Pre-built Gaming PC?

Feb 6, 2021
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I am on the fence between buying a prebuilt gaming pc and getting a gaming laptop.. I think I’ve come to the conclusion on wanting to purchase a pre-built pc.
I have no idea where to start as everything has changed since I was in high school. If anyone could share some information and help me out it would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance!
 
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Feb 7, 2021
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There is a website called "Tech support Guy", there are some great minds over there on everything that is hardware.
Tell them your budget, and they will give you the best possible build for that price.

Remember, you get much more power per buck on PCs then on laptops, at half the price.
NEVER buy pre-built PCs (unless you want a decade old motherboard model in it)
 
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Really depends on budget, the graphics level of games you'll be playing, and what graphics settings you're OK with.

Honestly though, you'll get best bang for buck and best quality parts for your money if you build it yourself. It's really not hard, in fact it can be easier than operating a PC. There are also tons of how to vids on YouTube showing how.

That said, right now is not really a good time to buy, as there's a shortage of the latest GPUs.
 
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That said, right now is not really a good time to buy, as there's a shortage of the latest GPUs.
Not really, only if you are looking for the stock price (as published) GPUs
I had my 3070 as soon as it hit the market, but i payed 150% of its price for it, but then again, people that buy high end dont usually worry about money too much. the good old 3700XT is all over the place, its cheap, and powerful. planty of top quality 2080ti on the market (second hand, great shape) because everyone switched to 3080 and want to get rid of their 2080ti, even though its almost the same thing
 
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So I have built a pc before but money is a factor right now. I found a 3060 ti prebuilt for 1299.99 and one for 1399.99 I want to have a rig that can play most games. I’ve already tried pricing out a build and it wasn’t quite expensive besides the gpu. I initially wanted a gaming laptop because I’m active duty army but i finally decided on a pc.. Any info to a good video card or even where to price parts decently.. I was still contemplating on a prebuilt and just upgrading it as i go along
 
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The amount of money it would cost to even build a 2060 pc right now would be far more than a prebuilt 3060 I could just upgrade motherboard, cpu, and power supply
 
@Swankyouu Its a really bad time even second hand unfortunately, video cards are in very short supply. Even second hand ones are overpriced at least where I am.

I'm not sure what to say really. Pre builts are the only option unless you get really lucky and find a sensibly priced second hand one, or are happy to pay way over the odds.
 
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So I have built a pc before but money is a factor right now. I found a 3060 ti prebuilt for 1299.99 and one for 1399.99 I want to have a rig that can play most games. I’ve already tried pricing out a build and it wasn’t quite expensive besides the gpu. I initially wanted a gaming laptop because I’m active duty army but i finally decided on a pc.. Any info to a good video card or even where to price parts decently.. I was still contemplating on a prebuilt and just upgrading it as i go along
dont know the other specs but if its built around the 3060 ti, then its a bit expansive
also while a 3060ti will run ALL games, you wont be able to play them on top graphical settings (well most of them)
 
Some basic tips @Swankyouu

Youre going to want:
- SSD at least a smaller one as a boot drive.
- 16GB of RAM.
- CPU wise Ryzen 3600 or 3700X as a minimum, better would be a 5600X or on the Intel side a 10600(K) or 10700. there wont be much practical difference between these for most gaming situations.
- 3060Ti or better would be very nice, the AMD Radeon 6800 and up for AMD.

Secondarily, its good to know what power supply they are using in the system, exact make and model. If you find something post up a link to it here and we'll be happy to have a closer look for you.

I have zero first hand experience with pre builts so Im afraid I cant really recommend a specifc company as I cant speak to their build quality etc. Maybe someone else has a more specific tip as to where to start looking .
 
Not really, only if you are looking for the stock price (as published) GPUs
I had my 3070 as soon as it hit the market, but i payed 150% of its price for it, but then again, people that buy high end dont usually worry about money too much.

This type of thinking is exactly why it IS a problem, buying a gpu for more than MSRP is just giving into scalpers which you shouldn't do. So GPU shortages is a real problem, and people who buy high end do worry about money, people like you, who need to have the newest tech right away (GPUs) by paying 50-100% the msrp are people that dont worry about money.
 
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This type of thinking is exactly why it IS a problem, buying a gpu for more than MSRP is just giving into scalpers which you shouldn't do. So GPU shortages is a real problem, and people who buy high end do worry about money, people like you, who need to have the newest tech right away (GPUs) by paying 50-100% the msrp are people that dont worry about money.
well, if people that buy high-end PCs worrying about money, then why would they buy high-end PC?
well i guess there are SOME kids\young adults out there that spend their last penny just to get that 3080, but i never understood the logic, but whatever.

