What's a good prebuilt gaming PC?

MercuryLS · May 18, 2020

I have zero interest in building one myself, something that's a good bang for your buck gaming PC. Just looking to dip my toes in PC gaming again after so long, so I don't want to break the bank but would like a solid machine. Something with a small form factor would be nice, but I doubt you can get that with decent performance.

My budget would be $1,500 Canadian, I would like something that can play games at max at at least 1080p/60fps.

super-famicom · May 18, 2020

If there's a Microcenter near you, you can choose the parts you want and then they'll build it for you. Other than that, with whatever you decide to get I'd just make sure you get a decent PSU, because that's one part many places skimp out on.

Also, what's your budget? And do you so need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse? People can give better suggestions if you can provide more info on what you want.

molnizzle · May 18, 2020

For me personally it doesn't exist, I will never not question whether they botched the thermal paste application or rattled a fan too hard or something.

If you insist on not building then have Fry's/MicroCenter do it for you from a compiled list of parts. At least there you know an actual nerd is doing it instead of a random factory worker.

Really though... you should just build it yourself. It's easy.

TheGift · May 18, 2020

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082J6QPX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_btRWEbA5Z2QM2

I picked up one of these and I'm happy with it. The only issue I have is that the CPU is locked so it can't really be overclocked. I put in a better power supply, but it was a gold rated HP solution that was in there originally. If you're not in a hurry though, you probably wanna wait until the end of the year when all the new GPU's come out.

Transistor · May 18, 2020

I know you don't want to build it yourself, but it's really easy to these days, especially with nvme drives and them attaching straight to the motherboard (no sata cables yay!). But if not, the microcenter idea ain't bad at all.

Bomblord · May 18, 2020

A small, cheap, prebuilt with good performance is a conundrum. It's a perplexity. It's something that does not and cannot exist in the universe as we know it.

What's your budget OP? I'll suggest something to the best of my ability within that constraint.

Milennia · May 18, 2020

super-famicom said:
If there's a Microcenter near you, you can choose the parts you want and then they'll build it for you. Other than that, with whatever you decide to get I'd just make sure you get a decent PSU, because that's one part many places skimp out on.

Also, what's your budget? And do you so need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse? People can give better suggestions if you can provide more info on what you want.

Microcenter charges you out the ass for a custom, they charge more and more for damn near mandatory components to be included in the build, up to like $400

Custom Built PCs, Laptops and Desktops - Micro Center

From business workstations to gaming or multimedia powerhouse, our knowledgeable sales associates are always ready to help you choose the perfect parts to complete your custom build as quickly as possible.

www.microcenter.com

They even changed their website description recently to kinda hide that it costs so much for the labor but you can still see the build prices on the bottom, they removed what they include for whatever reason

op NZXT is pretty good, used them myself recently and got to choose amongst exclusively high end parts that I researched myself and the build came flawless with great cable management
They even tell you how much each part costs for them in the cart and how much every little thing is, their labor fee is only like $100

OmegaDL50 · May 18, 2020

What is your budget. This is something you need to consider first because when you buy pre-build you need to factor the labor cost in assembly if you opt not to build yourself. Also don't expect to pay MSRP or get discounts on individual parts. They can slap a $500 premium on the entire PC itself just for the sake of it.

As long as you are aware of these things and have a specific price in mind it will give us a guideline to work with. Also another thing to consider. It is very close to the release of the next-gen consoles. So you probably want to build a PC that will last for most of the duration of the next-gen 3rd party PC ports.

B4mv · May 18, 2020

Your budget is extremely important.

I didn't look very hard, but this is the first thing I found that's decent.
$850 - Bestbuy HP Omen w/ Ryzen 3600, GTX 1660 Super
256 GB SSD, 1TB HDD
8 GB RAM.

I'd buy more RAM for it, but it'll game.

Jaded Alyx · May 18, 2020

MercuryLS said:
I have zero interest in building one myself, something that's a good bang for your buck gaming PC. Just looking to dip my toes in PC gaming again after so long, so I don't want to break the bank but would like a solid machine. Something with a small form factor would be nice, but I doubt you can get that with decent performance.

