Great Site for Custom Built PCs

[duncan _c]

Hey,

I recently needed to buy a new pc and wanted to customise my own. So I had a search around and i found this great site called CosCom.

The site itself looks quite plain but I went ahead and ordered a custom pc (for a very nice low price). When you order there is no payment involved until they have checked your custom order for compatibility. Once they checked my order, which they did very fast, I received an email invoice for the payment. I thought this was a great service as it adds the assurance of an experienced person. 

Once I paid the invoice I received the pc within a week, this was impressive as it was a completley custom built pc. The computer itself was great, it was fast and didn't come with all the annoying programs that big companies install.

They have a uk support line and an online contact form.

Check out their website: http://www.coscom-pcs.co.uk/

Duncan Cowan

[Calum]

Their website leaves a lot to be desired, it really doesn't instil trust in them as a company IMO.  Their choice of PSUs is, again IMO, terrible in a lot of systems, using unknown/no-name/generic/low quality units as well as cases.  I certainly wouldn't spec any systems the way they have, but that's somewhat of a personal choice.
How was the cabling?  Have you had to contact support?  If so, how were they?
What kind of system did you get, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm always curious to hear about companies like these as I'd be more than happy to spread the word.

[patio]

Smells like Spam...

[duncan _c]

From what I can tell they are a fairly new company and are still updating their website. I will agree that their PSU choices are quite slim, covering only the low end ones and the very expenive high end ones, however i have heard that the CIT gold units are quite reliable based on reviews I have read. Also I thought that their case choices were quite good, ranging from cheap ones to expensive ones with ones in the middle.
By spec the systems do you mean the choices of components or the custom packages specs??

The cabling, although I am not an expert was quite good, it was all tucked away behind the motherboard tray and was tied up with cable ties.
I have not had to contact customer support, and i hopefully wont have to, however the number is a local UK number.

My system was:
CM Storm Scout Midi Tower
Asus M4N75TD nForce 750a Motherboard (DDR3 RAM) - AMD
AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.40 Ghz
Thermaltake CL-P0456 Big Typhoon 14 Pro
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 - 1GB
Thermaltake 650W W0104 Toughpower
Kingston HyperX 2GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3
Samsung SH-S223L 22X Lightscribe DVD Drive
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Green SATAII Hard Drive
No Second Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium [64bit]
No Monitor
TP-Link Wireless N Adapter
Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme Audio Sound Card

For just over £800, which i thought was quite good value as even buying the parts myself would cost me that much or more!

Patio: Definetley not spam, not unless im writing this from an imaginary computer

[Allan]

I've got to be honest - until I looked up your previous posts I also thought it might be spam. But I now believe it's not.

[duncan _c]

Haha, perhaps i was a little over enthusiastic in my first post, i must admit that there are some downsides to the company. Namely the site, but as i say I have noticed that they are still adding things so who knows..?

[patio]

My apologies Duncan...Welcome Aboard...

(Understand the nature of Forums...we see alot of this )

[duncan _c]

Haha, i understand entirley. Its my first review so I appologise for it not being great!

[Calum]

Well, each to their own.  I would just never buy anything made by CIT, whether it's a PSU or a case.  Do you have a link to the good reviews of the CIT Gold units?  I'd be interested to read them.
I may have been a little hasty judging their case choices - I looked through a few of their systems and saw CIT and the Thermaltake Level 10, and jumped the gun.  The rest of their choices seem OK.  The CIT I jumped on because it's CIT, and the Thermaltake partly because it's Thermaltake, partly because it's a terrible case, and partly because the system they have in that case will overheat.

By spec the systems, I meant their choice of prebuilt systems - none of them seem to jump ut at me as being particularly good value for money, and their high-end extreme build just isn't that extreme.
It's great to see a company with a "real" UK number for support, that's one major plus I will give them without hesitation.

