YOYOTech WARDBIRD Stuns Competition...

**Resurrection** · Sep 28, 2008, 02:03 PM

There's a certain UK mag that runs a 'Dream PC Competition' each year

This year saw entries ranging from a mere £5,000 through to £11,000 for the eventual winner

That was 7 weeks ago

This month, the same magazines will feature the YOYOTech WARBIRD 9550 around £1,000 inc vat

It looks gorgeous, is readily accessible, mightly upgradeable...

...and managed to beat the 'Dream PCs' in benchmarks

[COLOR=darkorange]WILL POST MORE SOON ![/COLOR]

Judas · Sep 28, 2008, 02:49 PM

i like it when cheaper machines outperform... out class the extreme machines..... it's so satisfying...

[hobo]eclipse · Sep 28, 2008, 02:54 PM

that's cool, i'm interested in hereing about this for the pure pwnage factor!

**Resurrection** · Sep 29, 2008, 01:55 AM

To be honest, I have the PDFs for these reviews - but I'm not sure if it's a smart idea to post them here...

...probably smarter for you guys to PM me with an email address - and I'll send them over directly

[COLOR=darkorange](in the meantime, I'll ponder what can be posted here!)[/COLOR]

**Resurrection** · Sep 29, 2008, 03:29 AM

Heads-up...

...just finished begging - and it seems that Zardon will 'open the bomb bay doors' and allow one of these Warbirds in to the heart of the DriverHeaven Testing Labs...

...so, maybe, we wait for the eagle-eyed inquisition to render a full and frank opinion

[hobo]eclipse · Sep 29, 2008, 04:09 AM

nice!

good luck!

Mousey · Sep 29, 2008, 04:52 PM

Maybe you guys should run a competition to win a Yoyotech rig or some parts or something

Could really liven things up round here

**Resurrection** · Sep 30, 2008, 02:14 AM

Agree - 100%...

...but we were waiting to get the first rig into Zardon - so that you have some independent opinions on whether our kit is 'all that'

Won't be long now !

LukeK · Sep 30, 2008, 02:28 AM

looks forward to the review. if Z likes it, it has to be good.

longhorn1000 · Sep 30, 2008, 02:29 AM

yeah its always a good idea to get a system to an experienced system builder and Z's rigs on here are pretty awesome. If it does well I might be interested myself.

brutusmaximus · Sep 30, 2008, 02:36 AM

whats the system spec?

**Resurrection** · Oct 1, 2008, 03:27 AM

System is built into an Antec 1200 chassis with a Cooler Master Silent Pro 700 watt modular PSU...

...which willing gives its juice to a Q9550 - Preclocked to 3.9GHz on air - and a Sapphire 4870x2

The benchmarks are just nutz !

s32 · Oct 6, 2008, 04:24 PM

Hi Guys,

New here, just joined the forums...

I am a subscriber of the mag that described the Warbird as 'Dream PC-like performance for less than £1000'. And reading through the review, I was impressed...

I myself am ready to build my next rig, but having read the the review I am now seriously considering buying my first ready built rig. However there is one issue...

Only days after having read the review I have tonight visited the Yoyotech website and found that the price has gone up by £95! Why the sudden hike in price may I ask..?

**Resurrection** · Oct 10, 2008, 04:30 AM

Hi S32,

We notified by Custom PC and PC Format almost 2 weeks before the issues came out that there was a problem

We went through the logic in some detail and they were happy to proceed with the awards

The simple problem is the dollar rate

Although the EU is a much larger trading block, the world's economy still works almost entirely in US dollars

When we spec-ed the system, the dollar rate was trading at alomst 2:1

Within the space of 3 weeks, the rate went on a roller-coaster and ended up around $1.77->£1

The 'real world impact' of that movement was that the margin [COLOR=darkorange](profit)[/COLOR] in the machine completely disappeared and we would be selling at a loss if we kept to £999

