Pre-built PC, should I buy this?

[ZZANG1847]

Yo,

Some of you might know this already, but for those of you who are unaware, that I do not have a PC that can run games that are ever so slightly demanding, aka any decent games that came out in last 5 years or so. To help you better understand, my current PC/Desktop is.....

1) Literally bought from a store that sells office-oriented supplies/computers,

2) Therefore NOT built for gaming, and

3) Been using it for almost 6-7 years at this point.

Due to the nature of where this PC came from, running old and not-so-demanding games like PR and Insurgency can be a struggle-fest, and I had to resort to play these games in the lowest setting possible (and even then I do have frame drops here and there). I do use this PC for other purposes such as video editing and watching movies, and I've been frustrated lately due to how sluggish and slow it became in last few months.

 

So, now, onto the topic:

I wasn't really planning on buying a PC this week, but I was casually browsing a website and saw these deals.

Skytech Oracle: https://www.google.com/shopping/product/11729696851188733993?psb=1&tbm=shop&prds=epd%3A13459610525245923212%2Cprmr%3A3%2Crs%3A1&ved=0CCYQiM4BKAFqFwoTCPCGtbSphOYCFc7N4wcdWBcCdBA1&utm_source=affiliate_CJ&utm_medium=1122587_cj_4485850&utm_campaign=Deep+Link&utm_content=13713149

CyberpowerPC: https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-Xtreme-i5-9400F-GeForce-GXiVR8060A8/dp/B07VGJDKZ4?tag=slickdeals&ascsubtag=8d12bda6131611eaa3403a4e4378d8700INT&ref_=Oct_DLandingS_D_466a83d5_63&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Before you say anything, let me clarify you on one thing. I know building PC is what everyone does, and even kids from elementary schools can do it nowadays. I am aware the fact that I can build a PC with similar parts or specs from the links above and come out cheaper. However, I suck at building anything in general (and I learned this from building something as simple as AR-15 lower parts kit), and have never done one before. I also do not have any friends who live near and can help me with building a PC as well as do a troubleshooting if I screw things up (which is bound to happen). Right now, the only help I can get is from listening feedback from you guys who know this S#!T and can guild me.

So, I've been looking around and 2 options from above sound like a good deal that doesn't suck and not a outright rip-off. I am planning to spend around $700 for a PC that I would like to play AAA games at a MEDIUM-HIGH-ULTRA settings depending on how demanding it can be. In addition, I do plan on using the rig for video/picture editing, watching movies, but that would be it.

The first link comes out to around $670 after the tax and shipping, and second one is a little cheaper ($655) with all things considered. So, what do you guys think about these two options? Should I do with one of those, or do you know any PRE-BUILT PC around the same price range that is much better?

Thank you for your feedback!

 

[ZZANG1847]

I found more options, but I think these have their own pros as well as cons:

HP: https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-Pavilion-Gaming-Desktop-Tower-Intel-Core-i5-9400F-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1660Ti-8GB-RAM-256GB-SSD-690-0073w/902037635

Pro: Slightly cheaper, upgrade from 1660 to 1660Ti.

Con: 256 GB SSD vs 500 GB SDD (Skytech Oracle) or 240GB SSD w/ 1TB HDD (CyberpowerPC)

Skytech Archangel: https://www.google.com/shopping/product/10838364651746331194?psb=1&tbm=shop&prds=epd%3A267462447146436244%2Cprmr%3A3%2Crs%3A1&ved=0CCYQiM4BKAFqFwoTCLXjw5y-kOYCFUSApwodSUkPGBAu&utm_source=affiliate_CJ&utm_medium=1122587_cj_4485850&utm_campaign=Deep+Link&utm_content=13713149

Pro: Better motherboard/CPU (according to internet), more RAM

Con: $73 more than Skytech Oracle

[Vanillapop]

If you live in the United states you probably have crazy black Friday deals going on rn, so you should shop around a little, also I'm more of a person who leans on amd systems, since the cpu is great and also cheap, if you pick amd dont go lower then a ryzen 5 3200, ryzen 7s are at a great price rn for getting a deal but it's not needed, if you find a system with a good graphics card and a ryzen 5 under your budget you can upgrade to a 7.

