What pre-built computer companies do you recommend??

My wife and I have been pinching pennies for the longest time so we could buy two new gaming computers. We waited to be able to afford two so that way neither of us could be jealous of the other. lol

Now, I know many people will say it's better/cheaper to build your own computer. I know that, and chances are I will do just that. I've built every PC that I have, so I know it's not that hard. On that note, though, I am feeling a bit lazy, so I just want to be able to look at all options. I want to see what a good company offers, compare it to how much it would cost if I built it myself, and see if I feel the price difference justifies my laziness. I know it probably won't, but I still want to compare. lol

So what pre-built PC companies do any of you recommend??

I've had one person recommend Origin PC, for example, but I've read some really bad reviews online about them. One that seems good is Digital Storm, but I don't know anyone who's purchased from them. It's been a really long time since I've heard anything good about Alienware. I'm sure there are other companies out there who do a good job, hence why I'm asking.

So if anyone can offer any feedback/recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it.

So if anyone can offer any feedback/recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it.

When I buy parts I always read the reviews on newegg, and amazon, and watch youtube clips of whatever I am thinking of getting.

Always nice to see what your getting before you get it.

I recommend building your own even though you don't really want to.

Saving $$ and you can put that in to better hardware.

I build my own, but if I had to purchase one, I believe I would get one of the higher end ASUS' computers.

I'd say it's best to shop around all the different online companies. Look at what all the options each company offers in terms of combinations of case/CPU/memory/GPU/hard disk drives/power supply, decide what you can afford from their options and compare that against the component prices. The markup can often exceed the cost of a couple of extra GPU's or a hard disk drive. Look around the second hand stores to see if there are any bargain components like GPU's or CPU's. That could let you build a SLI or Crossfire system at a bargain price.

A smart TV can double as a second computer monitor, and with Internet connectivity built in, can be used as a standalone browser, or Youtube video monitor.

Whatever you choose, check the Microsoft store. Last time I checked they were reasonably priced, and the bonus is, all the crapware has been removed.

a reply to: Necrobile
After two laptops which broke down more quickly than they should have done, I have gone off Hewlett-Packard and won't be buying from them again. That's the only contribution I can make.

I build my own systems, but I've dealt with Puget systems in the past (although ive never had one of their PCs) and they have great customer service, and are very knowledgeable.

If you're willing to learn, building your own computers can be a very fun and rewarding experience, and a little bit of an expensive hobby.

EDIT: Yeah, I posted before I read the entire post. So I see you're familiar with computer building. Lol

After having built my own computers, and buying them online, Ibuypower would be my go to company for having them build one for you. They have excellent products, simple multiple choice build options, and top notch customer service. Ask for Paula if she still works there. She's a really awesome friendly customer service rep! But yeah cant go wrong with ibuypower when it comes to wanting to be lazy and not build all your own parts on newegg

If youire going to insist on buying a store bought then I would get a..... no, no I wouldn't.... Dude dont do it....seriously.
I could talk you through the process over the telephone once your parts arrived to your house... Would take about 20min and after you were done .... the thought of having someone repair your computer would a joke.

Figure out how much you want to spend..... and what you want to be able to do.
DO you plan on using VR ? (of course you do)
Are you going to be using it for streaming ?
No store bought will ever be equal to one you put together yourself.... none of us here actually "build" computers....... We just take the 5 or 6 components and put them where they go...we're really not as clever as we would have you believe.

I have purchased several hundred Dell computers in my life for my company--less than a thousand, but not by much. With that many computers, statistics, reliability, and MTBF (mean time between failure) come into play. I'm not dealing with anecdotal experience or opinion, but with the cold hard reality of time and numbers. They have been extremely reliable over the entire product line, from desktop PCs to rack-mount servers that need to be up 24x7. If you do need to service them, which is rare, it requires no tools. They just pop open very easily. Of course we had "special pricing" for being a volume buyer, but overall the price and value were just excellent. I've also had good luck with HP and Toshiba. And I agree with another poster here that IF you decide to build, Newegg is the place to go. They have excellent and extremely fast service for all sorts of parts.