NZXT BLD | Custom Gaming PC Builder

Build a custom gaming PC with the NZXT BLD Service.

www.letsbld.com

Cooking · May 18, 2020

People I know have had good experiences with NZXT, but tbh there is no good bang for your buck prebuilt. Also it's easier than ever to build one on your own and knowing how things operate can definitely help later on if you want to switch to PC gaming primarily

astro · May 18, 2020

Would be nice to avoid "it's easy, build it yourself!" posts as OP has said they have no interest.

We do need budget and expectations of performance, etc... before we can help.

Raegal · May 18, 2020

In my experience, the best option is to search your local stores for open box pre-built PCs that are significantly discounted. These are typically perfectly fine floor models or setups with missing manuals, power cables, and such minor things. This can be a great way to get a decent PC for a lower price if you don't care too much about combinations of specific components.

Duck Sauce · May 18, 2020

Do a NZXT H1 build. It's real easy.

and its sold out...

H1 Mini Series | Prebuilt Gaming PCs | NZXT BLD

The H1 Mini PC series is packed with impressively powerful components and designed to be the ultimate small-footprint companion.

www.letsbld.com

Milennia · May 18, 2020

Duck Sauce said:
Do a NZXT H1 build. It's real easy.

and its sold out...

H1 Mini Series | Prebuilt Gaming PCs | NZXT BLD

The H1 Mini PC series is packed with impressively powerful components and designed to be the ultimate small-footprint companion.

www.letsbld.com

Yeah noticed it sells out every week or so but comes back the following, good cheap way of getting into sff machines, almost did this myself if I didn't go for the 710 monster case

TheGift · May 18, 2020

B4mv said:
Your budget is extremely important.

I didn't look very hard, but this is the first thing I found that's decent.
$850 - Bestbuy HP Omen w/ Ryzen 3600, GTX 1660 Super
256 GB SSD, 1TB HDD
8 GB RAM.

I'd buy more RAM for it, but it'll game.

This is what I have, and I haven't had any issues. Except I got one with 16 GB RAM and a i5 9400F and GTX 1660ti. It was about $150-$200 more than that one. Everything I've seen has the 1660ti matching a GTX1070. 14% weaker than a 2070 on average. I'll have to upgrade if I wanna take advantage of ray tracing, but it's good for now.

Uncle00Jesse · May 18, 2020

PowerSpec line of prebuilts at microcenter. I got one a year ago, 9700k/2080 for $1500. It's still perfect

Aardvark Barber · May 18, 2020

I got an Alienware Aurora and i've had 0 issues with it and I've had it for 2.5 years now.

Sanctuary · May 18, 2020

Cooking said:
People I know have had good experiences with NZXT, but tbh there is no good bang for your buck prebuilt. Also it's easier than ever to build one on your own and knowing how things operate can definitely help later on if you want to switch to PC gaming primarily

It also helps with simple maintenance. It really is a good practice to thoroughly clean your components and case at least once a year, if not twice, which means taking the larger components out and potentially also the heat sink, or radiator. Building a PC is pretty hard to screw up nowadays too compared to how it was twenty years ago, and even then the worst physical part was installing the heat sink.

Speaking of which, you don't even need to use thermal paste anymore either if that's something someone worries about screwing up on. Thermal "graphite" pads are more than enough for stock speeds, and some even work well for mid to high overclocking. You just won't be breaking any records with them. It makes disassembly super easy though in comparison.

LuigiMario · May 18, 2020

NZXT Prebuilt Gaming PCs

NZXT Player PCs are built for for smooth, high-performance gameplay. Loaded with the latest components and optimized for gaming.

www.letsbld.com

NXZT's build series seem to be the best price per performance offer from price/performance perspective if you don't have a MicroCenter near you.

I'd avoid all mainstream OEMS personally, they tend to cheap out on vital components like power supply, motherboards, and RAM if you aren't looking at their high end stuff.

