"When the new Core 2 Duo processor was announced, the benchmarks tempted me and I wanted to jump on early. I had read an intriguing review for a Polywell built system from HardOCP for a Media Center PC and it was interesting because it looked like they had a good warranty, great prices and good quality. Searched around and found several other good reviews from PC world etc. about their systems and decided to give them a try after configuring similar configurations from Alienware, abspc and Cyberpower. The price quoted seemed very reasonable and they had a wide selection.
Since the Core 2 Duo chips were yet to arrive at retailers, they allowed configuration of the system and the option to either make the order or be called by a service representative about the configuration before going further. i opted for the latter and received a prompt call from Ted Sturm who was very knowledgable and even asked if I really anted to go with a Dual GPU 7950GX2 solution since it was top of the line. I responded in the affirmative since I am a gamer and fast frame rates matter to me.

I was able to configure a system with a Tower case, 2 X 1 GB of Corsair XMS PC6400 DDR2 RAM, 2 X 250 GB SATA II drives, SATA DVD-RW Plextor, Intel ****@**** GHz and Windows XP MCE. Apparently they are a member of the efficient power supply consortium and they bundle this configuration with an SLI capable 700 W power supply.

I received god suggestions on my choice of motherboard based on my need for additional PCI slots for expansion cards and finalized the pricing and shipping. I was told that build time would be 7-10 days from the date the processor arrived. In the interim I changed my mind about the motherboard because I read good reviews for the ASUS P5W-DH while they offered the Intel Bad Axe 875 and the Nvidia based P5N32-SLI-SE. Although they didn't have it, they offered to special order it for me and revised my quote correspondingly.

I received an email from Ted in the third week of August about the processor arriving at the end of the week and that my system would ship shortly after. During build I received a call about whether I wanted my SATA drives in RAID and I responded in the negative but requested that they let me know when my machine shipped.Shortly after,as promised, I was sent an email with a Fedex 3 day tracking number and my machine arrived by the next weekend as they had promised allowing time for build and burn in.

It was well packed and contained all additional cables, manuals and CDs from the motherboard box as well as OEM software for the DVD-RW drive, the graphics card and a brand new disc with Windows XP MCE. There was no bloatware installed, the BIOS was current and windows and all drivers were up to date. I opened the case to add my TV tuner card and soundcard and was impressed by the interior, the cabling was clean with all ends tied off and all components secured. There was a horizontal crossbar that secured all the PCI cards in place and didn't allow them to come loose in transport.I called their support desk because I had some trouble prying it loose and was connected to the build technician who patiently told me how to release the catch.I was impressed by my ease in getting through as well as his quick assistance.

The machine runs quiet and cool in their standard TS424B case that I opted for and it screams in game performance as well as other apps. I am yet to encounter a freeze up or BSOD in the past 2 od weeks that I have had it. Above all I was gratified to receive a follow up email from Ted inquiring about the machine and if I was satisfied with it. I am, I said as much and I highly recommend Polywell to anyone looking for a custom built machine with aftermarket standard components. They have a good warranty policy but with the build quality, I doubt I will need to use it. Give them a try, I know I'm glad I did."