Quad systems that manage this feat, as well as a couple Bloomfield systems that can sleep and resume, but I do admit that the overclocks are relatively tame by comparison to the Erebus GT.] That said, when you buy a system from a vendor, be they large or small, you want the system to work perfectly.

During setup, I left the Erebus GT for a couple of hours and it idled to sleep on its own. Unfortunately it wouldn't wake up, and when powered off and then restarted it wouldn't POST. I had to clear CMOS to get the system to POST again, and then manually re-enter the overclocking settings. After that the system ran smoothly (though I disabled sleep in Windows), with just one hiccup where it locked up during PCMark 7. This isn't entirely unheard of; I have a notebook from a major vendor I'm reviewing right now that locked up during a run of PCMark 7, but like the Erebus GT the system ran smoothly before and since.

Acknowledging that there were problems with our review unit, though, we asked iBUYPOWER for a statement which is provided below:

We apologize for the issues you have had setting up the system. It is our number one priority to make sure that our customers’ systems function properly as expected when it arrives and throughout the product’s lifespan. Our customers obviously expect the same from the moment they hit the customize button to configure their system. That’s why every system we ship is tested to be fully functional under harsher conditions than they are typically ever used in. In addition, we put a lot of time into engineering safeguards and redundancies into our products, like our unique Erebus line, to prevent major mishaps and limit possible damage. For example, we use Koolance compression fittings, instead of much cheaper alternatives, to prevent coolant leaks and we use specially formulated non-conductive coolant, in case there is a leak.

Unfortunately, when you deal with massive customizability on a large scale, it is impossible to anticipate every situation. There are a lot of things that can happen after the system leaves our factory floor. That’s why we have policies in place to protect our customers, like a 30-day money-back guarantee with no restocking fee (for the worst-case scenarios). Obviously, before we get to that level, we always try to work out the problems with the system. Ultimately, what everyone wants is for the system to work.

Our technicians and customer service representatives are based right here in the USA, and are very experienced and have each worked with hundreds, possibly thousands of unique systems and customers. With customers who are more comfortable with technology, we will work with them to get the system running. For those who are not comfortable with tinkering, we will have the system shipped back to us for repair. Sometimes, the problem is simple, like a SATA cable that came loose in shipping, or an oddly misbehaving BIOS. Other times, fixes are more difficult, like physical damage due to the box being dropped by a shipping carrier. Either way, our representatives have the experience, the knowledge, and, most importantly, the authority necessary to remedy any issue that may arise.

Again, we apologize for the issues you have had setting up your system, and I am pleased to hear that you were able to get the system running with the assistance of one of our technicians. We want to assure you and your readers that we stand by our products, and will do anything necessary to ensure our products operate and perform at a level at or above expectations.

The 30-day money-back guarantee is a nice safety net, but there's certainly a concern with long-term stability with a hefty overclock. We had two minor issues that we experienced; one couldn't be reproduced in our limited and may have just been one of those random issues that sometimes crop up, but more likely is that the overclock might be just a bit too high or too close to the edge on one of the settings. I'd expect more problems to manifest over an extended period of time, and unfortunately evaluating long-term customer support for a product like this (e.g. over a year of use) is beyond the scope of what we can test.

The other problem (inability to resume from sleep) is unfortunately relatively common for significant overclocks. There's a simple workaround (don't put the computer to sleep and disable the sleep option in Windows), but it's not an elegant solution. The cause of such problems usually goes back to the motherboard and BIOS, but regardless it's a quirk you need to be willing to live with (or willing to troubleshoot) if you choose to purchase a heavily overclocked PC. Not every overclocked PC will experience this problem—not even PCs with the same components and same overclock—but often there's no real fix other than backing down on the overclock or disabling sleep mode. YMMV.