Custom PC/PC Pro etc forums had this complete answer before 20th September - and posted all of the information here.. PC Pro: Interactive: Forums: Custom PC: Price Change for YoYoTech Warbird in Issue 62

The publications understood exactly what the issue was and accepted this explanation without feeling the need to change the award status

i.e. all of the comments made still stand - despite the price movement

We are monitoring the rate closely and - if it moves significantly back toward 2:1 - then we will move the price back to £999

Other factors also come into play here

For example, if there are price movements [COLOR=darkorange](down!)[/COLOR] on some components over the coming weeks - then we will work these into the price of our systems as well

i.e. even if the dollar rate stays around the 1.8:1 level, but we manage to 'buy components smarter', then we drop the price for our consumers

In the meantime, I guess the challenge for you [COLOR=darkorange](the PC-buying public)[/COLOR], is to see if you can find this exact spec from a reputable dealer [COLOR=darkorange](ideally with a store - so that you can go in and speak with the experts before buying)[/COLOR] - fully assembled and preclocked to 3.9GHz etc - with a full hardware warranty - for less than our price point

We apologies to anyone who feels disappointed, but assure you that we never intended to get the price wrong...

...this global crysis was unprecedented - and has seen the collapse of the world's largest financial institutions...

...you have to believe us when we say, if we knew what was going to happen with the economy - we'd have been trading futures rather than spec-ing systems !

[COLOR=darkorange]PROMISE[/COLOR]
As soon as we are able to move prices down again - on ANY product - we will do so... but the dollar rate may mean that this is very hard - and the prices we have in the market right now may be 'the way it is' until 2008

macbiter · Oct 12, 2008, 01:38 PM

I asked Zardon in PM what he thought of the system. his response was "no idea what it is like because I haven't used it".

Apparently DH don't have it yet and this thread was posted 2 weeks ago.

I have to say im really disappointed with this partnership on DH. apart from the initial fanfare nothing has really been done. I was unable to get QX9775s and the 5400 motherboard, my emails were ignored. There is very little stock and no one seems to help

Nothing much ever happens in here either, as I said to Zardon I think he is best cutting his losses and getting involved with a company who want to work with DH, this has been less than successful all round.

Not meant to be offensive to you just constructive criticism as I feel Ressurection is about the only one making an effort here.

**Resurrection** · Oct 12, 2008, 02:13 PM

To say things are busy right now is an understatement !

However, I must apologise that we have been slow off the mark in getting a system to Zardon

As far as I know, it is being built right now and will be with him early this week

I've also kicked an email to the rest of the team to get em responsing here much quicker in future

[COLOR=darkorange]MORE ENERGY NEEDED[/COLOR] - agreed

Lelisevis · Oct 14, 2008, 08:40 AM

YOTOTech: our prices go up and down like.........erm........a Yoyo?

Keep up the good work guys, me and the missus may be coming down to London in the newyear so i'll make an extra special effort to pop in.

**Resurrection** · Oct 14, 2008, 02:38 PM

I can't tell you howl[COLOR=silver]*[/COLOR] many times I had to avoid the YOYO joke while writing me reply

[COLOR=silver][COLOR=silver]* Lycan joke in your honour ![/COLOR]

[/COLOR]

MrM · Oct 14, 2008, 10:24 PM

Hi, another newbie to DH here, though not to yoyotech having bought a budget gaming pc from your good selves for a friend earlier this year (which was a successful experience I should add). Anyway, I've been looking at buying a good gaming rig for myself, and having read the excellent reviews of the Warbird system, am pretty interested in it. However, having spent a bit of time on the yoyotech website tonight I have to admit to being rather confused.

I totally accept the reasons given above for an adjustment in price given the current financial climate, however I'm a bit baffled as to what that current price actually is.

The "pc's ready to go" option on the website seems to have the Warbird, without any customisation, now at £1199.25 inc. However, clicking on the "to configure your own Warbird" link then puts the price at £1163.85.... although with £55 to be added for assembly, and then a ~£75 charge for the overclock (I presume 3.9ghz would be the 'extreme' option)? Should I wish to purchase a Warbird I would be inclined to change the base spec slightly, adding a dedicated soundcard for example: would I be right in thinking therefore that doing this would push the price to ~£1300 + the cost of the card?