Again, I'm not trying to be overly negative although I may come across that way - I'm just interested from a personal and professional point of view.  Consider me biased if you like, I suppose I might be, but I'm really not trying to be.

[duncan _c]

Im not sure they are at all overpriced, i went through a package and using amazon put together one and it was around the same amount, considering your getting it built and all the support, i think thats quite good.

I assume they are using that case for the extreme system as it looks very exciting! Are you sure that it would overheat, the cooler is pretty intense and i find it hard to believe a company would make such a mistake...?

The amazon page (http://www.amazon.co.uk/450W-Gold-Silent-Power-Supply/dp/B000O38OPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1283978219&sr=8-1) gives the CIT gold 450W 4 stars, with 21 5 star reviews.

[BC_Programmer]

The amazon page (http://www.amazon.co.uk/450W-Gold-Silent-Power-Supply/dp/B000O38OPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1283978219&sr=8-1) gives the CIT gold 450W 4 stars, with 21 5 star reviews.

Personally, I'd take Calum's advice on a piece of Computer hardware a lot faster then any number of anonymous reviewers. Especially since in this case the anonymous reviewers clearly are unaware of the major flaw with most CIT products- they are cheap. They instead consider this a advantage. Certainly you should go for the best price point but there comes a time when you should wonder how reliable something is when it costs less then half as much as equivalent models from other vendors.

I assume they are using that case for the extreme system as it looks very exciting! Are you sure that it would overheat, the cooler is pretty intense and i find it hard to believe a company would make such a mistake...?

Calum builds PCs for a living himself He knows his stuff when it comes to things like that There could be something being overlooked though. (maybe they change the case or add more fans or something)

Their website leaves a lot to be desired

I like it, makes me feel a lot better about mine,

[Calum]

Anonymous PSU reviews really aren't worth much - only trust PSU reviews with a proper testing methodology, such as the reviews at [H] and johnnyguru.  See this for some more details.
Regarding the case, I've built that system with a Megahalems, push/pull Sharkoon 2000rpm fans, and one 5970.  The 5970 ran very hot, as did the CPU - although in that build the CPU was at 4GHz, not stock.  I thought I read that it was overclocked, in which case the CPU will be very cool (with a heatsink that's totally overkill, no need for an aftermarket cooler on a Gulftown at stock speeds) but the Rampage III will run very hot, as will the two 5970s and the HDDs.  So, I do apologise, that's my mistake for reading too quickly.
As for the overpriced comment, I wouldn't want to link to the company I work for's setups as some might consider it spam, but just comparing their range vs. "ours" they don't stack up too well IMO.  As I said above though, I could certainly be biased, and I really don't mean to give offence or be seen as bashing anyone else, I'm just giving my own opinion.

[mroilfield]

I have not had to contact customer support, and i hopefully wont have to, however the number is a local UK number.

Don't let the local UK number fool you. I work in Gabon and if you wanted to call me at my desk right  now I will give you a UK land line number.

[Salmon Trout]

Don't let the local UK number fool you. I work in Gabon and if you wanted to call me at my desk right  now I will give you a UK land line number.

In the UK (I expect this works elsewhere) you can rent a UK number and have calls to it connect to a phone line anywhere in the world.

However...

That phone number is a Liverpool / Merseyside phone number, Their registered address is also in Liverpool.

CosCom
23 North Road
Liverpool
Merseyside
L19 0LP

That company is listed in a number of Liverpool / Merseyside business directories.

Google Maps Street View shows a leafy residential street in Cressignton Park, Garston.

The local authority received a planning application for that address in the name of Mrs Hilary Cowan, dated 17 March 2009

To carry out alterations to rear and side elevation, incorporating new patio door raised deck at rear, installation of 2 no. rooflights at side elevation, removal of staircase at rear and erection of glazed canopy at rear.

Hilary also rents out a fisherman's cottage in Wester Ross, Scotland.

A people search also reveals Peter Cowan age 50-54 at the L19 address.