Bomblord · May 18, 2020

We can't help you without a budget OP👏

Edit: There it is

super-famicom · May 18, 2020

Milennia said:
Microcenter charges you out the ass for a custom, they charge more and more for damn near mandatory components to be included in the build, up to like $400

Custom Built PCs, Laptops and Desktops - Micro Center

From business workstations to gaming or multimedia powerhouse, our knowledgeable sales associates are always ready to help you choose the perfect parts to complete your custom build as quickly as possible.

www.microcenter.com

They even changed their website description recently to kinda hide that it costs so much for the labor but you can still see the build prices on the bottom, they removed what they include for whatever reason

op NZXT is pretty good, used them myself recently and got to choose amongst exclusively high end parts that I researched myself and the build came flawless with great cable management
They even tell you how much each part costs for them in the cart and how much every little thing is, their labor fee is only like $100

I wasn't aware of the mandatory components at Microcenter, though I know that other places do that with the drawback of not being able to choose parts in most cases. That NZXT prebuilt option looks nice. I build my PC with one of their cases and it looks great.

Duxxy3 · May 18, 2020

Jaded Alyx said:
NZXT BLD | Custom Gaming PC Builder

Build a custom gaming PC with the NZXT BLD Service.

www.letsbld.com

Will continue to be my recommendation for the foreseeable future.

They don't cheap out on any parts. The PC is expertly put together.

Hybrid Rainbow · May 18, 2020

Great thread. I have a PC I built back in 2011 during the whole BF3 Ultra settings craze, but unfortunately the poor girl is long in the tooth. Both the mobo and CPU are obsolete and no longer supported. Outside of the PSU which is pushing 650W and my HDD and SSD, everything else can be scrapped. I'm like OP. I really don't want to build another PC and rather buy a prebuilt one and just connect my drives. Idk. I'll take a look at Microcenter.

Milennia · May 18, 2020

super-famicom said:
I wasn't aware of the mandatory components at Microcenter, though I know that other places do that with the drawback of not being able to choose parts in most cases. That NZXT prebuilt option looks nice. I build my PC with one of their cases and it looks great.

Yeah, people usually think of MC as having cheap prebuilts which they 100% do.
Their ready mades are priced very well, just saw a 2080ti/9900k machine there with some cheapo ram but whatever for like $2000.
The only problem they have is their customs really, the rest is great.

Sanctuary · May 18, 2020

Duxxy3 said:
Will continue to be my recommendation for the foreseeable future.

They don't cheap out on any parts. The PC is expertly put together.

These look pretty good, but they also seem to cost around $500 more than what you do by assembling it yourself and not skimping on quality parts. The only advantage of that, that I can think of is that you don't have to worry about screwing up something and also not having to deal with any potential problems returning DOA items.

MercuryLS · May 18, 2020

How's something like this: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/produc...12gb-ram-geforce-gtx-1650-windows-10/14415984

Deleted member 17092 · May 18, 2020

Microcenter stuff and maybe an Alienware if it has the bigger PSU and liquid cooling. That's about it honestly lol.

Duck Sauce · May 18, 2020

MercuryLS said:
How's something like this: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/produc...12gb-ram-geforce-gtx-1650-windows-10/14415984

Garcia el Gringo · May 18, 2020

TheGift said:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082J6QPX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_btRWEbA5Z2QM2

I picked up one of these and I'm happy with it. The only issue I have is that the CPU is locked so it can't really be overclocked. I put in a better power supply, but it was a gold rated HP solution that was in there originally. If you're not in a hurry though, you probably wanna wait until the end of the year when all the new GPU's come out.

I bought two similar HP Pavilion Gaming Desktops (same CPU/GPU, just less memory and no HDD out of the box - got them on clearance for $350 back in Dec) and am currently dealing with BSOD issues related to the latest windows update on both machines, and seemingly many other people with HP computers are dealing with the same thing.

