HP Phoenix h9-1120t System Review: HP's Gaming Desktop Round Two with Tahiti and Ivy Bridge
by Dustin Sklavos on June 19, 2012 8:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Gaming
- AMD
- HP
- Ivy Bridge
- Radeon HD 7000
- Phoenix
- Tahiti
Conclusion: Good Idea, Tough Sell
When I reviewed the initial launch of the HP Phoenix, I felt like it was a good idea and essentially competitive. True, the Sandy Bridge-E model we reviewed was never going to be that compelling, but the chassis design is solid and the thermals are good. We needed a commodity gaming system, something that consumers could grab off the shelf without going through the hassle of configuring a system from a boutique. Unfortunately, it's not working out that way.
Despite having an opportunity to innovate in an underserved market, HP has opted to do the same old OEM thing: gouge the end consumer on "premium" hardware and price themselves right out of competition. The models available from Best Buy are online only, so there goes that convenience. There are models available at Fry's, but they're the same retail ones Best Buy wants to sell you online, and the price-performance is completely out of whack.
The old adage that there are no such things as bad products, only bad prices...it holds true here. CyberPower and iBuyPower are both making serious inroads into retail and they're not going to be the kind of cushy competition that Alienware is. HP seems to have re-entered this market with the impression that they're going to leverage their buying power to drive down costs while still charging a premium, but that's the same kind of thinking that's been slowly killing Lenovo.
Taken on its own, I like the Phoenix. I like the idea of a commodity gaming system. If HP could hit a reasonable price with it and get it on retail shelves, I think they'd have a very strong contender. The problem is that they haven't and/or won't, and so their retail "gaming machines" continue to use chintzy sub-$150 video cards while intruding boutiques offer better bang for the buck. When you take into account that you have to order online to even start to get a good deal on one of these machines, suddenly you're inhabiting a space where vendors like iBuyPower, CyberPower, AVADirect, Puget Systems, Origin, and more are all willing to compete for your gaming dollar, and they're all willing to give you more power with better customer service.
I want HP to succeed and do well in this market. The Phoenix is a fantastic idea and a solid product, and it's one of the few bright spots of real innovation that HP has demonstrated over the past six months while a revitalized Dell, a continually evolving Toshiba, and a very hungry ASUS have continued to make major inroads on all fronts. But HP needs to stop thinking like they're an old, entrenched company. Releasing a good product at a price like this, it might as well be swept under the rug. Get hungry, HP! If you can get the price on this thing lower, you'll have a killer product on your hands. As it stands, though, it's just not worth the sacrifices just to get an HP label on the front of your gaming system.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
View All Comments
flamethrower - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
A pre-built micro-ATX based performance system. To me this means $800 to $1500 excluding monitor. Enthusiast systems like this don't interest me much.Have I been missing your coverage of this type of system? Should I look at laptops if I only need a performance-class system?
cashkennedy - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
So this pre-built , micro-atx equivalent (same size) performance system that ranges from 1000-1700 clearly has nothing in common with what you are interested in...What do you mean by performance class? Cause you can order this with a crap video card for 999 and it would no longer be a gaming class if thats what you consider this...
ImSpartacus - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
I think he's referencing the argument that OEMs should play to their strengths and not try to compete with homemade systems.Enthusiasts can easily make cheap, tweakable, expandable performance-first systems. OEMs have no chance of seriously competing in that space.
But OEMs CAN appeal to the enthusiast by providing a product that the enthusiast cannot get anywhere else. Machines like the Alienware X51 and almost every mini-ITX HTPC are examples.
flamethrower is asking for something in the middle.
Etern205 - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - link
One area DIY can't compete to OEM is the OS. If someone can only spend $1000 on a gaming build, then shelling out $100 means, they will have to get a less powerful graphic card, not like a GTX 670 or HD7950.BTW, I tried to configure a simlar PC from newegg to as close as possible the system review in this article, and total comes out to $1,530, and that also includes the OS.
bah12 - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - link
Keep in mind that Microsoft's OEM license for $99 is not legal to use on your own machine. Load's of us do it, but from a strictly legal perspective using an OEM licence on a DIY build is not compliant with the terms of the licence. The only licence Microsoft sells for a "naked" PC is full retail, so in reality you should price in a $299 OS not $99. But who's going to do that really :)Einy0 - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - link
You are somewhat correct in that notion, the license clearly states that an OEM license is for a new PC and must be sold to a third party. It purposely does not place other obstructions on the license, in order to allow knowledgeable PC people to build systems themselves for reasonable licensing fees. If they did not intend this they would make more restrictions on the license. An example would be the "system builder" would need to a be a qualified and licensed business or employee of such a business. Legally, I could have my wife purchase the software, install it on a new PC and sell it to me for $1. The key restriction here is the software lives and dies with the PC. Microsoft considers the motherboard to be the key item in that transaction and even then there are concessions for failed components.From MS Licensing:
e. To distribute the Software or Hardware in this Pack, you must be a System Builder
and accept this license. “System Builder” means an original equipment manufacturer, an assembler, a refurbisher, or a software
pre-installer that sells the Customer System(s) to a third party.
Pricing the OS at $299 in a complete system build would
be just plain idiotic. If MS enforced $299 an OS, they would kill their market overnight! People would find alternatives quickly...
Zink - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
To me a performance system would need an SSD and this case is about 2" higher than other mATX systems because of the non-standard power supply and case design.If performance-class means mediocre gaming ability then I think a laptop is a great way to go. Intel quads hit 3.5Ghz and have 80% of the performance of the quad desktop i7s.
flamethrower - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - link
You cannot edit your posts on here. I got distracted by the lead-in about the $2900 system. This is a midrange system after all.bigboxes - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - link
Maybe you should RTFA next time before giving a knee-jerk response.JeBuSBrian - Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - link
How is it that the mainstream system builders always seem to make their gaming rigs so fugly?