[ZZANG1847]

6 minutes ago, =VG= Vanillapop said:

If you live in the United states you probably have crazy black Friday deals going on rn, so you should shop around a little, also I'm more of a person who leans on amd systems, since the cpu is great and also cheap, if you pick amd dont go lower then a ryzen 5 3200, ryzen 7s are at a great price rn for getting a deal but it's not needed, if you find a system with a good graphics card and a ryzen 5 under your budget you can upgrade to a 7.

Both Archangel and Oracle has Ryzen 5 but Archangel has 2600X 3.6 GHz while Oracle has 2600 3.4 GHz, making it less than ideal from your point of view. The other two options have Intel CPU, but if GHz is an indicator they actually suck more than Archangel/Oracle (2.6 GHz)

Black Friday deals come and go and there were few other options that are no longer available/relevant now. These are the best options I can find so far and I don't know if they'll be available when I go to sleep in few hours and wake up tomorrow morning. Maybe Cyber Monday will have a better deal but if not I need to choose soon before the train leaves.

[Vanillapop]

Go with your gut if the system you buy lasts you another 5 to 7 years definitely go for that.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

To first get into a gaming PC, it helps to make that first purchase (that hopefully contains a roomy case).  Later down the road, you can upgrade parts as you can afford them, like adding more RAM if needed, adding more storage space, etc.  Can even overhaul the core by pulling the motherboard/RAM/CPU and CPU cooler, and buying something new in 5-7 years, without needing to replace the case/PSU/etc.  Same with the GFX card.

So, I'd say that the case in the Cyberpower one looks more in line with modern case designs, the PSU is in a covered trough below everything, and the front has a three fan intake looks like it could handle a 240-280mm liquid cooling radiator (someday).  Looks like it could survive a few future upgrades, and comes with some good parts inside to begin with. 
Also, RGB like that should add at least 200 FPS in any game, of course. RGB FTW! (j/k)

The case on the other one you linked looks like a cheap POS and cramps a lot of hot stuff too close for comfort IMHO - fine for a starter gaming PC, but not really good for future upgrades due to it's size.  No filters, no top fan space, and of course, no RGB so how can you possibly hope to shoot straight in a game?

Get into the game, worry about fancy things later.  Also, plan to migrate your current HDD/SSD's for added storage and easy import of old files, etc.  A case with plenty of space for SSD's or HDD's will make that possible.  My 500GB SSD filled up SOOO fast with games.  4TB Seagate's are on sale for $80 right now, lots of sales through x-mas in storage.  Go Seagate or Samsung, for the pro gear, price per performance, unless budget is most important.

Good luck!

[=VG= Skitalez]

How poor vlad’s making a PC in motherussia: To begin with, take: a few potatoes, an incandescent lamp, a wooden stick, donkey urine, gypsy virgin  tears...

[=VG= Kavelenko]

Decide on a budget and stick to it. You get what you're prepared to pay for generally. 

I admire guys with the patience to shop for bits and pieces and put it all together but being a retired tradie means I don't look at cars as anything more than a box on wheels that gets me from A to B. So you can imagine how much I give a shit about buying a laptop that is turbo charged and water-cooled.

[Cruizer]

Budget is one. Another question is, r u going to use the pc just for gaming or going to use it for other productivity workload like video rendering, stock trading & etc.

[zero_tolerance_s]

I suppose you already have a licensed Windows  so you may save maybe 100$ and invest it in RAM or SSD. If not, you may buy a  SH license for 10$ on Amazon. However dont get cheap on the power source. Get something at least Gold Certified 80+. A good power source works miracles. Its like using high octane gas on an old engine. It flies!

[ZZANG1847]

17 hours ago, =VG= SemlerPDX said:

To first get into a gaming PC, it helps to make that first purchase (that hopefully contains a roomy case).  Later down the road, you can upgrade parts as you can afford them, like adding more RAM if needed, adding more storage space, etc.  Can even overhaul the core by pulling the motherboard/RAM/CPU and CPU cooler, and buying something new in 5-7 years, without needing to replace the case/PSU/etc.  Same with the GFX card.

So, I'd say that the case in the Cyberpower one looks more in line with modern case designs, the PSU is in a covered trough below everything, and the front has a three fan intake looks like it could handle a 240-280mm liquid cooling radiator (someday).  Looks like it could survive a few future upgrades, and comes with some good parts inside to begin with. 
Also, RGB like that should add at least 200 FPS in any game, of course. RGB FTW! (j/k)

The case on the other one you linked looks like a cheap POS and cramps a lot of hot stuff too close for comfort IMHO - fine for a starter gaming PC, but not really good for future upgrades due to it's size.  No filters, no top fan space, and of course, no RGB so how can you possibly hope to shoot straight in a game?