If it's truly widespread, I'd recommend someone not too computer literate who just wants a plug and play solution with minimal fuss not to pull the trigger on this until Microsoft/HP figure this out.

super-famicom · May 18, 2020

MercuryLS said:
How's something like this: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/produc...12gb-ram-geforce-gtx-1650-windows-10/14415984

That's kinda overpriced for the components listed. I'd definitely look for a Ryzen CPU (3300x is releasing very soon or is out now, not sure but it's the best budget CPU right now) and Nvidia 1660 Super (or AMD RX580 if you want to spend less and are not playing this year's AAA games). And 12 GB RAM is a weird number, usually its 8/16/32.

Bomblord · May 18, 2020

Hey OP Canadian pricing (or available shops) are not my forte I was able to find this on Dell Canada with an i7 and GTX1650 in your budget

Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell Canada

Dell provides technology solutions, services & support. Buy Laptops, Touch Screen PCs, Desktops, Servers, Storage, Monitors, Gaming & Accessories

www.dell.com

I was able to find this Ultra Small Form Factor since you mentioned being interested in that
https://www.newegg.ca/lenovo-thinkcentre-m920x-business-desktops-workstations/p/1JW-000K-00314 (note performance and thermals are going to be way worse than the Dell Tower but the thing is as wide as a pencil)

Bomblord · May 18, 2020

super-famicom said:
That's kinda overpriced for the components listed. I'd definitely look for a Ryzen CPU (3300x is releasing very soon or is out now, not sure but it's the best budget CPU right now) and Nvidia 1660 Super (or AMD RX580 if you want to spend less and are not playing this year's AAA games). And 12 GB RAM is a weird number, usually its 8/16/32.

Keep in mind those are CAD prices that's only about $650 USD.

Thewonandonly · May 18, 2020

Just a fair warning I ordered from Alienware and NZXT BLD and they both ended up getting canceled... Ended up saying fuck it and have all the parts arriving by Wednesday and I now plan on doing it myself. Got so much better parts to for the price and if you watch a couple YouTube videos it's not to bad just cable management it seems really. Also you can get the PC by next week mabey instead of 5 weeks that every ore build place said it would take with the pandemic going on.

BAW · May 18, 2020

HP Omens

Bomblord · May 18, 2020

BAW said:
HP Omens

They don't have the new ones which are the only one's worth getting IMO on HP's Canadian site for some reason.

kmfdmpig · May 18, 2020

You can usually find someone locally who will build for you and then choose parts yourself so you get exactly what you want.

Lobster Roll · May 18, 2020

I'd suggest picking the parts out and having Micro Center assemble it for you instead of going with a traditional pre-built PC. Pre-builts that don't allow you to pick the individual parts are always lacking in something, such as:

Value / Being Overpriced
Low amount of RAM or slow RAM speeds
Bottlednecked CPU or GPU
Low storage capacity on the SSD
Dumpster-diving tier PSU
Featureless MOBO

I'm not saying that they all feature these things ... but with every single pre-built it's easy to browse through the components to see why the price is too good to be true. If nothing is lacking, the price is certainly above normal budget for the parts.

Cocolina · May 18, 2020

I've always found prebuilt to either be decent value but always skimping short of some component, usually RAM or GPU. Or completely overpriced compared to the sum of its parts. There's no happy medium.

CM_Ace · May 18, 2020

Linus did a series of videos a while back where he compared the customer service/build quality/performance of popular pre built brands

TheGift · May 18, 2020

Garcia el Gringo said:
I bought two similar HP Pavilion Gaming Desktops (same CPU/GPU, just less memory and no HDD out of the box - got them on clearance for $350 back in Dec) and am currently dealing with BSOD issues related to the latest windows update on both machines, and seemingly many other people with HP computers are dealing with the same thing.

If it's truly widespread, I'd recommend someone not too computer literate who just wants a plug and play solution with minimal fuss not to pull the trigger on this until Microsoft/HP figure this out.

thanks for the heads up. I deleted every HP program that came Preinstalled so hopefully that'll prevent that issue for me. Looks like its an issue with HP Support framework downloading a bad driver.

