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So I don’t know if I’m allowed to ask a question like this on here or in the simple questions thread because I didn’t get a response on the simple questions thread, so If it’s not allowed let me know.
Anyways, I’ve been researching for the best quality pre-builds I can find, and I’m seeing that two of the most talked about pre-built pcs are the ABS Cyclone Aqua and pretty much any of the CyberPower PCs. Although every one I’ve heard of has mixed reviews(obviously) so I don’t know if those two I mentioned are even actually good. And btw, I am indeed dead set on getting a Pre-Built, so I won’t be changing my mind. Anyways, if anyone has an opinion on what some of the top brands for Pre-Built PCs are PLEASE let me know.
P.S. feel free to list any PC that you feel is good quality with good customer service, my budget is flexible.
For years, I've been a console gamer. I was always intimidated by PC gaming – it seemed complicated and expensive. But after hearing so many good things about it, I decided to take the plunge and try it out.
I have to say, I'm completely blown away. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is smooth, and the possibilities are endless. I never realized how much I was missing out on until now.
At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the options. There are so many different games to choose from, and the controls are a bit different from what I'm used to. But once I got the hang of it, I was hooked.
One of the things I love about PC gaming is the community. I've joined a few forums and groups, and everyone has been so welcoming and helpful. It's great to be part of such a passionate and supportive community.
I never thought I'd say this, but I think I might be a PC gamer for life now. If you're on the fence about trying it out, I highly recommend it. You won't regret it!
Pretty avid console gamer here, one of my cousins, an avid PC gamer, has been trying to get me to join the "Master Race" for years. While of course console can't hold a candle to PC, I'm generally content with my gaming experience on console, though that's not to say I don't want to upgrade, I was mostly just waiting until I could afford to build a high end PC (I understand this isn't necessary to obtain resolution/FPS gains over consoles), and with the release of the 50 series cards I was excited to hopefully obtain a card and build a PC. The lack of supply, though annoying, wasn't a big deal to me, as I figured so long as I keep trying I'll be able to land one eventually. The post-launch price increases, while also annoying, weren't immediately a dealbreaker, when paired with these other potential issues however, I'm just not sure if it's worth it?
IMO, if I'm spending over $1000 on one singular item (the GPU), there is no reason that an issue that was a known issue since the last generation of the product should still be an issue, even if it's only happening to a very small percentage of people. I'm not saying I expect the product to be flawless, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a known issue to have been addressed, at the very least with some safeguards. But okay fine, the issue doesn't get fixed, I'd also expect top of the line customer service for anyone affected by said issue. Which maybe is the case, I'm not sure, but I've done searches of customer service experiences with Nvidia and companies that manufacture the AIBs and what I've found has left much to be desired. Of course this can simply be the vocal monitory but when you combine all of these various issues I think my hesitancy should be understandable.
My cousin, who has a 4090, is still trying to get their hands on the 5090 (which I know is an unnecessary upgrade), so they don't seem to be too worried about the potential issues with this generation of cards, but I'm interested to hear the opinions of others who have experience with PCs.
Edit: I just got off of a 12 hour shift (am tired lol) and genuinely did not expect so many responses. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read/respond to this. I've read all the responses but haven't been able to respond to everyone. I'll be back later this evening/afternoon, thanks again everyone.
Hello! I’ve been wanting to get into PC gaming! I have virtually zero experience with PCs and need helping deciding what type I need and what kind of set up I’ve got to get going. I’m looking for any and all advice on where to start, I also would love any resources that you could provide!
Looking to getting into PC gaming
$600 Gaming PC
New build or upgrade? (New build)
Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (No)
PC purpose? Just want to be able to play games with my friends, AAA titles, dont need 4k
Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (USA, near a microcenter)
• Monitors needed? (1 to start out, not to picky about frame rate and resolution, I'm used to the Xbox series s)
Budget range? ($500-600)
• WiFi or wired connection? Will need wired
Size/noise constraints? (No)
• Color/lighting preferences? (none)
• Any other specific needs? (No
And what components should it have if I want to play apex, GTA V/IV, sims, Mario, Minecraft, Skyrim, legends of Zelda, thrillville, and possibly more games?
I’m also a cs student and would want to use it to practice programming and possibly music production.
Super conflicted between msi, asus, hp, or Alienware.
I’m definitely going for RTX graphic card because of the ray tracing. I looked into 3060 but I don’t know if that’s too much? Especially for a beginner? I looked into a ram no less than 16GB, intelcore cpu. Conflicted if I should go for air or liquid cooling. But I heard air cooling is safer and more convenient for a beginner.
Any help appreciated. Also if there’s anything you want to add about the components I listed and if there’s anything better I want to hear it. Have no problem receiving different ideas that could be better than the ones I stated.
I got an Xbox earlier in the year, and now I want to dip my toe into PC Gaming with an UltraWide monitor. I am stuck between 2 PCs that are or will be on sale for Black Friday. They are basically the same configuration, except for the CPU. I would like something that’s not going to have to be upgraded for a while. Thoughts on which CPU is better or do you have a suggestion for a better alternative.
