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Is there a generally accepted outlet for prebuilt gaming PCs?

TexMex

TexMex

Gold Member
I can feel the groans already from here. Not building one. So if anyone has had a good experience from somewhere, or warnings for potential pitfalls I'd appreciate it. Thanks all.
 
I'm gonna ruin my streetcred, but I was fed up with building and always having the weirdest issues so last time I bought the pieces from a store and they built it for me. 2015 and I'm still using it. Only issue is that I burned my GPU+PSU in 2020, but I don't blame the company, those things can happen.
The only thing that pissed me off was that there was a promotion with Witcher 3+Batman for my GPU, and when I got my PC I received only Batman... they said that between my order and supply the Witcher 3 promotion ended - but I don't think it should have been my problem, since it was active when I ordered it. Pissed me off a lot, but I didn't want to mail them the whole PC back for a refund (I was sooo tempted, though).

Anyway, this was the store:

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk
 
Depends on what you need really, but just about any prebuilt at bestbuy is okay if you intend to switch out components later and just need something to start with.

in the long run though its almost always CHEAPER to get everything up front and build yourself even if the upfront cost is greater.

I hope I am explaining that clearly enough. lol

prebuilt: Quicker, cheaper upfront ( not all the time ), worse components, would need to replace some eventually.

build yourself: more hassel, Usually more expensive upfront, better value overall. One and done.
 
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TexMex said:
I can feel the groans already from here. Not building one. So if anyone has had a good experience from somewhere, or warnings for potential pitfalls I'd appreciate it. Thanks all.
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I stopped building my own (been there done that) and have been just buying prebuilts myself

I want to say up front Best Buy is one of my cooperate partners I have worked with for years

That said Best Buy carries a lot of very nice prebuilts and have no issues with you returning something simply because you don't like it you walk into the store and either order you something new or give you a full refund

I tried ordering from (not bashing this company) NZXT and the PC arrived damage and it was a pain in the ass getting it returned and the wait time for a replacement

I now totally prefer walking into a store and be able to take care of business with a live person and be done with it

But don't feel bad about buying a prebuilt no matter where you go
 
I bought a 4090/13900k prebuilt from Best Buy and the thermals were so bad I returned it and built my own. They are gonna cheap out on something whether it be the power supply, mobo, or the cooler. It also showed up without the GPU properly seated. This was a cyberpower PC. I would recommend buying it from Best Buy if you wanna go down this road because you can return it in store if there's any issues rather than shipping it back and waiting.
 
I also switched to only buying pre-builts. A lot of companies are competing in the space right now, which means prices aren't as ridiculous as they used to be - unless you go with something like Alienware.

My and my kids have had good luck with HP Omen, iBuyPower, Skytech, and CyperPowerPC pre-builts.

Personally, I prefer buying from Costco. All of their computers come with a 90 day "no questions asked" return policy, a two year warranty, and even free technical support.

 
TexMex said:
I can feel the groans already from here. Not building one. So if anyone has had a good experience from somewhere, or warnings for potential pitfalls I'd appreciate it. Thanks all.
Click to expand...
If you live in the states and have a MicroCenter near you I've heard good things about their prebuilts. It appears they don't use no name parts and use off the shelf parts from their stock.
 
jshackles said:
I also switched to only buying pre-builts. A lot of companies are competing in the space right now, which means prices aren't as ridiculous as they used to be - unless you go with something like Alienware.

My and my kids have had good luck with HP Omen, iBuyPower, Skytech, and CyperPowerPC pre-builts.

Personally, I prefer buying from Costco. All of their computers come with a 90 day "no questions asked" return policy, a two year warranty, and even free technical support.

Click to expand...
Agreed with both you and HeisenbergFX4 HeisenbergFX4 . I think as we get older, it's a "been there done that" with nothing to prove. Not to mention prebuilds have been not that much more than building yourself coming with perfect cable management to boot. Their warrantees tend to be very good as well.

Aging Lethal Weapon GIF
 
I am too lazy to build one myself. It's also the most boring part. The interesting stuff is looking for the components. I also enjoy the warranty that (for the whole thing) I get from a pre-built/made-to-order PC. I've bought my last PC from Alternate.de.
 
hououinkyouma00 said:
If you live in the states and have a MicroCenter near you I've heard good things about their prebuilts. It appears they don't use no name parts and use off the shelf parts from their stock.
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Yep, you can even select your parts and pay them to build, or can get one of their pre-builts. They can build out on Air, closed loop WC, full on Water Cooling, etc...
 
I wish I could buy a pre-built with just the case, power supply, fans, mobo and cpu already installed. I'd rather deal with my own ram, hdd/ssd and gpu.
 
Pre built gaming pc's are attractive but yeah it's a short list, I remember Alienware being good until the motherboard overheats.
 
I just purchased on last week from Newegg. No complaints thus far. (Also got the extended warranty)

The 4090 is intoxicating.
 
