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Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:20 am
by Darkstar One
I'm looking to buy a new desktop PC for gaming use. Budget is $1500 max, including tax and shipping All the usual places I'd check out have threadbare selections...

Best Buy has one or two acceptable models, and NOTHING in stock in store.
Fry's has NO desktop PC's in stock, PERIOD, either in store or online.
Checked out Amazon, plenty of PC's, but overpriced garbage for the most part
Newegg has almost NOTHING in stock.

Is there anywhere else I haven't thought of?
Checked Dell and HP, but their already-constructed machines aren't suitable and I don't want to have to wait a month for something to be built and delivered.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:29 am
by coopasonic
I'm still a cyberpower buyer (I've had 3 of them) and they do have "ready to ship" configurations that appear not to suck. I've only spec'ed out my own though (generally for big, fast SSDs).

https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/category/i ... p-systems/

Others like eCollegePC (http://www.ecollegepc.com/) but I don't see any ready to ship stuff.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:31 am
by Daehawk
Theres also Origin PC

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:50 am
by Isgrimnur
coopasonic wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:29 am I'm still a cyberpower buyer (I've had 3 of them)
Ditto.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:08 pm
by Anonymous Bosch
Darkstar One wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:20 am I'm looking to buy a new desktop PC for gaming use. Budget is $1500 max, including tax and shipping All the usual places I'd check out have threadbare selections...

...

Is there anywhere else I haven't thought of?
Checked Dell and HP, but their already-constructed machines aren't suitable and I don't want to have to wait a month for something to be built and delivered.
I would recommend Digital Storm over CyberpowerPC because CyberpowerPC quality control is atrocious, so caveat emptor (I have a good friend who runs a PC repair business, and the amount of problems they see with CyberpowerPC builds is just bonkers).

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:15 pm
by TheMix
Anonymous Bosch wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:08 pm
Darkstar One wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:20 am I'm looking to buy a new desktop PC for gaming use. Budget is $1500 max, including tax and shipping All the usual places I'd check out have threadbare selections...

...

Is there anywhere else I haven't thought of?
Checked Dell and HP, but their already-constructed machines aren't suitable and I don't want to have to wait a month for something to be built and delivered.
I would recommend Digital Storm over CyberpowerPC because CyberpowerPC quality control is atrocious, so caveat emptor (I have a good friend who runs a PC repair business, and the amount of problems they see with CyberpowerPC builds is just bonkers).
After my fiasco with CyberPower support (and quality), my next PC will probably be a Digital Storm again. Oh, in addition to the motherboard dying ~6 months after getting my CyberPower pc, the power supply went out a week or so ago. Luckily I had my older Digital Storm power supply still and was able to get back up and running. So that's two hardware failures. I can't recall any hardware failures for any other pcs I've ever owned (with the possibility that I may once have had a stick of RAM go bad).

P.S. Thinking about it, I did have an SSD go bad. But I think it was one I added to the PC, not the one that came with it.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:23 pm
by coopasonic
I wonder if most of the problematic cyberpower machines are some of the pre-builts that show up in retail? I did get a super cheap one off amazon and it was... well, what you would expect for a super cheap machine and I learned my lesson.

Regarding Digital Storm it looks like a 3 week wait time which is something OP wanted to avoid. I'd say a wait is reasonable if the quality difference is there. As I mentioned in my original response, I spec my own builds, so I don't get get the bottom of the line power supply, which is the root of most failures it seems.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:51 pm
by stimpy
The CyberPower I bought last year just had the SSD die.
Turns out they used about the cheapest one available. Not even worth the hassle of returning for replacement.
This was a off the shelf purchase, but still.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:54 pm
by TheMix
Mine was ordered through their website. I'm currently spacing on the power supply maker, but it was a well known brand name, one that is generally considered a "gold standard". Definitely not something I'd never heard of.

Edit: To be clear, I'm not telling anyone to avoid CyberPower. I'm absolutely sure that it's possible to get a PC from them that runs like a champ for years. I'm just suggesting that it's also possible (and maybe more likely in a >0% way) to get a lemon. My bigger problem with them was how horrible their customer service was. The rep I had to deal with was borderline incompetent. Definitely frustrating. It's worth it to me to pay more $$$ to minimize having to go through something like that again.

As a counter-point, I called Digital Storm ~5-6 years after I got my PC because I was trying to follow some instructions for doing a restore from the "factory settings" disk they provided, and the interface had changed due to Windows updates. The tech was very helpful. It was well out of warranty.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2020 5:36 pm
by Lassr
I bought a Cyberpower off Amazon and got lucky as all the parts were from quality companies (MSI/Western Digital) except the power supply which I replaced within a few months. It been going strong for almost 2 years now. had a overheating problem but after installing Afterburner, I haven't had a problem since.

With that said, I am mostly likely to get A Digital Storm build next, I've only heard good things about them.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:47 pm
by Kraken
I had a Cyberpower that lasted 8 years. Can't say anything bad about them. But my "new" (2-yr-old) eCollegePC is a better machine all around. I hope it lasts as long as the Cyberman did. I only mention this because I haven't seen eCollege mentioned yet, and they should be.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2020 9:21 pm
by hitbyambulance
Kraken wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:47 pm I had a Cyberpower that lasted 8 years. Can't say anything bad about them. But my "new" (2-yr-old) eCollegePC is a better machine all around. I hope it lasts as long as the Cyberman did. I only mention this because I haven't seen eCollege mentioned yet, and they should be.
incidentally that same Cyperpower PC is still going with the same parts. not even the hard drive has been replaced (but it should be...)

