Is it worth buying a prebuilt at the moment?

[MajesticSausage]

I've had a few lean years recently. Struggling to pay rent and eat let alone indulge my pc gaming hobby with a new machine, so I've been gaming and working(which requires a decent amount of umph) on my laptop with a 970m which is creaking a fair bit (cleaned out the fans recently which has helped but still...)

Now however, I have a new well paying job, have paid off a sizeable chunk of my debts and suddenly find myself able to treat myself.

I've normally built my desktops in the past, but we all know what's going on with component prices so that's out of the window.

Now though I find myself a little stuck. Prebuilt prices have thus far remained (mostly) unaffected and i'm tempted to drop a bit more than I would have to get a high spec machine while this remains the case. However the crypto craze's future remains uncertain, Nvidia are almost certainly dropping a new line up this year, likewise Intel and Amd with cpus that aren't vulnerable to meltdown or spectre.

So do I grab a machine now while the prices are ok? Or maintain the patience I've had for the last few years and see what the future brings?

 

[g-unit1111]

Honestly it's kind of hard to say. I mean right now the GPU shortage is getting to be completely stupid and has significantly impacted the market and i don't think things will be improving anytime soon. Even prebuilt vendors are having a hard time keeping up. If you know where to look, your chances of getting any sort of decent GPU without paying ridiculous premiums are probably better suited going with a prebuilt than building your own. But the usual vendors like Cyberpower, IBUYPOWER, etc are places where I would not trust.

 

[justin_time]

Some of that would depend on how much you want to pay. There are some reliable barebones deals where you can select your own parts and they build it and ship it to you.

 

[MajesticSausage]

Honestly it's kind of hard to say. I mean right now the GPU shortage is getting to be completely stupid and has significantly impacted the market and i don't think things will be improving anytime soon. Even prebuilt vendors are having a hard time keeping up. If you know where to look, your chances of getting any sort of decent GPU without paying ridiculous premiums are probably better suited going with a prebuilt than building your own. But the usual vendors like Cyberpower, IBUYPOWER, etc are places where I would not trust.

Seems about par for course, my head says wait, my heart says max settings at 1440p. Thanks for the input mate, you too Justin.

 

[g-unit1111]

Seems about par for course, my head says wait, my heart says max settings at 1440p. Thanks for the input mate, you too Justin.

Yeah if that's what you are looking to play you're looking at dropping at least $900 on a 1070TI, maybe over $1,000 depending on the model for the time being. Hopefully the market will clear up soon but right now it's doubtful. Chinese gaming and cryptocurrency are ensuring the GPU shortage and I think once the cryptocurrencies switch over to AISC and will rely less on GPUs, we should be good, but that could take a long time.

 

[reubenpainter001]

Some of that would depend on how much you want to pay. There are some reliable barebones deals where you can select your own parts and they build it and ship it to you.

Any idea what sites do this/where I could find them?
Much appreciated!

 

[James Mason]

NZXT's BLD: https://www.nzxt.com/bldnow
You don't have many parts options, but the prices are fair/MSRP.