Trying to buy a sub $2000 gaming PC. Looking at prebuilt.

[Cnconrad]

I make a thread here a while back about a ibuypower revolt 2 pc that clocked in just under $2,000 and I was informed that the PSU was of poor quality and that the PC was generally over priced based off its specs. It made me sit down with PC parts picker and educate myself on the potential costs of building my own.

I have briefly considered building my own but I would rather not, my wife advised me that she would rather I pay a little more for one that is ready to go rather than spend my evenings tinkering and stressing about building my own.

While looking online I saw cyberpowerpc had a pretty good deal on a computer that I priced in right at $2000 on the dot.

I would appreciate it if the folks here could let me know if I am missing anything on this build. I believe I have everything covered and the setup is nearly the same price if I were to buy everything off of pc parts picker. I have included a link to my build if I were to do it myself.


I know the standard mantra is that these online sellers use crap components and over charge. But, it appears that all the parts listed in my cyberpower build are name brand that seem to have good ratings (Exception is not knowing the brand name of the ram and the 2TB HDD) and the price seems extremely competitive, I could probably sell the codes for the bundled games and make up the difference in price if I wanted to.


As always thanks for taking time out of your day to read my post.



Do it myself $1,937.33
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dQNM7h


Buy a "Professionally" built PC from Cyberpowerpc. $2,000

*BASE_PRICE: [+1699]
BLKFRISALE1: CYBERPOWERPC Skorpion K1 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard w/ Kontact Blue Switches and Programmable RGB LED Lighting [+5]
BLKFRISALE2: CyberPowerPC AULA Explosive 50mm Drive Analog Gaming Headset [White & Orange] [+5]
BLUETOOTH: None
CABLE: None
CAS: Corsair Crystal Series® 460X ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ front & Side tempered glass
CASUPGRADE: None
CC: None
CD: None
CD2: None
COOLANT: None
CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i7-7700K 4.20GHZ 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1151 (Kaby Lake)
CS_FAN: Default case fans
DOCKINGSTATION: None
ENGRAVING: None
EVGA_POWER: None
FA_HDD: None
FAN: Corsair Hydro H100i V2 240mm Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ Copper Cold Plate - Extreme Cooling Performance [+86] (2 x Standard 120MM Fans)
FLASHMEDIA: None
FREEBIE_CS: None
FREEBIE_CU1: CyberPowerPC GreenManGaming Mystery Loot Chest Bundle [+0]
FREEBIE_M2: None
FREEBIE_VC: FREE Destiny 2
HD_M2SSD: None
HD_PCIE1X_SSD: None
HDD: 480GB SanDisk Z410 SSD + 2TB SATA III Hard Drive Combo [+124] (Combo Drive)
HDD2: None
HEADSET: None
IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
KEYBOARD: None [-5]
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/2400MHz Dual Channel Memory [-40] (Corsair or Major Brand)
MONITOR: None
MOPAD: None
MOTHERBOARD: ASRock Z270 KILLER SLI/AC ATX w/ RGB, AC WiFi, USB 3.1, 2 PCIe x16, 4 PCIe x1, 6 SATA3, 2 M.2 SATA/PCIe [Intel Optane Ready] [+25]
MOUSE: None [-3]
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)
OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts - Corsair RMi Series RM750i 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Fully Modular Ultra Quiet Power Supply [+85]
PRO_WIRING: None
RUSH: Standard processing time: ship within 5 to 10 Business Days
SECURITY: None
SERVICE: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (INCLUDES LABOR AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT)
SLI_BRIDGE: None
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: None
TUNING: None
USBHD: None
USBX: None
VIDEO: EVGA GeForce® GTX 1080 Ti SC GAMING iCX Black Edition 11GB GDDR5X (Pascal)[VR Ready] [+19] (Single Card)
VIVE_HEADSET: None
WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 Year Parts WARRANTY
WNC: None
WTV: None
_PRICE: (+2000)

 

[King Dranzer]

Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($327.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($100.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - MAXIMUS IX HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($219.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($127.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($744.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Corsair - Crystal 460X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2011.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-20 01:48 EDT-0400

Made few changes. Provided a better motherboard. Full RGB theme and faster SSD.
If you can spend $100 over budget then go for SAMSUNG EVO960 500GB version instead of 250GB one.
Add a HDD in future as the SSD will be able to handle things for few months before it runs out of space.

