I can't believe I'm asking about a pre build system

[Jetster]

So here is the deal, a friend from work wants to buy a desktop gaming system. I don't want to build it. I'm way to busy and
he insist on buying a built system anyway. So what are some desktops, available in the US that are well built, and backed by a great company.
Budget is in the $800 to $1700 range. Also he says its for CAD work, but I would guess gaming

Hopefully this also solves the issue of no GPUs available

 

[the54thvoid]

CAD is memory intensive, right? A 6800, or 6800XT prebuild in an AMD Zen3 rig would work?

And yeah--big wavy finger of shame at you. Pre-builds....

 

[sneekypeet]

This may sound lame, but..... Warranty!

I'd look over all of your choices (covers most solid options) and see which has the longest or better coverage terms.

Beyond that, if all systems were using identical specs, the case and cooler are the only changes to add into the mix for cost. Then compare prices to warranties and make a choice.

 

[sam_86314]

This might be worth a look.

LTT did a secret shopper thing for a $1500 USD PC.

Gaming PC Secret Shopper 2

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

TL; DW

In their testing, iBUYPOWER was the best overall, and Dell should be avoided like the plague.

 

[Tomgang]

Yeah I dit see all 4 part of Linus secret shopping and again dell failed. You might even be better of buying from wish.com than Dell. Just kidding avoid both.

Ibuypower seems to be the go to choice for a pre-built.

 

[bonehead123]

I am closer to this website than I would EVER want to be to a pre-built rig... like 816,427.53 miles, hahahaha.. ....

Last year, my company did a very detailed analysis of pre-built systems from 6 different mfgr's, vs. building them ourselves, and the
custom built rigs won hands down every time, both in terms of costs, flexibility (to build the rigs for their intended purposes), upgradability, and return on investment...

Note that we needed to buy or build over 600 machines, 473 of which are used everyday for 3D CAD/CAM/Engineering work Fortunately, many of us, like me, are perfectly capable of assembling the rigs ourselves, and our IT guys are extremely proficient too...

We did buy about 80 high-end lappies for those who work from home and/or at project sites...

 

[Jetster]

I am closer to this website than I would EVER want to be to a pre-built rig... like 816,427.53 miles, hahahaha.. ....

Last year, my company did a very detailed analysis of pre-built systems from 6 different mfgr's, vs. building them ourselves, and the
custom built rigs won hands down every time, both in terms of costs, flexibility (to build the rigs for their intended purposes), upgradability, and return on investment...

Note that we needed to buy or build over 600 machines, 473 of which are used everyday for 3D CAD/CAM/Engineering work Fortunately, many of us, like me, are perfectly capable of assembling the rigs ourselves, and our IT guys are extremely proficient too...

We did buy about 80 high-end lappies for those who work from home and/or at project sites...

What laptops did yoou go with?

 

[sam_86314]

What laptops did yoou go with?

I'll just give my two cents here.

For laptops, I'd personally recommend one from Clevo. They're great for DIYers.

There's also Tongfang. I haven't used their laptops personally, but they seem pretty similar to Clevo ones.

 

[Caring1]

What laptops did yoou go with?

Laughing at the irony he wouldn't go near a prebuilt, then buys a bunch of laptops

 

[biffzinker]

Laughing at the irony he wouldn't go near a prebuilt, then buys a bunch of laptops

Do bare bones laptops still exist you fit with RAM, and storage? Thinking along the lines of the NUCs .

 

[sam_86314]

Do bare bones laptops still exist you fit with RAM, and storage? Thinking along the lines of the NUCs .

When I got my Clevo W650, I got the barebones one which didn't have a CPU, RAM, or storage. It took an LGA 1151 CPU.

Clevo has plenty of barebones laptops.

 

[bubbleawsome]

I’ll agree with everyone else, don’t touch dell with a 10 foot pole. Right now prebuilts aren’t awful deals honestly with the 3000, 5000, and 6000 shortages.

 

[Athlonite]

It would seem the best of the crop to date is iBuyPower after watching LTT' secret shopper videos good build quality good components good warranty and service making them the good all rounder but like anything these day you get what you pay for spend bog all you get bog all

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

iBuyPower customization here

I customized HP's OMEN 30L Desktop GT13-0280z. I tried customizing a cheaper 25L GT12-0240m to similar spec but it became more expensive.

iBuyPower:

Spoiler

$1782 with $19 return shipping warranty.