Get into the game, worry about fancy things later.  Also, plan to migrate your current HDD/SSD's for added storage and easy import of old files, etc.  A case with plenty of space for SSD's or HDD's will make that possible.  My 500GB SSD filled up SOOO fast with games.  4TB Seagate's are on sale for $80 right now, lots of sales through x-mas in storage.  Go Seagate or Samsung, for the pro gear, price per performance, unless budget is most important.

Good luck!

I was initially interested in HP due to 1660 Ti being included, but other specs look lacking and upgrade looks challenging if I ever go that route. I do love CyberPowerPC build, but the problem is that it won't be shipped until Jan/Feb of 2020, which is not great as prices of parts will go lower when we hit 2020. In fact, I've been hearing rumors that Walmart did a clearance on HP desktops they stocked for last Black Friday, and sold it for really cheap to get rid of inventory. So either I will buy one of the options this week (Currently leaning towards Skytech Archangel), or wait few more weeks and get HP much cheaper down the road.

 

 

9 hours ago, Cruizer said:

Budget is one. Another question is, r u going to use the pc just for gaming or going to use it for other productivity workload like video rendering, stock trading & etc.

Gaming will be a primary purpose of this build, but I will also use it for a "light" video editing/rendering. I am not a professional YouTuber, and 100% of videos uploaded on YouTube are taken from a phone with limited editing so it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

 

6 hours ago, zero_tolerance_s said:

I suppose you already have a licensed Windows  so you may save maybe 100$ and invest it in RAM or SSD. If not, you may buy a  SH license for 10$ on Amazon. However dont get cheap on the power source. Get something at least Gold Certified 80+. A good power source works miracles. Its like using high octane gas on an old engine. It flies!

I believe all of options listed above include Windows 10, so I don't need to worry about getting a license. I may add another 8GB of RAM and/or SSD/HDD since those wouldn't be as complicated as other installation process, but I haven't decided if I will actually do it yet.

[ZZANG1847]

20 hours ago, =VG= Vanillapop said:

If you live in the United states you probably have crazy black Friday deals going on rn, so you should shop around a little, also I'm more of a person who leans on amd systems, since the cpu is great and also cheap, if you pick amd dont go lower then a ryzen 5 3200, ryzen 7s are at a great price rn for getting a deal but it's not needed, if you find a system with a good graphics card and a ryzen 5 under your budget you can upgrade to a 7.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hdd-240gb-ssd-black/6362427.p?skuId=6362427

This one is priced similar to other deals, AND it has Ryzen 5 3600 in it. If Radeon RX 580 is as good as, if not better than GTX 1660, then this might be the build to go.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

Looks like 1x8GB RAM... can't imagine Cyberpower would sell that, maybe it's just the image....  Should be 2x4GB, of course...

[Cruizer]

4 hours ago, =VG= SemlerPDX said:

Looks like 1x8GB RAM... can't imagine Cyberpower would sell that, maybe it's just the image....  Should be 2x4GB, of course...

Sometimes image can be for illustration purpose only. Internal components can vary for each buyers.

[Cruizer]

6 hours ago, ZZANG1847 said:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hdd-240gb-ssd-black/6362427.p?skuId=6362427

 

On 11/30/2019 at 10:43 AM, ZZANG1847 said:

CyberpowerPC: https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-Xtreme-i5-9400F-GeForce-GXiVR8060A8/dp/B07VGJDKZ4?tag=slickdeals&ascsubtag=8d12bda6131611eaa3403a4e4378d8700INT&ref_=Oct_DLandingS_D_466a83d5_63&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Ryzen 5 3600 is a better snatch compared to Intel I5 9400F. However for GPU, most games are more on 1 sided optimization. Some runs at higher FPS on NVIDIA while some games run higher FPS on RADEON. 

 

RX 580 is an older generation card. An boosted/overclocked card from the RX 480 model. NVIDIA GTX 1660 not sure as they're currently being NGREEDIA. Too much GPU models keeps on realeasing on the same SKU.

[=VG= keed]

@ZZANG1847 I used pcpartpicker (based in US) to compare your best buy offer (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hdd-240gb-ssd-black/6362427.p?skuId=6362427) to a almost similar custom build.