 

[Cnconrad]

@king Dranzer

I saw you changed just about everything on the order.

Why an 850w psu?
What is better about that mother board? It doesn't seem to have wifi or BT
What is better about that 1080 ti than the one i picked out?

 

[g-unit1111]

@king Dranzer

I saw you changed just about everything on the order.

Why an 850w psu?
What is better about that mother board? It doesn't seem to have wifi or BT
What is better about that 1080 ti than the one i picked out?

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about having Wifi on a motherboard - *ALWAYS* use the LAN port on the motherboard whenever possible, it provides a much more stable and sturdy connection to the internet than you would get from Wifi.

 

[King Dranzer]

@king Dranzer

I saw you changed just about everything on the order.

Why an 850w psu?
What is better about that mother board? It doesn't seem to have wifi or BT
What is better about that 1080 ti than the one i picked out?

I provided RM850x for upgradability headroom.
The quality of that ASUS motherboard is very high. Comes with great software support.
The ASUS GPU with the combo of ASUS ROG board gives good looking PC and easy Overclocking solution.
The overall build also got a better looking RGB theme than before.

As g-unit111 said go for WiFi only if extending LAN cable is not possible. In that case get Wifi adapter for $30 extra.

 

[g-unit1111]

The quality of that ASUS motherboard is very high. Comes with great software support.
The ASUS GPU with the combo of ASUS ROG board gives good looking PC and easy Overclocking solution.
The overall build also got a better looking RGB theme than before.

As g-unit111 said go for WiFi only if extending LAN cable is not possible. In that case get Wifi adapter for $30 extra.

Yeah the LAN ports on the motherboards are there for a reason. Even motherboards that have built-in Wifi it's not 100% perfect.

 

[Cnconrad]

Guys I'm not really interested in the merits of Ethernet vs WiFi I am familiar with both.

I am asking,

1 Is anything wrong with my build. I understand some people may prefer Asus to ASRock. I am interested in hearing if there is anything "wrong" with the parts I chose. Will there be any bottleneck's anything prone to failure.

2) Has anyone had exceedingly bad interactions with cyberpower? Not, buying a prebuilt with a junk psu. Are they worse than ibuypower? I bought my nephew's pc through ibuypower and it was pretty cheap but has been beat to hell and still works 5+ years later.

 

[g-unit1111]

Guys I'm not really interested in the merits of Ethernet vs WiFi I am familiar with both.

I am asking,

1 Is anything wrong with my build. I understand some people may prefer Asus to ASRock. I am interested in hearing if there is anything "wrong" with the parts I chose. Will there be any bottleneck's anything prone to failure.

2) Has anyone had exceedingly bad interactions with cyberpower? Not, buying a prebuilt with a junk psu. Are they worse than ibuypower? I bought my nephew's pc through ibuypower and it was pretty cheap but has been beat to hell and still works 5+ years later.

1. Your original build looks good. There's only a couple of minor things I might suggest changing like CPU cooler and SSD. Alternately you could go with an AMD Ryzen-based rig as well.

2. I've seen quite a few horror stories. Part of the reason why they're not recommended is their tendency to use bulk-bought, generic no name components like RAM, HDs, and PSUs. The PSUs are generally one of the biggest complaints as they use a no name brand that is prone to having a high fail rate.

 

[Cnconrad]

G-Unit thanks that is more what I am looking for.

What would be a better CPU cooler? I have heard good things about the h100i cooler.


The SSD was chosen because of lower price if another SSD is really worth the $100 more I would certainly consider it.

I'm Leary of anything amd because of past experiences with my 5870.


I have also, that's why I chose a pretty decently rated psu. I may buy and install my own HDD if needed.


But, as a general question does anyone's ram or hdd actually fail? I have heard psu's fail but that's it.

I have owned various generic "home PC's" for 15+ years. And have never had one fail at anything the closest I ever came was having an HDD fail after dropping a laptop 3' off a desk at college.

 

[g-unit1111]

What would be a better CPU cooler? I have heard good things about the h100i cooler.

