[SOLVED] need help deciding between 2 PCs or identifying potential issues with the way they're built.

[skragglenuts]

CARE1: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]
CARE2: CPU Thermal Compound - Our Cooler Master MASTERGEL High Performance Thermal Compound can improve cooling performance as well as prolong the life of your CPU. [+10]
CAS: CyberPowerPC NR640 High Air Flow Mid-Tower Gaming Case with Tempered Glass + 4x 120mm ARGB Fans [+2] (Black Color)
CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i5-10600KF 6/12 4.10GHz [Turbo 4.8GHz] 12MB Cache LGA1200 [w/o Integrated Graphic] (Comet Lake-S) [+0]
FAN: CyberPowerPC MasterLiquid Lite 120mm ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler with Dual Chamber Pump & Copper Cold Plate
HDD: 1TB WD Blue SN550 Series PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD - Seq R/W: Up to 2400/1950 MB/s, Rnd R/W up to 410/405k [-13] (Single Drive)
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/3600MHz Memory [-50] (Team T-Force Delta RGB)
MOTHERBOARD: MSI Z590 PRO WiFi ATX, ARGB, WiFi 6, 2.5GbE LAN, 2 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1, 6 SATA3, 3x M.2 SATA/PCIe [-31]
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition). Free Upgrade to Windows 11 *(see below) [+0]
POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts - CoolerMaster MWE GOLD 750 - V2 80 PLUS GOLD Ultra Quiet Full Modular Power Supply [+22]
PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]
VIDEO: GeForce RTX™ 3060 12GB GDDR6 Video Card (Ampere) [VR Ready] [+458] (Single Card)

$1,606 after tax. custom build

OR

Operating System ::Windows 11 Home
Case ::iBUYPOWER Slate HAKO MR Tempered Glass ARGB
Processor ::Intel® Core™ i7-11700KF Processor (8X 3.60GHz/16MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling ::iBUYPOWER 240mm Addressable RGB Liquid Cooling System
Memory ::16GB [8GB x 2] DDR4-3600MHz RGB
Video Card ::GeForce RTX 3060 Ti - 8GB GDDR6 (VR-Ready)
Storage ::1TB Samsung 980 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
Motherboard ::ASRock Z590-C/AC
Power Supply ::600 Watt - 80 PLUS Gold Certified
Internal Wireless Network ::On-Board Wireless Network

$1,817 after tax. pre-built.

what do you think? which is better? which will last longer? it'll be used for primarily gaming. minor amounts of adobe stuff/editing

 

[USAFRet]

CyberPowerPC
iBUYPOWER

ummm.....
The ONLY good thing about them is the GPU.


Bad points for both:
#1 -
120mm cooler Substandard size.
$50 useless extra in magical packaging, wiring, magic paste
so-so SSD for a $1600 system


#2
Unknown PSU
Unknown RAM

 

[skragglenuts]

thanks for the reply. ill look at upgrading the size of the cooler. is pro wiring and thermal paste really a waste? i thought it might mean they pay attention to detail more when building. how is the SSD so-so? im fine with the limited storage size, i have externals.

 

[USAFRet]

thanks for the reply. ill look at upgrading the size of the cooler. is pro wiring and thermal paste really a waste? i thought it might mean they pay attention to detail more when building. how is the SSD so-so? im fine with the limited storage size, i have externals.

They should be paying attention anyway.

Normal assembly = 19 year old intern, with 2 weeks on the job, working his way through a Monday morning hangover
Pro assembly - The same intern on Tuesday

So-so drive because it should be faster in a $1600 system. Not that you'd really notice, but a 970 or 980 would be preferred.


Also, the assembly quality of those two companies is pretty crappy. We've seen multiple instances where the thing does not work, right out of the box. Unaceptable.

Lastly, the warranty. Generally, there is a 1 year warranty on those. Even if the individual parts might have a 2-3-5 year 3warranty on their own.
And, YOU have to pay shipping back to them.

As said, the ONLY good thing about either of those is that you can get that GPU at a semi-reasonable price.
The rest of the PC, not so much.

 

[skragglenuts]

those 2 are really that bad eh? i know ive read some reviews, but they have to make them well SOMETIMES right? maybe not.

what other sites do you recommend for either prebuilts or custom that are comparable in price and spec? again, thanks for the replies.

 

[iTRiP]

The custom built, hands down... my opinion...

Many a good spec for both, but the custom spec...sweet setup. good gaming incoming.

 

[skragglenuts]

Asetek 670LS 240mm Gen 6 Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ Copper Cold Plate + 2x Phanteks SK120 PWM Radiator Fans
750 Watts - Corsair RMx Series RM750x 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Fully Modular Ultra Quiet Power Supply

these good alternatives for cooler and PSU?