Costco currently $1699.99, will be $1299.99 staring 11/28
iBUYPOWER SlateMesh 8 Gaming Desktop - 14th Gen Intel Core i9-14900F - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super - Windows 11 - 32GB RAM - 2TB SSD
https://www.costco.com/ibuypower-slatemesh-8-gaming-desktop---14th-gen-intel-core-i9-14900f---nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-super---windows-11---32gb-ram---2tb-ssd.product.4000291940.html
Best Buy currently $1429.99
CyberPowerPC - Gamer Supreme Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D - 32GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12GB - 2TB SSD
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-supreme-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-32gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-super-12gb-2tb-ssd-white/6575113.p?sb_share_source=PDP&skuId=6575113
UPDATE I had originally bought the one from Costco last week and it was good, but not great in some games. Star Wars Jedi Survivor was really bad on the Epic graphics setting. It would skip, freeze, and dropped frames. I had to put it on Medium graphics to get it to work well, and even then I had some random issues. I picked up the one from Best Buy this afternoon based on everyone’s feedback. For one, all the updates installed without issue (it took me 4 hours of troubleshooting to get the one from Costco updated properly). I tested the one from Best Buy with Star Wars Jedi Survivor on Epic graphics settings on that game played smooth with no issues. It plays better and looks better. Thank you all so much for your input.
Console gamer here and not trying to flame, but after being on Reddit for a few years now I frequently see posts about all of these bugs or graphical glitches. It seems to me the vast majority of them happen to PC gamers.
I often see complaints about games not being optimized for specific rigs on PC.
I often see complaints about graphics quality and FPS on PC.
Is it really that much better than an Xbox or PS5 if you’re so prone to having all these issues? I’m sure there’s a graphics down step on consoles but I’ve never found it to be noticeable or much of an issue whatsoever.
It just doesn’t seem worth it to me if you all are so frequently having problems.
I’ve enabled parametric filters and choices for some sections. A quick note on the motherboard: make sure you get one with solid VRMs. It should be able to handle a potential future 170W+ CPU with 12+ cores(11700x3d or whatever they call it) without breaking a sweat. I'm avoiding asrock for the time being due to high instances of X3Ds burning with no resolution.
For CPUs, the Ryzen 5 9600X / 7600 / 7600X are excellent AM5 starters. They give you a cheap, powerful entry point now while leaving the door open for an eventual upgrade to something like the 11700X3D or 11800X3D. Just don’t miss out on deals like the 5700X3D at $140,that’s the kind of value that disappears fast(just look at the number of people asking if they should get a $250 5700x3d or upgrade to AM5 rn). On the flip side, overspending on a 7800X3D or 9800X3D doesn’t make sense for most people. Modern demanding titles are still GPU-bound, especially once you crank up ray tracing and upscaling. The only exception is if you can snag a heavily discounted 7800X3D at Microcenter, but that doesn’t apply to most.
The Thermalright Royal Pretor is currently one of the best air coolers on the market, and for $45 it’s basically a no brainer. It’s a solid step up from the Phantom Spirit in performance.
On the GPU front, the RX 9070 16GB at $600 is fantastic value. With a little undervolting/overclocking, it can perform close to a 9070XT. If you can stretch your budget, the 5070 Ti is another stellar option at MSRP. DLSS, path-tracing performance, and Frame Generation are often underrated, especially combined with Reflex 2, which massively reduces latency. Just make sure your native framerate sits at 45 FPS or higher before enabling Frame Gen, and you’ll be golden.
For storage, a 2TB Gen4/Gen5 NVMe SSD is the sweet spot. Game load times aren’t sensitive to NVMe speeds, and the handful of DirectStorage titles out there barely show a difference between Gen3 and Gen4 anyway. Grab whichever is the best deal.
Cases are down to personal preference. I’ve picked airflow-focused and well-priced options, but MATX is also a fantastic choice if you want to keep things compact. The Dan A3 didn’t make it into this list, but it’s still one of my personal favorites.
Power supplies are simple: grab an 850W 80+ Gold ATX 3.1 unit with at least a 10-year warranty, Tier B+ or higher. The 750W variants are often just $10-$15 cheaper, so it’s worth stepping up to 850W for peace of mind.
PCPartPicker Part List
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | *AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | $179.90 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | *Thermalright Royal Knight 120 80.45 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.59 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | *Gigabyte B850M GAMING X WIFI6E Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard | $159.99 @ Amazon |
| Memory | *Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory | $86.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | *Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $117.99 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | *PNY OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card | $542.99 @ Best Buy |
| Case | *NZXT H5 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Amazon |
| Power Supply | *Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.90 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1272.34 | |
| *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria | ||
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-09-30 12:34 EDT-0400 |
Hi, I'm looking for a gaming PC tower and my budget is between $1500 and $1600. Can you please share your recommendations? Thanks