The disparity in this is a bit baffling in all honesty, its disappointing enough to discover that what was promoted as a £999 machine is now £1199, even with a sensible explanation, but even more so to find out that making any change at all would add another £100 or so. Or have I misunderstood somewhere along the line?

**Resurrection** · Oct 15, 2008, 05:18 AM

Hi MrM,

Simply put, if you take the components we are offering from any other supplier [COLOR=darkorange](or even ourselves)[/COLOR], then the price is definitely higher

With systems, we work hard [COLOR=darkorange](internally - and with our suppliers)[/COLOR] to get the best price we can on a specific units

We are not a huge/multi-national player - we are a local specialist - which means that we get the best pricing by focusing on a smaller group of products - the stuff that hardcore enthusiasts actually want to buy...

...and - specifically - want to buy when 'in stock' and 'in store' in Central London - 7 days a week

Overall, we carry nearly 2,000 product lines online [COLOR=darkorange](in store + big warehouse in West London)[/COLOR]

We offer these at the best prices we can - and we are constantly updating them to be accurate

When we put a system together, we will work hard to negotiate the best deals possible - and the system [COLOR=darkorange](e.g. Warbird)[/COLOR] is put onto our sales system as a 'single item' - ready for purchase - with an overall discount based on the negotiation work we have done

As soon as you break it down into core components - the 'overall system discount' disappears [COLOR=darkorange](as it is a 'combo discount' - made up across multiple parts - all of which contribute a different amount to the lower final price)[/COLOR]

We don't reveal exactly how we are working with each supplier - we just get the best deal we can overall - and then offer it on a system

You can imagine that if we allowed the adding/subtracting of each component - while maintaining the big discount - it would give an intimate insight into the buying process from each supplier... and that is something that we won't reveal

All that said, we do want to help you...

...so can I suggest that you email theboss at yoyotech.co.uk with your personal contact details - and an exact idea of what you want and how much you want to pay for it - and we'll do a quick check to see if that is possible

No promises - but we would like to try and make it happen for you

macbiter · Oct 15, 2008, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrM

The disparity in this is a bit baffling in all honesty, its disappointing enough to discover that what was promoted as a £999 machine is now £1199, even with a sensible explanation, but even more so to find out that making any change at all would add another £100 or so. Or have I misunderstood somewhere along the line?

Whenever you get the final price let us know please. I am losing faith in yoyotech on a variety of levels. The fact you got basically a "pr" speech there in the last post from resurrection but not a price is further cause for concern.

Tortoisepanda · Oct 15, 2008, 03:11 PM

Hi y'all,

First post! Congratulations me!

Following this thread - veerrry tempted by the specs of this system. I'm upgrading from an Athlon 3800+ , socket 939 system, which still plays just about anything with an ATI 1950 Pro

.

I was also a little confused about the pricing stated in the two magazine reviews and actual on the website as well as being wary of the explanation(s)above.

I did the same as MrM above and tinkered with components online - price started creeping up alarmingly!

Intrigued by Resurrection's latest post - how about a price of £999 for MrM (and me!) excluding tinkerings.

MrM · Oct 15, 2008, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Hi MrM,

<snipped>

All that said, we do want to help you...

...so can I suggest that you email theboss at yoyotech.co.uk with your personal contact details - and an exact idea of what you want and how much you want to pay for it - and we'll do a quick check to see if that is possible

No promises - but we would like to try and make it happen for you

Ok, thanks for the reply Resurrection, I do understand what you're saying about "overall system discounts" etc, but I'm sure you can see how I would like to hope that a minor spec change would not lead to a major price change! Anyway, I will do what you suggest when I have some time on Friday and see what comes of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macbiter

Whenever you get the final price let us know please. I am losing faith in yoyotech on a variety of levels