[SOLVED] Seeking help with buying a RELIABLE pre-built gaming PC

[Dampwaffles]

The requirements that I'd like to have:

- Budget $1,500~.

About $2,000 is my absolute limit. I am willing to pay more for quality though.

- Pre-built and preferably available on Amazon Prime so that I can get it in 2 days.

If I have to order it directly from a company and wait a couple of weeks, that's okay too. But Amazon is still greatly preferred due to their unbeatable delivery process and easy returns.

- RELIABLE.

I can't emphasize that enough. This factor is BY FAR the most important factor for me, even more important than performance. I've dealt with unreliable pieces of crap from iBuyPower and CyberPower with my last 2 gaming PCs, and I don't want to have to go through that ever again.

I'm the type of person that leaves my PC on 24/7 365. I almost never turn it off, not even when I leave the house. I don't want any faulty parts, crashes, or fans that randomly start to make annoying sounds after a couple of years. I want all of the components to be quality and super long lasting. Basically, I want the Toyota of gaming PCs that will just last and last for 5+ years without issue.

- Whisper quiet.

Self-explanatory. I was going to shell out the extra cash for an Alienware PC since several articles that I read in Google's search results claimed that they're one of the more reliable PC manufacturers, but almost everyone said that they're loud. And so that prevented me from pulling the trigger.

- Windows 10/11 Home.

- At least 500 GB SSD hard drive.

I prefer to just rely on a stand alone 1 TB SSD since I've never really used a ton of storage on my PCs. And I like the faster boot times of an SSD and the added reliability since there's no spinning disk to worry about with a hard disk drive.

- At least 16 gigs of RAM.

I prefer 32 gigs for super smooth multi-tasking, but 16 is still fine.

- I hate hate hate RGB lighting.

I just find it to be super annoying. At the very least I want to be able to turn it off completely since I prefer my rig to be very basic visually and non-distracting. And I'd prefer if I could turn it off either with a physical switch attached to the PC itself, or via some sort of easy-to-use program on the PC. My last PC used a remote to adjust the RGB lights, and that became an issue because the remote stopped working, and so I had to buy a new one.

- Moderate gaming performance.

I don't really need a super beastly gaming rig since I mostly play League of Legends, World of Warships, Apex, Valorant, and Overwatch. But it would be nice if I could play the latest games on high settings. A mid-range graphics card and processor would be perfectly fine.

- At least 2 USB ports on the top or front of case.

Makes it easier for my mouse and keyboard to reach my somewhat far sitting location.

Other factors to consider:

- I already have an LG 27GL83A-B monitor with G-Sync.

- I prefer to lay my PC down on it's side (none of the fans are blocked) since I use a small computer desk. Will this affect reliability and quietness? Or do they design PCs to work the same regardless of their orientation? I can still put it on the floor upright next to my computer desk if I have to, but that's slightly annoying.

- Would it be okay to go with a gaming laptop instead? It would make it easier to ship if I ever needed to send it in for repairs (please God no). But I read that they're less reliable and noisier due to the reduced cooling. Is that true? Or are good gaming laptops just as reliable and quiet as desktop PCs now?

- I live in America. The Washington, D.C., area to be exact.

I'm super sorry if any of my questions came off as dumb or annoying. I really don't know anything about PCs. I just want to plug my rig in and not have any issues from it.

Thanks in advance for any helpful responses!

 

[hotaru.hino]

The requirements that I'd like to have:

- Budget $1,500~.

About $2,000 is my absolute limit. I am willing to pay more for quality though.

- Pre-built and preferably available on Amazon Prime so that I can get it in 2 days.

If I have to order it directly from a company and wait a couple of weeks, that's okay too. But Amazon is still greatly preferred due to their unbeatable delivery process and easy returns.

- RELIABLE.

I can't emphasize that enough. This factor is BY FAR the most important factor for me, even more important than performance. I've dealt with unreliable pieces of crap from iBuyPower and CyberPower with my last 2 gaming PCs, and I don't want to have to go through that ever again.

I'm the type of person that leaves my PC on 24/7 365. I almost never turn it off, not even when I leave the house. I don't want any faulty parts, crashes, or fans that randomly start to make annoying sounds after a couple of years. I want all of the components to be quality and super long lasting. Basically, I want the Toyota of gaming PCs that will just last and last for 5+ years without issue.

Consider getting a workstation PC instead of a gaming PC. Those tend to be made more reliably due to the nature of needing to be the workhorses for businesses. One of my computers at work is approaching 10 years old, is still using the original parts, and I don't really turn it off unless I'm done for the week. You may also want to look at boutique builders like Falcon Northwest or Puget Systems, but keep in mind you do pay more for the same spec'd computer than from one of the major system builders.

However, I hope you were planning on doing regular maintenance to the machine. Not taking the time to say blow out the dust bunnies every month or so is like not taking a car to get an oil change.

- Whisper quiet.

Self-explanatory. I was going to shell out the extra cash for an Alienware PC since several articles that I read in Google's search results claimed that they're one of the more reliable PC manufacturers, but almost everyone said that they're loud. And so that prevented me from pulling the trigger.

This is kind of a crapshoot unless you buy midrange parts with a well thought out cooling set up, or an overkill one. Especially with video cards because they tend to be designed with emphasis on needing to push air through them.

- I hate hate hate RGB lighting.

I just find it to be super annoying. At the very least I want to be able to turn it off completely since I prefer my rig to be very basic visually and non-distracting. And I'd prefer if I could turn it off either with a physical switch attached to the PC itself, or via some sort of easy-to-use program on the PC. My last PC used a remote to adjust the RGB lights, and that became an issue because the remote stopped working, and so I had to buy a new one.

It's kind of hard these days to find a gaming computer that doesn't come with it, but you can usually turn it off.

- I prefer to lay my PC down on it's side (none of the fans are blocked) since I use a small computer desk. Will this affect reliability and quietness? Or do they design PCs to work the same regardless of their orientation? I can still put it on the floor upright next to my computer desk if I have to, but that's slightly annoying.

It'll work the same regardless.

- Would it be okay to go with a gaming laptop instead? It would make it easier to ship if I ever needed to send it in for repairs (please God no). But I read that they're less reliable and noisier due to the reduced cooling. Is that true? Or are good gaming laptops just as reliable and quiet as desktop PCs now?

In the past 8 or so years I've had one of ASUS's 17" gaming laptops, two generations of Dell's Inspiron 15 Gaming laptops, and my current one is an ASUS Zephyrus G14. Reliability has not been a problem with them, although since those were my secondary computers, my experience may not be representative for longer term use. But there were times where it was the only computer I've used for weeks at a time and they had no problem. Noise wise, the Dells and G14 do get loud, but that's just the nature of them being smaller and needing to push a lot of air through.

Overall if noise is a concern, I have to ask if you're wearing headphones. A good pair of closed-back headphones will isolate you from much of the noise your computer will make.