I'd suggest a strong air cooler. Something like a Noctua NH-U12S or Phanteks TC-12. Most strong air coolers perform about the same overclocking wise as something like a Corsair H100i would. The H100i is kind of overrated, IMO.

The SSD was chosen because of lower price if another SSD is really worth the $100 more I would certainly consider it.

I'd personally suggest an M2 SSD. You won't get the same capacity but the Samsung 960 Evo is about 100 times faster than your average SSD for the same price.

I'm Leary of anything amd because of past experiences with my 5870.

Understandable. The FX was a gigantic flop, but the Ryzen CPUs are some of the best AMD has produced in years, many are comparable in the same range that the current Intel CPUs are. If it's strictly a gaming rig though, the 7700K is still the reigning king, though the R7-1700 comes very close.

I have also, that's why I chose a pretty decently rated psu. I may buy and install my own HDD if needed.

That is decent, the EVGA G3 PSUs are way better, as are the Seasonic Prime PSUs.

But, as a general question does anyone's ram or hdd actually fail? I have heard psu's fail but that's it.

Yes, both can definitely happen, and I've seen both RAM fail and HDs fail. Your odds of it actually happening are slim if you install correctly, but otherwise pretty much all RAM comes off the same assembly line in Taiwan. I generally prefer G.Skill Trident Z but that's just me.

I have owned various generic "home PC's" for 15+ years. And have never had one fail at anything the closest I ever came was having an HDD fail after dropping a laptop 3' off a desk at college.

You are better off building your own these days than anything you can buy big box. The main reason is that you can get more PC for less money. Plus it's the only way to guarantee a clean install of the operating system. Most manufacturers load bloatware and adware on new systems and removing it can be a pain. For what Cyberpower charges, a $2200 rig you can buy there would cost you about $1400 if you build it yourself. That's part of the appeal of the home build market.

 

[Cnconrad]

I'll look into air coolers, I would like a relatively quiet machine for the money.

I put my PC parts picker up as a comparable diy build and it only came in $60 cheaper than my cyberpower pc with the exact same parts.

$60 definitely is not worth the time and worry of buying a dozen parts and doing it myself.


On a related note how easy is it to install that m2 ssd from 960 Evo? I am not opposed to adding things like a HDD or SSD to my build, I have added ram and gfx cards before, I just don't want to mess with a mother board.

 

[g-unit1111]

I put my PC parts picker up as a comparable diy build and it only came in $60 cheaper than my cyberpower pc with the exact same parts.

$60 definitely is not worth the time and worry of buying a dozen parts and doing it myself.

Yes but keep in mind what I said about operating systems and bloatware / adware - it will take you quite a while to remove all the unwanted crap. The other reason I discourage Cyberpower is first of all build quality - something they are simply not known for. The other thing is technical support - every time something goes wrong you'll get charged at least $100 or more to ship it to a central support center, and that's not including what they may charge you for replacement parts.

On a related note how easy is it to install that m2 ssd from 960 Evo? I am not opposed to adding things like a HDD or SSD to my build, I have added ram and gfx cards before, I just don't want to mess with a mother board.

Adding M2 drives is no different than adding RAM or anything else for that matter. Just install it in the slot and screw it down, and that's about it. Then load the operating system and you're done.

 

[King Dranzer]

Build one yourself for $2000 or spend $250 extra and go for DELL Aurora. DELL Aurora comes with high quality components and has best service.

 

[Cnconrad]

That's the first time I have heard anything good about an Alienware desktop in 5+ years.

What brand mother board do they have, what type of psu, what is the maker of the graphics card?


It seems to me that is a step in the wrong direction buying a computer with ALL generic parts.

 

[King Dranzer]

It comes with DELL motherboard which is very good.
Comes with Delta PSU Tier2.
GPU is directly from NVIDIA. It comes with Founders Edition.

Trust me Alienware is the best Prebuilt PC available in the market for a meaningful price.

 

[g-unit1111]

It comes with DELL motherboard which is very good.
Comes with Delta PSU Tier2.
GPU is directly from NVIDIA. It comes with Founders Edition.

Trust me Alienware is the best Prebuilt PC available in the market for a meaningful price.