HP Omen:

Spoiler

$1600 without any warranty. Although looking at it again looks like it only has 500W power supply with no option to change it.

 

[biffzinker]

Would a HP Omen be alright as another option for a prebuilt?
I see @Khonjel beat me too it.

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

I also checked Corsair's site. I wouldn't buy Corsair One since I think it's a boutique thing. But in the mainstream Vengeance lineup in the $1700 range specs are RTX 2000 series cards mostly while only one spec has 3070 and it's $2400. And their configuration isn't that in-depth either:

Would a HP Omen be alright as another option for a prebuilt?
I see @Khonjel beat me too it.

I checked iBuyPower and Omen only because they were the best in the LTT video. Then checked out Corsair's offerings since six people voted for it. But they disappoint.

Here's from CyberPowerPC:

Spoiler

I tried to match the spec of iBuyPower but still $1900. I selected most of the discount items as well.
p.s. And that's without any OS as well.

Checked out SkyTech as well. A little overpriced just like CyberPowerPC and doesn't have any option above 3060 Ti. Only 2080 Ti.

 

[Jetster]

Very helpful

 

[bonehead123]

What laptops did you go with?

Laughing at the irony he wouldn't go near a prebuilt, then buys a bunch of laptops

Well, in the interest of customization/DIY'ing in our group, we did get a large number of Clevo's and maxed them out with top of the line parts for mostly everyone, and also some HP Omens for a few people who specifically requested them...

And just to be clear, these machines were paid for by my company. Thankfully our upper mgmt are extremely computer literate & understand what these purchases meant to the group, so they allocated the funds without hesitation once the analysis was completed.

So, laugh if you want, while I go cash my paycheck, which is 22.39% larger than it was before we got these new machines, due to my (& everyone else's) increased productivity...hahahaha

 

[Vario]

I had a friend with a CyberpowerPC, I looked inside and it was well assembled, wires were nicely tucked, and it was built with quality parts. Looked like at least as good a job as if I had just built it for him.

 

[xrobwx71]

I've been buying PC's from Cyberpower for 10 years at work and at home. I bought one from, Origin, great system but they are expensive as a result of the quality.

I also bought my most recent server for our Point of Sale system from Puget Systems. The best customer service and communication I've ever witnessed in the industry. You get a binder with a picture and history/credentials of each person that touched your machine. You get thermal (flir) pics of your motherboard under load and idle.

 

[NoJuan999]

There is some excellent info in this thread.
I haven't purchased a Pre-Built PC since a bought a 486 in the early 90's.
I have built PCs for myself and many others over the years though, because it is cheaper and the parts I pick are better quality.
But with the current CPU/GPU shortages some people may not want to wait for the parts to be available.
So just hearing some first hand experiences is always helpful for future reference in case I need to help someone pick out a pre-built system.

 

[Hachi_Roku256563]

although out of stock umart has this really good locking pc https://www.umart.com.au/Umart-Thermaltake-Imperator-Ryzen-7-5800X-RX-6800-XT-Gaming-PC_57610G.html
with really decent parts and really decent price

 

[Easy Rhino]

This may sound lame, but..... Warranty!

I'd look over all of your choices (covers most solid options) and see which has the longest or better coverage terms.

Beyond that, if all systems were using identical specs, the case and cooler are the only changes to add into the mix for cost. Then compare prices to warranties and make a choice.

Yes exactly. If you buying prebuilt check the warranty like Sneeky says and I would add buy from a company with really good costumer service.

 

[stinger608]

although out of stock umart has this really good locking pc https://www.umart.com.au/Umart-Thermaltake-Imperator-Ryzen-7-5800X-RX-6800-XT-Gaming-PC_57610G.html
with really decent parts and really decent price

Okay, the OP has a top budget of $1700 and you posted a system that is $3200...........Ummmmmmmm, that's a little over budget man.

I don't think his friend is going to be able to swing that budget and can probably get close to that spec for under the amount shown.

 

[Hachi_Roku256563]

Okay, the OP has a top budget of $1700 and you posted a system that is $3200

Yeah that makes me think its a good idea to read posts fully
However its a little better its a 2200 dollar us pc cause that aus pricing
Soz my bad