Difference:

- I excluded the Win10 licence because you can get that for $30 somewhere else.

+ I doubled the RAM to 16GB to account for the additional win10 licence cost and because Ryzen loves Dual Channel High Clocked bars.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/F7Fwcq

Conclusion:

pcpartpicker: $843.64 (raw price, excl. shipping costs)

bestbuy: $599

 

I recommend the best buy offer and pruchasing additional 8 GB of the same RAM yourself (This can be checked after it arrived). Its a good price and you save time not installing everything. 

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

13 hours ago, =VG= keed said:

+ I doubled the RAM to 16GB to account for the additional win10 licence cost and because Ryzen loves Dual Channel High Clocked bars.

If the goal is to add another 2x8GB for a total 32GB of RAM for an entry level gaming PC, that would be overkill (even looking to the future), IMHO - also 3200MHz is a bit overkill and likely not achievable for this system regardless of overclocking... not that it isn't a great price, but for additional savings, you could go for a lower rated oc speed.  Remember that the OS / BIOS isn't going to run that RAM faster than 1600-1866MHz unless you tell it to through BIOS overclocking, which would require testing, and when it comes to overclocking, doing it to the RAM vs focusing on the CPU OC is preferred with current tech.  That being said, this MoBo would likely not be able to get that RAM to 3200 in my opinion ( I wouldn't bet on it, that's all I'm saying).
 

You have 2x8GB listed for this 16GB setup (which is more than sufficient for any game this system will eat) but this should be 4x4GB for maximum utilization of the 16GB of dual channel RAM on any motherboard with 4 RAM slots.

[ZZANG1847]

15 hours ago, =VG= keed said:

@ZZANG1847 I used pcpartpicker (based in US) to compare your best buy offer (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hdd-240gb-ssd-black/6362427.p?skuId=6362427) to a almost similar custom build.

Difference:

- I excluded the Win10 licence because you can get that for $30 somewhere else.

+ I doubled the RAM to 16GB to account for the additional win10 licence cost and because Ryzen loves Dual Channel High Clocked bars.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/F7Fwcq

Conclusion:

pcpartpicker: $843.64 (raw price, excl. shipping costs)

bestbuy: $599

 

I recommend the best buy offer and pruchasing additional 8 GB of the same RAM yourself (This can be checked after it arrived). Its a good price and you save time not installing everything. 

Most of other deals that I listed are no longer available, and this one & Walmart HP deal are the only ones left so this should be my logical choice. However, there are Walmarts out there putting HP desktops out as a clearance for $450, and even down to $350 in some places. Therefore, I am currently waiting few more days to see if they'll go down in my region as well before I pull the trigger.

Now watch this deal expire and Walmart never discount the HP around me

[zero_tolerance_s]

Dude, I'm not sure about States, but in Europe, prices are droping even more in January after the winter holidays. Sometimes as low as 70%. If you could wait, maybe you can catch a better deal.

[Griffin]

You mentioned a spec near the top with a SSD and HDD. Ditch the HDD. They are just too slow to cope with the demand of todays processors and graphics card. SSD all day long and if you can afford an M2 SSD, so much the better.

Whatever happens, gaming machines are not cheap and there's no getting away from that.

Good luck.

[Cruizer]

Well Zzang, If u missed out on Black Friday SALE on the particular pc that u want, at least there's still the upcoming Christmas SALE, End of Year SALE and New Year SALE for u take grab it. If they intend to slash the prices again.

[=VG= keed]

How about your Backdoor SALE, Cruizer?

[Cruizer]

30 minutes ago, =VG= keed said:

How about your Backdoor SALE, Cruizer?

If only if u live in my country. I will give u more than the backdoor 

[Cruizer]

Currently busy during this month checking my profit margins & see what items for me to slash the price tag & slap other sellers for other upcoming sale . Cuz we still have the 12.12 SALE for us which is around the corner. Followed by Christmas, EOY SALE & New Year. A lot of stock taking for me to handle. RIP me.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

I just got a huge deal on a new graphics card through an offer from Chase Credit Card (spend $500 in 3 months, get $200 cash back delivered in 3-5 months) -- and they just sent me a referral (passes offer along to anyone in US with good credit, and doesn't already have the Chase Freedom card) - figured I'd pass the link along to you @ZZANG1847 since you're one state up from me:
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18a/99KLH2U3SP