Alienware? Not by a long shot! I'd rather get MSI, Asus, or just about anything else.

 

[USAFRet]

2) Has anyone had exceedingly bad interactions with cyberpower? Not, buying a prebuilt with a junk psu. Are they worse than ibuypower? I bought my nephew's pc through ibuypower and it was pretty cheap but has been beat to hell and still works 5+ years later.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2990661/asap.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3044218/advice-failing-performance.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2933633/bottom-case-filters.html
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-3249706/cyberpowerpc-burnt-flame.html

 

[USAFRet]

A recent thread here was looking at a $2,500 CyberPower system.
Going through the actual parts, including the OS, came up to $1,800.

I'm sure your spouse would appreciate an extra $700 in the bank account, for an afternoon or two of work.

 

[Cnconrad]

USAF Ret, I would agree if buying and building my own was actually cheaper.

I priced a cyberpower build and matched from PC parts picker the EXACT same build and it was only a few dollars less.


I have no doubt the prebuilt industry will hose people with over priced underwelming systems if you let them.

But, I know for a fact that this system is not over priced based off any 1080 to 770k build I have seen.

I'm just concerned with the quality of their name brand parts and their actual skill at putting it together.

The problem is, I'm not that confident of my own skills and if I can have someone else do it for no additional cost it, it is hard to justify doing it myself.

 

[J_E_D_70]

The CyberPowerPC you listed is actually a good deal. About what you'd pay to DIY as you stated.

I've had two cyberpowers over the years. One is 7 years old, the other is 10, and both are still in use. Each one had some minor thing wrong when I got it - ram was not fully seated on one, slightly bent cheap case one the other. No problems after that. Thought I had a bad GPU which the swapped at no cost but was user error.

They are not great, but should be ok with the parts you selected. Do read up on tech support fees - may have changed since I bought.

 

[USAFRet]

USAF Ret, I would agree if buying and building my own was actually cheaper.

I priced a cyberpower build and matched from PC parts picker the EXACT same build and it was only a few dollars less.


I have no doubt the prebuilt industry will hose people with over priced underwelming systems if you let them.

But, I know for a fact that this system is not at all over priced.

I'm just concerned with the quality of their name brand parts and their actual skill at putting it together.

The problem is, I'm not that confident of my own skills and if I can have someone else do it for no additional cost it, it is hard to justify doing it myself.

Well...the links I posted above are but a small sample.

 

[King Dranzer]

It comes with DELL motherboard which is very good.
Comes with Delta PSU Tier2.
GPU is directly from NVIDIA. It comes with Founders Edition.

Trust me Alienware is the best Prebuilt PC available in the market for a meaningful price.

Alienware? Not by a long shot! I'd rather get MSI, Asus, or just about anything else.

Don't know why you have negative opinion on Alienware but it is really good and is only option out of the three to have GTX1080Ti.

Alienware comes with very high quality components and has support and warranty options which can be selected over a year.

 

[g-unit1111]

Don't know why you have negative opinion on Alienware but it is really good and is only option out of the three to have GTX1080Ti.

Alienware comes with very high quality components and has support and warranty options which can be selected over a year.

Maybe it's just my bias toward Dell, but I can't stand Dell PCs. For $2000 you can definitely get a much better build if you build it yourself.

 

[King Dranzer]

Don't know why you have negative opinion on Alienware but it is really good and is only option out of the three to have GTX1080Ti.

Alienware comes with very high quality components and has support and warranty options which can be selected over a year.

Maybe it's just my bias toward Dell, but I can't stand Dell PCs. For $2000 you can definitely get a much better build if you build it yourself.

Yes that's true building PC yourself will save you money. If OP can build his own PC that would be the best solution.

 

[J_E_D_70]

The Alienware is $300 more for a similar configuration to the Cyberpower. That's 15% more for the same framerate. OP, it's a pretty nice Alienware so is the higher quality control worth that much? Or, step the gpu down a notch and get closer to your $2k budget.

Edit: if you absolutely dont want to have to crack the case to fix something then the Alienware isn't unreasonable (I never thought I would say that...). Going with a builder like Puget, Maingear, or FalconNW would be significantly more expensive.