Getting a Gaming PC vs. Brand name PC

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I think you are right, if i build my own it easier to troubleshoot in case of problem, i just have to build it first, thats the hard part.

Cyberpower sucks, hardocp gave them a shabby review plus some other people told me to stay away from them and alienware is way out of my league cash wise. If i do buy custom its either dell or avadirect.
 
Its a good thing alienware is out of your price range........ the customer service is by the majority of accounts diabolical at best, which ever company you decide to use if any just do the research for reviews and dont rely on the company websites as ofcourse they are gonna have glowing references!
 
I'm looking into getting a new gaming machine too and have also been looking at cyberpowerpc.com. I saw a review of one of their rigs in a current computer mag (either PC World or PC Magazine - don't remember which) and it was rated pretty well.

For those who have the idea that you can still build the machine yourself cheaper, I'd be interested in your sources. I spec'd a machine at cyberpowerpc.com that came to $1995.00 (before taxes, but with FREE shipping). I then looked all over the internet for the exact same parts and the total came to ~$1850.00 (before taxes and shipping). For my money it's definately worth the approximately $50 (after the shipping costs) to have someone else build and configure the machine.

I priced everything through pricewatch.com, but if someone can point out a place to get cheaper parts I'd be really interested. Otherwise I think it is no longer a rule that building your own machine is always cheaper. Just fyi...

EDIT: Also, I priced similar rigs at Dell/Alienware and Falcon-NW and I agree with most of the other posters that these places are WAY overpriced for the gear you are getting.
 
Price the parts at newegg.

I ordered my first p.c from cyberpower about 5 years ago when i was new to computers. I gotta tell you i they have some great prices, but you will get a whole lot more out of building a pc then savings...that is experience. Did you calculate the money you will save when YOU can repair your OWN pc when it has problems. For example, lets say the power supply goes. If you build your own pc, you will know how to replace the power supply, rather then taking it to a technician and paying him $100 to do it. Thats IMO. But if you are two stubborn to try it yourself, then yes, cyberpower does have descent prices.
 
Cyberpower is cheap, but not necesseraly good, may be 5 years ago they were, i researched them as one of my options and i just wouldnt trust them to build my machine.
 
Well, I've been taking machines apart and putting them back together for about 20 years now and I have just about all of the experience I can get doing that (I work in the IT industry too).

I agree that there is nothing like building your own machine to learn how to diagnose problems and replace components - but that's not for me anymore. I suspect that it is also not for a vast majority of users. In my experience people just want their machines to work and aren't all that interested in how they work. There is a LOT of aggravation involved in putting together your own machines when you are new to it - not to mention the possibility of frying your MB or RAM or CPU accidentally in the process.

If you want to learn, then sure by all means build it yourself - it really is a great learning experience.
 
Fred G said:
Cyberpower is cheap, but not necesseraly good, may be 5 years ago they were, i researched them as one of my options and i just wouldnt trust them to build my machine.
Click to expand...

Since they are the front-runner right now in my decision making, I'm curious to know what you don't trust. They use name-brand components so the quality of the hardware should be above reproach (though I can't speak for their cases). Is it the OS installation and configuration (drivers, etc)? Because those I can fix myself if necessary.

If I'm missing something let me know. I don't want to regret spending the $2000 later. Thanks.
 
Can you send me the link to the computer you are looking at?

Also i wouldn't worry about it to much, they are a descent company, and of course every company is going to have complaints. I think alot of their complaints are from "beginners" who don't find there tech support up to par. But you shouldn't have to worry about that with your experience. Also, they will give you refund our replace and faulty parts if anything goes wrong.
 
twite said:
Can you send me the link to the computer you are looking at?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to save a configuration on the cyberpowerpc.com site (unless I just missed it). So I took a screenshot of the configurator so I can rebuild it later when I'm ready to buy. I uploaded the JPG of the screen to my site at http://www.quishy.com/scr/gamesys.jpg . Oh, and it is their Gamer Infinity 7900 Pro system.

The price listed include the Windows Vista Ultimate OS too.
 
It would be $1,449.94 at newegg.com for the barebones. They only difference was i chose ozc gold ddr2/800 instead of the corsair. Besides that everything was the same. A good $500 savings.
 
I forgot to include the O.S. Windows xp or a vista premium would probably be around $120. Thats if you want to go the vista route already.
 
rnickerson said:
Since they are the front-runner right now in my decision making, I'm curious to know what you don't trust. They use name-brand components so the quality of the hardware should be above reproach (though I can't speak for their cases). Is it the OS installation and configuration (drivers, etc)? Because those I can fix myself if necessary.

If I'm missing something let me know. I don't want to regret spending the $2000 later. Thanks.
Click to expand...

One of the reasons i dont trust them is this review in hardocp:

http://consumer.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTA0MCw5LCxoY29uc3VtZXI=

They rated their machine as substandard, and from what i've heard from others things havent changed much since then. Like someone suggested earlier always research the place you are going to buy from provided you are not going to build your own
 
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