Componentīuying a PC from iBuyPower looks simple: you choose a configurator and get a default system that you can customize as you wish. If you want some of those, make sure you check whether you can get them for less elsewhere. Word of advice: alongside their computers, boutique builders offer many peripherals and accessories. The first table below compares our DIY Value Gaming Rig, which is a decent value compared to pre-builts even with current graphics card prices, to the best-value offerings we could find at iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC and XoticPC.
Depending on when you are reading this article, each of those stores may offer the best deal for you, but our goal was to compare boutique builders in general to other means of getting a gaming PC.ĭIY value gaming build vs. While all of them looked like legitimate options, we picked the three stores that offered the best combination of part selection, value and shipping times at the time of writing. So, does patience pay off when buying a gaming PC?Īmong the stores we checked out for putting together this article were: Origin PC, Maingear, iBuyPower, Falcon Northwest, Puget Systems, Digital Storm, AVADirect, XoticPC, CyberPowerPC, Xidax and even NZXT's BLD. If all you want is the cheapest PC that can run modern games adequately, you should assemble a $500 rig yourself and add a GeForce GTX 1660 Super, or just buy a standard pre-built.Īnother problem with boutiques is shipping times, which are currently measured in weeks, and if you want one of the most sought-after graphics cards they can be even longer. Now, boutique stores usually do come at a premium that larger manufacturers are able to offset. The solution to that seems obvious: boutique PC builders like CyberPowerPC, Origin PC, iBuyPower, and many others who assemble systems out of well-known retail parts that can be easily upgraded. Granted, buying a pre-built PC from an OEM has its drawbacks, including upgradability and not knowing exactly what's inside of the machine. For example, if you’re buying an RTX 3070 or above, pre-builts definitely have something going for them right now. Our conclusion was that building your own PC still makes sense with a mid-range graphics card, but pre-built systems are far more reasonable in the high end. We recently compared a list of recommended build specs to what you can buy pre-built from the likes of HP, Dell, Lenovo and other big OEMs.
With the shortage of graphics cards, which are currently selling at several times their MSRP, even gamers who know how to build their own computers are looking for different ways to get capable gaming machines.