How much would it cost to build a decent computer from scratch?

built my current rig for cheaper then i could have bought it for,know thats not exactly what you were looking for but it was a huge confidence building expirence for me,make sure all parts are compatable go SLOWLY and get what you want and save a bunch . i got the biggest case i could because i was building a rig to pretty much play anything GPU is on a 120mm radiator CPU is on a 360mm radiator and have a buttload of fans with room to expand past the 3 ssds i currently have in it. and that way if someing breaks on your pc you have built it so you know how to put the replacement parts back in if something goes wonky.

avoid cyberpower like the frigging plauge they included psus are knowing for cooking and or shorting out rigs,ive looked at origin but i think they are all the former people from alienware from before quality dropped . if its certian parts your worried about installing try getting a bare bones model then adding parts your self to save money like get the motherboard you want and then add in processor gpu etc im mentally ill get frusterated easily and i managed to build a rig for about 3 grand for what would have cost me 10 if i had some one else do it for me

www.pcgamer.com...
if i had to go prebuilt id go with xidiax (spelling it wrong but its listed at the link) as they do lifetime warrany and tech support into their price and seem to actually care

originally posted by: neo96

So if anyone can offer any feedback/recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it.

When I buy parts I always read the reviews on newegg, and amazon, and watch youtube clips of whatever I am thinking of getting.

Always nice to see what your getting before you get it.

I recommend building your own even though you don't really want to.

Saving $$ and you can put that in to better hardware.

There's really nothing like putting together your own machine.

Any other company, as good as they are, are going to charge you a hefty premium for assembly, shipping and whatever else they can gouge you for.

I recommend the same as above.

Although my son did buy a pre-built from:

www.ibuypower.com...

That experience was good.

~Tenth

originally posted by: TheAlleghenyGentleman
How much would it cost to build a decent computer from scratch?

Depends on what people call decent.

A Core I5 is going to be cheaper than a core I7.

AMD is going to be Cheaper than Intel.

Gigabyte motherboards. MSI motherboards are going to be cheaper than Asus(my favorite).

Depends on memory speed like the latest offering Z270 DDR4 with Optane.

The two biggest considerations is how much money one wants to spend versus what kind of user they are.

$600 to $1000 can get a person a decent computer.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

There's really nothing like putting together your own machine.

Friday I Get to finally order my powersupply and ssd's.

Woo Hoo!.

I agree.

Every time I use those online builders I end up making a pc that costs over 6 grand lol.

a reply to: neo96

That's pretty good. Thanx. Maybe I will do that next time.

Build your own.

Last time I used pre-built computers was many years ago. At that time, our company only used DELL.

The reason was that DELL had a great service. When anything broke, DELL fixed it within 24 hrs. One time they fixed it the same day. They couriered over a new motherboard and hard drive, and the tech checked and replaced the MB, all in the same morning. That was a corporate relationship, however. It wasn't a gaming machine, but an office pc. So, the only reason to buy pre-built, is for their warranty service. I don't know what these things are like today.

I build my own. I have 3 desktops that I built. Two identical machines, and one different. I chose the best components I could afford at the time. My current set was built around 2007, with upgrades over time. They run fine with no problems. That's because I handpicked each component after reading various reviews.

If you build your own, it's a good idea to build two identical machines.

That way, if something goes wrong, you can swap parts and easily "debug" the hardware, and figure out what stopped working. The fix is then simple. Trying to debug a single piece of hardware without specialized equipment is a nightmare. With two identical machines, it's a piece of cake. No special instrumentation is required. Just swap in and out parts until the problem is isolated. Then replace the broken part.

Since, you're planning to get two machines anyway, you're good to go for self-build. You'll know all the parts of your system, having researched them and bought them yourself, and you'll have a fail-proof method of fixing the PCs when if and when anything goes wrong, by parts swap experimentation.

You won't have to rely on the tech at the store to tell you some bull about what parts you need to buy to fix your pc.

There's nothing more comforting than knowing your system well enough to rely on your own labor to fix it.

ibuypower.com Good prices and good service.

I have another recommendation.

For everyone doesn't matter if they aren't buying or building a new computer.

Max out your memory now.

Get as fast as as much as your motherboard will allow.

Right now it would cost me $400 bucks to upgrade to 16 gigs of ddr2 800 memory.

Which is ridiculous.

www.microcenter.com If you are lucky enough to have one near you even better. you can build a computer for $200 or $2000..... its about what your doing with it.

I have an Oculus Rift.... When I built this one I had to make sure it could do the job.
But if all you are doing is posting on ATS..... then my computer would be an utter waste of money.

Figure out how much you want to spend on a new computer..... and then we can post some builds.
I would think of you had $600 to spend.... you could have a pretty nice rig. .. $800 and you could build something pretty badass.