Hendrick's said:
iBuyPower
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jshackles said:
I also switched to only buying pre-builts. A lot of companies are competing in the space right now, which means prices aren't as ridiculous as they used to be - unless you go with something like Alienware.

My and my kids have had good luck with HP Omen, iBuyPower, Skytech, and CyperPowerPC pre-builts.

Personally, I prefer buying from Costco. All of their computers come with a 90 day "no questions asked" return policy, a two year warranty, and even free technical support.

Click to expand...

I've looked here and at Cyberpower PC. Almost got one from these places.

My first pre built was from a not well known place called eCollege PC. They actually upgraded a cpu cooler to a more expensive one when the one I picked was out of stock.

I can't tell if it was better, but it was more expensive.

After building my first PC in 2021, it's either build again or a place where I can pick every part myself.
 
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I bought a Digital Storm Laptop with zero research after a friend recommended it. It saved so much time compared to PC builds. It's lasted me an easy 2 years as a LAPTOP, and I expect 5 years on it. They give great options, and you skip all the advertising, scams, and sold out parts BS. Its the best PC choice I ever made after the nightmare and loss of money the whole crypto situation did.
 
I agree with the others who said Microcenter, if you're lucky enough to have one nearby. They're awesome and ran by nerds that will do the "hard" work for you. Great prices and customer service.
 
TheThreadsThatBindUs said:
Is a DIY build cheaper than a pre-build in this day and age?
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DIY is almost always cheaper than pre-built, because someone has to put it together, and labor isn't free.

That being said, if you're lucky enough to find a pre-built on a closeout sale (or "open box" from places like Best Buy or Amazon Warehouse) then you're likely to find the whole system cheaper than the parts - with the downside of it being either an older model or a return.
 
If you move to gaming laptops (less bang for the buck, but still quite nice), there's an abundance of great choices available (MSI, ASUS, Lenovo, etc). Even SFF has pretty decent selection depending on your gaming needs, MinisForum is pretty decent for the money.

You could also just buy a PC handheld too like the Deck or Ally and live on the edge, there's no shortage of content to play on such devices and you'd be on to their successors long before you exhausted what is available to play.
 
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I spent 1500 on a prebuilt from microcenter and only modified lightly with an extra hard drive. No complaints- runs almost anything smoothly including some demanding VR stuff
 
I'm in agreement with other posters that have said sometimes you don't have the time to devote to R&D, build, support and just want to get one. I've done my fair share of building them and while I love the R&D phase (possibly more than the build) I went with a refurbished Alienware last year. Partially to avoid the prices and partially to get a single point to go for support instead of having to play round robin with companies which I've had to do a few times over the years.

Still was in the tail end of the parts shortage and price madness which pushed me to do a pre-built and even with some markup it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was comparing it to a Falcon Northwest so it was cheaper at the time. Anecdotal just based on my experience and a friend who owned some Alienware systems over the years but I haven't had any trouble beyond some Dell software so far.

The mentions of the Microcenter builds sound neat! I'll be curious to add that option whenever I get a new PC since there is one a state or two away. Getting to see the store could be a neat trip as a reason to go too.
 
While I can't vouch for Microcenter's builds since that's brick and mortar stores only, I have to say their customer support for online purchases has been great.
 
Building is half the fun. Also only then it really becomes your Personal Computer imo. Why would anyone buy one. Its more expensive and often a rip off.
 
Still they need to cheap out on something to make money out of it. Just build it and you get the same shit but with better specs for the same price.
 
r/buildapcsales/ is usually a good place to check if you want the most bang for your buck. They have a tag for "prebuilt" on the sidebar.
 
Prebuilts are mostly fine but they have sometimes really weird bottlenecks. Like having a shit cpu with a 4090 or something.
 
You can go to Microcenter and pick out your parts and have them build it for like $75. That's probably what I would do if I had an allergy to screwdrivers or whatever.
 
I bought a custom build from CyberPower PC in the UK. I'll upgrade it myself when necessary but if I don't think I'll bother building my own unless my kids want to in future.
 
Cant recommend one but I can recommend against any streamer marketed/made company because those always come with a "sorry, we'll do better next time" builds.
 
Gonna also recommend you take a look at Costco. Picked up an HP gaming desktop with a 3060 and it suits my needs. Best Buy carries IbuyPower desktops in-store now for a pretty reasonable price. Worth taking a look at those too.
 
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My suggestion would be figuring out the parts you want and buying the whole thing from a computer store, they will charge you a fee to put it together for you :)

If that doesn't sound good for you, right now Dell (alienware), HP and Lenovo are running sales for their gaming laptops and desktop prebuilts.
 
TexMex said:
I can feel the groans already from here. Not building one. So if anyone has had a good experience from somewhere, or warnings for potential pitfalls I'd appreciate it. Thanks all.
Click to expand...
Fuck what nerds think. They're cucks and you'll always hold it over them. Nerds will bully with false shame. Just scatter them like sky rats with your fist raised.
 
Sure...

Spend more for less performance
Spend more for shittier quality parts

Morgan Freeman Good Luck GIF
 
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