Help Choosing a Pre-built Gaming PC Please

Hardware and technical stuff
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Guys, I totally get it. If it were ten years ago, I’d be right there with you, because I had more time and patience than money.

But a few years ago, when I lost an entire weekend to switching just the innards of my current PC to a new case, and found that it wouldn’t work for some reason, forcing me to reinstall and reseat everything multiple times, then reinstall Windows entirely from scratch, I realized I was done.

So I began saving, because I’m tired of dealing with the myriad of tiny little things that can (and do) go wrong when I build it myself. I’m tired of losing hours and days because one ONE SETTING IN THE FUCKING BIOS (yes, this happened).

So again, while I appreciate you guys telling me to buy cheaper or build myself…I just can’t anymore. I’m too tired and too impatient. I’ve been saving for over a year specifically for this one thing, and I’m willing to blow it all out to get what will likely be the best, newest and most powerful PC I’ve ever owned…and to have someone else build it.

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I’ve gotten older i’ve realized that what makes sense for me may not sense for you. My advice tends to be just informational now. That’s not what I would do myself (whatever that thing is), but maybe it’s just the thing for you!

My only worry Brian is that if you pay someone to put it together, and they discover there’s a problem with a part, you’ll be on the hook for managing the warranty replacement. I’d rather order from a custom builder and let them handle that side of things.

OTOH, a local shop is easier to haul it down to if you need a repair!

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I’m totally fine with that. I’d have to deal with the warranty replacement if I were building myself anyway.

Exactly. If this goes well, I’ve a local resource to lean on should anything go awry with it later.

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The pre-built vs. build your own is one discussion, and that does center around time, skill, and patience. I chose pre-built this last cycle mostly for cost reasons, but I got to admit, it was an interesting experience to just plug it in and go. Took like 15 minutes to get my refurbed Dell up and running.

But even after you’ve decided pre-built because of time, the spec vs. cost discussion is a separate one. For me, I just can’t get myself to pay 3X more for 20%-30% more performance, under actual use conditions. To each their own, of course.

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This is why I’m doing all this research and asking folks who are smarter than I. ;)

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On performance, I think the convergence of console and PC games is something that should be kept in mind.

The vast majority of games no longer tax mid-level systems, because there aren’t a lot of games being developed primarily for enthusiast PC specs. Developers are, more and more, developing to the low- mid-end, to maximize the console and PC market segments. A lot of the demos I see where enthusiast systems are being taxed just don’t matter to me. 1024K independently modeled strands of hair or procedurally-generated water ripples that extend infinitely into the horizon don’t matter to me.

So, I personally find that most games run fine at max on a mid-level system if you aren’t trying to game in true 4K, or the settings that have to be dialed back are one that cost a lot of horsepower for little payout (to me).

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Stepsongrapes has the right idea. For me, as long as I get the basic level of performance necessary to run my games/applications the way I want them (which usually isn’t terribly demanding), the key things I look for are quality of build, quality of components, and general solidity and fit and finish. I’d rather have a mainstream peformer system that is rock-solid, uses quality parts, and isn’t a rat’s nest inside, than a flimsy but hod-rodded power house.

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But I’m not going for flimsy. I’ve been asking literal experts. I want something stable and powerful that’ll last for years.

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I got a Cyberpower last year at this time off of Amazon. Intel I7-7000, 1060 with 6 Gig, Terabite HD and 256G Solid state (best thing EVA!) for under $1200 and the case is yuuuge with the cables in their own space so it’s clean looking and easy to get at everything. The only thing I’ve had go bad was a single fan (out of 5) but the thing has so much space and air clearance I haven’t bothered changing it out yet. It runs anything I’ve thrown at it and should to VR if I wanted to.

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Very similar story here. Some years back, I bought a pc from Maingear, which was more or less an anniversary present from wife (she didn’t order it, but it was a splurge and she wanted me to treat myself). There was a hardware conflict in the machine that took a couple of years to pin down finally (I could have sent the rig to them for testing, but who wants to do that) and I had intermittent problems up until that point.

Built my own rig for the first time 6.5 years ago. I had wanted to before then, but always chickened out. What a great experience that was. (Not trying to sway you, Brian, just relaying the story). Machine is still whisper quiet and rock solid. All I’ve done is upgrade the video card a couple of times.

Shame I did the build thread at gaming trend. I have a web archive on my Mac, but you can no longer find it online.

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Totally get it, Brian. That’s been me on occasion for sure. The thing that soured me a bit was a string of problems with pre-builts that ended up requiring more of my time and energy than just building it myself.

That said, I also just tend to be a bit unlucky sometimes. It goes all the way back to my pong console that didn’t work out of the box. I’m sure you’ll have better fortune. I’ll get off my soapbox and look forward to seeing what you come up with, because I’ll be diving back into these waters in a few months,

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Please don’t get off your soapbox. I truly do appreciate all the advice. I just wanted to share where I was coming from.

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OMGOMGOMG

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I knew the email I sent to Nvidia saying @BrianRubin needs a new video card for his build, asap , would get the ball rolling on their end.

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Thanks man!

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YMMV, but I don’t think future proofing makes sense any more, I think your PC is more likely to die of unrelated technical issues, and the future would be cheaper anyway.

I got my PC built by a semi-respectable online retailer, and it worked great for 1.5 years, and then the gpu died (shitty powercolor one they had) and then the mobo died, because the GPU broke it. I took it to a mom and pop shop and they had my PC for 9 months while they dealt with the warranty information for me. Shop was great, the customer service at powercolor (we can’t send you a replacement card, we don’t have any) no so great. Ended up getting a different model from them anyway. It took so long because they sent 2 broken replacement cards, and a dead mobo. It must have been hell. The local shop dealt with all of that for my final bill being like 130 bucks.

But, 5 years later, despite my issues. This PC is excellent at 1080p, just swapped the videocard out for a 1060 6gb a year or so ago, and no issues at all for me.

I think people go crazy on builds, but if you have the disposable income, and this is your #1 hobby, have at it, people spend way more on other hobbies anyhow. I know personally for me, my distrust of the reliability of parts make me never want to spend more than 1500 on a PC at a time, I mean, even if it lasts 3 years, you can buy an entirely new PC for 1500 in 3 years with even better parts, and you will have spent the same money.

I also pray every day my PC doesn’t die, because I don’t have the money to replace it right now.

I think picking the parts and having a local shop build it is a way better deal than getting it pre-built, it will be cheaper, and if you trust the place, they likely will do a little tech support for free. at 75/hour I doubt you would be on the hook for more than 150$. Definitely worth the price of admission to avoid a weekend of frustration.

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I do and it is. So much of my joy is tied to my PC, as well as my creativity, so I want one that’s powerful and awesome.

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@BrianRubin At this point, you should be considering 64GB of RAM.

;)

giphy

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I got my current one from Cyberpower in 2010. One reason I got really lucky with this one is that the motherboard still hasn’t died, and neither has my memory. Everything else I’ve replaced at one point or another. Video cards failed three times over the years, hard drives multiple times, my starting SSD failed, my power supply had to replaced twice.

The most painful replacement was my SSD, but that wasn’t as bad as having the motherboard or memory fail. Replacing the power supply was easier than I expected.