 

[Why_Me]

Build your own so that you know you're getting quality components.

https://www.newegg.com/black-phanteks-eclipse-p400a-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811854085
Phanteks Eclipse P400A $74.99 + $5 off w/ promo code PH53679A, limited offer $64.99 after $10.00 rebate

Exhaust fan for that case.

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-ACFAN00119A-P12-Black-Pressure-Optimized/dp/B07GB5JRTZ/
ARCTIC P12 PWM - 120mm 4-Pin Case Fan $7.00

https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-plus-550-gold-ssr-550fx-550w/p/N82E16817151189
Seasonic FOCUS GX-550, 550W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply $69.99 Save: $40.00 (36%) $54.99 after $15.00 rebate card

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144396
MSI MAG B560M BAZOOKA $99.99 Save: $40.00 (29%)

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-11400-core-i5-11th-gen/p/N82E16819118241
Intel Core i5-11400 $189.98 Save: $30.01 (14%)

https://www.amazon.com/DEEPCOOL-GAMMAXX-Cooler-Heatpipes-Anodized/dp/B08C2TJ4QZ/

DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX GTE V2 Black CPU Air Cooler $29.99

https://www.newegg.com/ballistix-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E1682016417
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 3200MHz 16GB (8GBx2) CL16 $69.99 Save: $13.00 (16%) + $10 off w/ promo code BFFRDY54 & $5 promotional gift card w/ purchase, limited offer

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-blue-sn550-nvme-1tb/p/N82E16820250135
WD Blue SN550 NVMe M.2 2280 1TB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 3D NAND Internal SSD $83.99 Save: $46.00 (35%) + $9 off w/ promo code BCMAY22464, limited offer

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GeForce-RTX-3060-12G/dp/B08WPRMVWB/
MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Ampere Ventus 2X OC Graphics Card $945.00

Total: $1570.92 not including rebates & promo codes

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B560M-BAZOOKA

http://www.phanteks.com/Eclipse-P400A.html

Reviews of that cpu including benchmarks.

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/intel-core-i5-11400f-processor-review,1.html

Intel Core i5-11400F Review - The Best Rocket Lake

The Core i5-11400F is Intel's most affordable Rocket Lake processor. While its multiplier is locked, you can still adjust the power limit. Once we did that, the CPU ran over 15% faster and almost matched the Core i5-11600K. We also made an interesting discovery regarding Gear 1 vs. Gear 2.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[skragglenuts]

with 2 small toddlers, i dont have the time to build my own, or the knowhow. all ive ever done is swap gpus or ram or psu. from scratch is intimidating.

maybe i can outsource it to a local shop. thanks for compiling that list.

 

[USAFRet]

with 2 small toddlers, i dont have the time to build my own, or the knowhow. all ive ever done is swap gpus or ram or psu. from scratch is intimidating.

maybe i can outsource it to a local shop. thanks for compiling that list.

Completely understand the time and kids thing.

But I would buy just about ANYTHING else over iBuyPower/CyberPower.
Dell/HP/Asus/Acer/etc.

 

[skragglenuts]

really. that bad huh? im trying to avoid OEM stuff too. less customization if any at all, plus weird cases with no air flow. most reviews ive seen suck too. acer isnt awful tho.

any suggestions on the step above ibuypower and cyberpower? redux? maingear? DS? lyte? perhaps something in between the former and latters?

thanks again for your help. happy T day. and i respect a fellow vet.

 

[USAFRet]

really. that bad huh? im trying to avoid OEM stuff too. less customization if any at all, plus weird cases with no air flow. most reviews ive seen suck too. acer isnt awful tho.

any suggestions on the step above ibuypower and cyberpower? redux? maingear? DS? lyte? perhaps something in between the former and latters?

thanks again for your help. happy T day. and i respect a fellow vet.

Pretty much any but those two.

Do you have a MicroCenter near you?
They do assembly for a reasonable price, especially if you get all the parts there.


Our main issue with the two maned manufacturers is the build quality, warranty, and, unless you are VERY careful, the parts selection.
So bad that the moderation team has a thread specifically for thoose.
Things like the DVD drive not connected, system not booting up out of the box, substandard PSU, etc, etc.

 

[TommyTwoTone66]

With the GPU situation the way it is I think you have to go OEM to get a good GPU.

I guess being able to use the PC is a good benefit as well but any prebuild is going to come with issues and need a strip down and rebuild anyway, so I’d say don’t sweat the build quality stuff, not in this GPU economy.

The important stuff is knowing the exact components going into the box. Here I’m talking the PSU, case, cooler and motherboard. SSD, CPU, RAM and GPU will be good no matter what you get, paying attention to the rest is key.

So yeah, so long as everything you buy is high quality gear just get a premade, rebuild it when it arrives and call it a win. You’ll still save money over buying a scalped GPU.