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:09 pm
by Kraken
hitbyambulance wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 9:21 pm
Kraken wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:47 pm I had a Cyberpower that lasted 8 years. Can't say anything bad about them. But my "new" (2-yr-old) eCollegePC is a better machine all around. I hope it lasts as long as the Cyberman did. I only mention this because I haven't seen eCollege mentioned yet, and they should be.
incidentally that same Cyperpower PC is still going with the same parts. not even the hard drive has been replaced (but it should be...)
I'm glad (and surprised) to hear that. I know you weren't happy with it out of the box and I've felt bad about sending you a PC that was more wobbly than I knew. Turns out its bones were good enough to reach 10 years old. :)

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:58 pm
by Daehawk
Ya but now he has said good things about it. It wont last the week :) Seriously though I can have something like that...say something about it...and it will fail soon after. :)

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:58 pm
by TheMix
Kraken wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:47 pm I only mention this because I haven't seen eCollege mentioned yet, and they should be.
Coop had you covered. Though it's probably worth a second mention just in case.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:39 pm
by LordMortis
Ever since it has made no sense to build yourself (as in you don't save 100s and 100s of dollars), I buy from a local mom and pop shop. I''ve been having the same place build my machines for 20+ years. I assume others are competitive like that but I got nothing. I'd just get a prebuilt rig but I find that the OEM like Dell and Lenovo and Acer all put crapware in their OEM installations and they also have proprietary hardware that you only discover is a problem after you have it in hand.

I walk in, look at the price sheet. Build something a la carte. They charge something crazy cheap like $35 to put the machine together. I come back in two days.

https://cantoncomputers.com/product-price-sheet/


Now that may not do you any good but like I said, I assumed these shops were everywhere, since the death of semimonthly tradeshows where you bought everything at such crazy discounts that it was insane to pay someone to build your rig.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:54 pm
by hitbyambulance
my dad got our first two PCs (a 286 AT and a 486-DX) built at local PC shops. the first machine i personally owned was a first-gen Pentium 60 from Acer as my high-school graduation present. the system completely died in my first week of ownership, so it was exchanged back at Best Buy for a Packard Bell, same specs. held onto that one for what seemed like forever (including the CRT monitor that was far too dark), then sold it cheap to an acquaintance when i inherited an uncle's custom build AMD K2-400. only kept that for two years before i built the AMD 800 machine, and everything since then has been PCs i've built. for laptops, they've been iBooks/MacBooks acquired second-hand.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:12 pm
by Kasey Chang
Historically?

Started with a VIC-20 at a garage sale. Omega Race was fun, but ultimately found the hardware too limiting. My family bought me an Apple //e after I taught myself Apple BASIC off school computer lab. When I was about to enter university, I found that it wasn't compatible with university stuff... which is either terminal or x86 based. At first I tried to install a Transwarp kit (turns the //e into an x-86 compatible) but ultimately didn't work well enough. Had to sell that and went to my local Radio Shack for a Tandy 1000 SL. Within 1 week, had to trade it in for a TL since SL only has 384KB of memory (TL has a full 640K, and has an expansion port to bring it to 768K, which means it can run a Tandy-exclusive version of Wing Commander(!)) Also bought "TopSpeed Modula-II" so I can do Modula-II at home rather than get stuck in a lab sharing lab copies of Logitech Modula-II (yes, Logitech was a software company back then)

Eventually moved up from that 286 TL to a 486 built by a local shop, fried two monitors when the video card picked a refresh monitor couldn't handle. Actually went to a NexGen-90 (the clone CPU) before settling for a Celeron 400 (never overclocked, shame). Bought a Dell laptop off eBay and used that for many years (it's still in my possession) with first gen i7. Skip a few years and I have the i7-9700 under my desk now.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 9:11 pm
by Kraken
LordMortis wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:39 pm I assumed these shops were everywhere, since the death of semimonthly tradeshows where you bought everything at such crazy discounts that it was insane to pay someone to build your rig.
They were, for at least a few years. My first Pentium came from a local "screwdriver shop", aka "white box shop." By the time I needed to replace it, they were only doing corporate business. Nice to hear that there are still some around.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:07 am
by Jaymon
Here is a list of reviews from toms hardware for gaming PCs 2020
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/be ... ,5198.html

however, this review seems a lot sparser than I would expect from them.


PC Gamer also has a review list
https://www.pcgamer.com/best-gaming-pc/


and here is a couple more
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-gamin ... -2219.html
https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-gaming-pc


either HP sent out a lot of money, or the Omen Obelisk is amazeballs, because they all seem to be recommending it.



The cyberpower I got the kids 5 years ago is still running, But I had to do some work on it. I upgraded the CPU fan to something quieter, and recently the power button started sticking. I suspect it more more to do with children than with poor quality, so I swapped everything out to a new case.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:11 pm
by Freyland
I have six PCs from Digital storm, and am happy with all of them, for years.

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:02 pm
by jztemple2
I was going to recommend Falcon Northwest, but I think that might be over your budget. However, if you do buy a computer from them they throw in this nifty facemask :D

Image

Re: Where to buy a new desktop PC?

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:05 am
by Hrdina
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:02 pm I was going to recommend Falcon Northwest, but I think that might be over your budget. However, if you do buy a computer from them they throw in this nifty facemask :D

Image
I've been thinking about getting a new Falcon NW desktop (I've had three over the last 20 years or so), but with that facemask I definitely want one.