Akauser · May 18, 2020

Am looking for the same in the UK. Have a budget of £1000. Really want the 3300x paired with the RTX2060 don't wanna do it myself. I've heard mixed things about CyberPower but they seem to be one of the only ones right now who seem reasonable.

nilbog · May 18, 2020

I have a Dell G5 and haven't had a problem running any games with max settings.

Just make sure you get the SSD drive with whatever you decide my God it runs so smooth and fast.

MercuryLS · May 18, 2020

northexit said:
I have a Dell G5 and haven't had a problem running any games with max settings.

Just make sure you get the SSD drive with whatever you decide my God it runs so smooth and fast.

I was looking at this, it seems pretty good and the pricing is reasonable.

MazeHaze · May 18, 2020

I bought a rig from cyber power in january. Thought it was a good deal but I ended up having to RMA it twice, and then it came back still effed up the second time, and I went through a nightmare process over about a week before they finally agreed to give me a refund. Also it had a shit ass PSU. All in all it took me over 4 months from the time I ordered it to the time I got a refund.

Then I ordered all the parts myself and built an even better machine for the same price. Turns out all the steps of building I was worried about were trivial/easy. It took me about two hours, and most of that was just being confused about a couple things (nvme standoffs, plugging in the case power buttons, etc). If I had to build the same machine tomorrow I feel like I could do it in 45 minutes or so. The best part is, I'm completely familiar with the system now and not even the least bit aftaid to take any of it apart for cleaning/upgrades. It was very easy, and honestly kind of fun. And for $1500 you can get a next gen equivalent PC basically. 2070 super and 3700x.

Deleted member 56752 · May 18, 2020

I got an Alienware 5-6 months ago and it worked out well

Kieli · May 18, 2020

You missed out on the i5-7600/GTX 2070 deal from Costco. I think they were selling it for like $1350 CAD.

Duxxy3 · May 18, 2020

Sanctuary said:
These look pretty good, but they also seem to cost around $500 more than what you do by assembling it yourself and not skimping on quality parts. The only advantage of that, that I can think of is that you don't have to worry about screwing up something and also not having to deal with any potential problems returning DOA items.

NZXT BLD | Custom Gaming PC Builder

Build a custom gaming PC with the NZXT BLD Service.

www.letsbld.com

Even cutting down to cheaper components it's tough to match this part for part.

Norris1020 · May 18, 2020

Garcia el Gringo said:
I bought two similar HP Pavilion Gaming Desktops (same CPU/GPU, just less memory and no HDD out of the box - got them on clearance for $350 back in Dec) and am currently dealing with BSOD issues related to the latest windows update on both machines, and seemingly many other people with HP computers are dealing with the same thing.

If it's truly widespread, I'd recommend someone not too computer literate who just wants a plug and play solution with minimal fuss not to pull the trigger on this until Microsoft/HP figure this out.

Same thing for me, I bought mine back in December. I had the windows media installer on a flash drive already because I replaced a hdd with an ssd in our laptop, so I just reinstalled windows. This was just last week.

Milennia · May 18, 2020

Lobster Roll said:
I'd suggest picking the parts out and having Micro Center assemble it for you instead of going with a traditional pre-built PC. Pre-builts that don't allow you to pick the individual parts are always lacking in something, such as:

Value / Being Overpriced
Low amount of RAM or slow RAM speeds
Bottlednecked CPU or GPU
Low storage capacity on the SSD
Dumpster-diving tier PSU
Featureless MOBO

I'm not saying that they all feature these things ... but with every single pre-built it's easy to browse through the components to see why the price is too good to be true. If nothing is lacking, the price is certainly above normal budget for the parts.

I mentioned why specifically not to go with microcenter for a custom above
Way better custom build options available like NZXT that don't gouge you for up to $400-800 worth of labor costs depending on what you put in the machine

might have been worth it in the past to get bent over like that for labor cost but now places like nzxt only charge $100 for labor no matter what you put in the build from them

What's a good prebuilt gaming PC?

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