Need help choosing a gaming computer.

[bghans]

I'm looking to buy a new gaming PC and I'd rather not build it myself, I know that prebuilt PCs are generally overpriced but I've found some reasonably priced computers with some top-end GPUs and CPUs. I'm having trouble picking one, if you could help me determine what the best PC is for their price I'd be grateful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230063 - GTX 970 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102051 - GTX 980 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227583 - GTX 960 I7 4790K 16GB DDR3 $1169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102075 - GTX 980 I7 4690K 8GB DDR3 $1349

Also, The GTX 980 for $1279 seems to have a bad PSU, what are your thoughts?

 

[Shrubbyslinky]

Out of those four, I would probably choose the 1st one. (970, I5 4690K, 16GB DDR3 @ $1150). Those are pretty good prices (for prebuilt PCs), but I do notice that they fail to mention anything about the Power Supply Unit, besides the fact that it has 600 Watts, and I'm thinking that this PC has a crappy Chinese PSU supporting a 970 and an I5. That's a setup for disaster. Seeing as though the PSU is decidedly the most important part in the system, as it's capable of shorting out other parts in the PC, or even exploding, in some situations, that's one thing you may want to look into.

(Exploding PSU, if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrijOqu5oR4)

 

[bghans]

Out of those four, I would probably choose the 1st one. (970, I5 4690K, 16GB DDR3 @ $1150). Those are pretty good prices (for prebuilt PCs), but I do notice that they fail to mention anything about the Power Supply Unit, besides the fact that it has 600 Watts, and I'm thinking that this PC has a crappy Chinese PSU supporting a 970 and an I5. That's a setup for disaster. Seeing as though the PSU is decidedly the most important part in the system, as it's capable of shorting out other parts in the PC, or even exploding, in some situations, that's one thing you may want to look into.

(Exploding PSU, if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrijOqu5oR4)

Thanks for responding! The PSU is from High Power, is this a good brand?

 

[Shrubbyslinky]

I've never heard of them. And it's very important to buy PSUs from reputable, well known brands/companies, otherwise, you may be getting a crappy one that will fail or short out valuable components. I'd recommend maybe switching out that PSU for one from Corsair, EVGA, Seasonic, etc...

Also, one thing to note that I forgot to mention in my previous post: The GTX 970 only has 3.5GB of VRAM, but on that site, it's shown as having 4GBs of VRAM. The 512MBs of VRAM shouldn't make all that much of a difference, as VRAM isn't everything. It's still a very good card.

(Video discussing the GTX 970 VRAM issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6k55epUBCE)

 

[Mchedlo]

I'm looking to buy a new gaming PC and I'd rather not build it myself, I know that prebuilt PCs are generally overpriced but I've found some reasonably priced computers with some top-end GPUs and CPUs. I'm having trouble picking one, if you could help me determine what the best PC is for their price I'd be grateful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230063 - GTX 970 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102051 - GTX 980 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227583 - GTX 960 I7 4790K 16GB DDR3 $1169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102075 - GTX 980 I7 4690K 8GB DDR3 $1349

Also, The GTX 980 for $1279 seems to have a bad PSU, what are your thoughts?

Go with the first one ) I would suggest to Build PC with help of some IT friend if you have one, it would be much cheaper prebuild PCs are expensive and most of times they put not needed parts to make price go higher

 

[Shrubbyslinky]

I'm looking to buy a new gaming PC and I'd rather not build it myself, I know that prebuilt PCs are generally overpriced but I've found some reasonably priced computers with some top-end GPUs and CPUs. I'm having trouble picking one, if you could help me determine what the best PC is for their price I'd be grateful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230063 - GTX 970 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102051 - GTX 980 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227583 - GTX 960 I7 4790K 16GB DDR3 $1169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102075 - GTX 980 I7 4690K 8GB DDR3 $1349

Also, The GTX 980 for $1279 seems to have a bad PSU, what are your thoughts?

Go with the first one ) I would suggest to Build PC with help of some IT friend if you have one, it would be much cheaper prebuild PCs are expensive and most of times they put not needed parts to make price go higher

Yeah, if possible, it would certainly be cheaper to build a PC. But he said he would rather not build it himself. But you're correct, he can get a friend to do it for him. But if it had to be a prebuilt, I was suggesting he get the first one, but I'm not too sure about that Power Supply. Have you ever heard of that brand? If so, is it reputable?

 

[Mchedlo]

I'm looking to buy a new gaming PC and I'd rather not build it myself, I know that prebuilt PCs are generally overpriced but I've found some reasonably priced computers with some top-end GPUs and CPUs. I'm having trouble picking one, if you could help me determine what the best PC is for their price I'd be grateful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230063 - GTX 970 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102051 - GTX 980 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227583 - GTX 960 I7 4790K 16GB DDR3 $1169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102075 - GTX 980 I7 4690K 8GB DDR3 $1349

Also, The GTX 980 for $1279 seems to have a bad PSU, what are your thoughts?

Go with the first one ) I would suggest to Build PC with help of some IT friend if you have one, it would be much cheaper prebuild PCs are expensive and most of times they put not needed parts to make price go higher

Yeah, if possible, it would certainly be cheaper to build a PC. But he said he would rather not build it himself. But you're correct, he can get a friend to do it for him. But if it had to be a prebuilt, I was suggesting he get the first one, but I'm not too sure about that Power Supply. Have you ever heard of that brand? If so, is it reputable?

to be honest I have never heard of it. I would get reliable brand PSU in that case, or at least first buy it, then sell the PSU and buy more reliable PSU brand though OP never mentioned his budget, how much he can spend

 

[Shrubbyslinky]

I'm looking to buy a new gaming PC and I'd rather not build it myself, I know that prebuilt PCs are generally overpriced but I've found some reasonably priced computers with some top-end GPUs and CPUs. I'm having trouble picking one, if you could help me determine what the best PC is for their price I'd be grateful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230063 - GTX 970 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102051 - GTX 980 I5 4690K 16GB DDR3 $1279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227583 - GTX 960 I7 4790K 16GB DDR3 $1169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102075 - GTX 980 I7 4690K 8GB DDR3 $1349

Also, The GTX 980 for $1279 seems to have a bad PSU, what are your thoughts?

Go with the first one ) I would suggest to Build PC with help of some IT friend if you have one, it would be much cheaper prebuild PCs are expensive and most of times they put not needed parts to make price go higher

Yeah, if possible, it would certainly be cheaper to build a PC. But he said he would rather not build it himself. But you're correct, he can get a friend to do it for him. But if it had to be a prebuilt, I was suggesting he get the first one, but I'm not too sure about that Power Supply. Have you ever heard of that brand? If so, is it reputable?

to be honest I have never heard of it. I would get reliable brand PSU in that case, or at least first buy it, then sell the PSU and buy more reliable PSU brand though OP never mentioned his budget, how much he can spend

Yeah. In one of my posts, I recommended he get a PSU from Corsair, Seasonic, EVGA, etc... and ditch that High Power PSU.