Anyways, im a free market supporter, pure supply and demand based, so i approve high prices for high demand products and low prices for overflow, its just how it is
 
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I mean if I can’t find a decent pre built I hate to say it I may have to go the laptop route which I’m trying to avoid currently. I found a cyber power pre built on Adorama for about 1299.99 with the 3060 in it. CPU may not be the best but once again always upgradeable. If I’m looking for a second hand gpu 2060-2070 where should I look? I wanna build my own but the gpu prices are what make me not want to.
 
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I know, its ridiculous that a RX580 is 450 usd. Its a 200 msrp card.

Is it this one youre looking at?


If so the headline specs are decent, hard to say what exact motherboard RAM and power supply they are using but for the price we couldnt build anything better right now. This will play any game out there, many at Ultra 1080p and even 1440p. As you say things can be upgraded and improved later as needed.

I dont know a lot about Cyberpower PC but it seems a decent deal " 2c"
 
well, if people that buy high-end PCs worrying about money, then why would they buy high-end PC?
People do this for investments/Future proofing, i mean there are plenty of reasons, but this one i see the most, its to keep it current for a huge amount of years as opposed to a console where you HAVE to upgrade within a shorter amount of time. Ex., one of my rigs can run cyberpunk 2077 perfectly fine (minus game bugs of course) and its roughly 5 years old right now.

Anyways, im a free market supporter, pure supply and demand based, so i approve high prices for high demand products and low prices for overflow, its just how it is
Right on, i just dont like being ripped off lol, MSRP is there for a reason. i can wait until the demand comes back, heck by that time ill probably have a new choice of card to look at, if i could get one.


If I’m looking for a second hand gpu 2060-2070 where should I look? I wanna build my own but the gpu prices are what make me not want to.

Id cautiously recommend ebay? I dont know many stores that sell second hand gpu's other than sites like ebay, fb marketplace, etc. and then again, you cant really know for sure how much use second hand cards get. So regardless of where you get it from, you are taking a gamble
 
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I know, its ridiculous that a RX580 is 450 usd. Its a 200 msrp card.

Is it this one youre looking at?


If so the headline specs are decent, hard to say what exact motherboard RAM and power supply they are using but for the price we couldnt build anything better right now. This will play any game out there, many at Ultra 1080p and even 1440p. As you say things can be upgraded and improved later as needed.

I dont know a lot about Cyberpower PC but it seems a decent deal " 2c"
It seems to be my best bet that or a new 30 series laptop I guess
 
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Not really, only if you are looking for the stock price (as published) GPUs
I had my 3070 as soon as it hit the market, but i payed 150% of its price for it, but then again, people that buy high end dont usually worry about money too much. the good old 3700XT is all over the place, its cheap, and powerful. planty of top quality 2080ti on the market (second hand, great shape) because everyone switched to 3080 and want to get rid of their 2080ti, even though its almost the same thing
As just verified by OP, money actually IS a factor for a lot of people lately. Thus making the blanket statement " people that buy high end dont usually worry about money too much" right now is kinda insensitive and short sighted. Not to mention the fact that there's a major design problem with the 3000 series, well known lack of stock in most countries, and price gouging on available stock. This is all made even worse by Nvidia's chip suppliers having yield problems with the die size they're trying to use. It's why there's talk of them temporarily bringing back older stock with larger dies. Then there's the mining problem, something Nvidia has promised to work on solving some time ago, but is far from achieving. It's yet another thing that drives prices up and makes availability scarce. Not to mention COVID lingering making things even worse. Like I said, bad time to buy.

One last bit of advice OP, if you do feel inclined toward a pre-built due to not affording or wanting to wait or spend more, definitely get it at a reputable vendor that is known to accept full refunds for any reason. There are many horror stories associated with pre-builds, especially from volume build houses, and in a time like this when they're getting even more orders, that would only be worse.
 
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Bear in mind with laptops the 3080 performs about the same as the desktop 3060Ti if you go that route and even thats dependent on the TDP the manufacturer sets and cooling. The new cards are back to the old days of being cut down versions of the desktop cards.
Thank you for all of the good information. I wish money wasn’t a problem but the army doesn’t pay us well lol.. should I hold off and save a little for the 3060 at adorama? Or should I just say screw it and buy a 1650 ? I know times are crappy I just miss gaming on a pc it’s been years. I’m almost to the point like I said of dumping it on a new laptop but I know they don’t preform well.. it sucks lol
 
Thank you for all of the good information. I wish money wasn’t a problem but the army doesn’t pay us well lol.. should I hold off and save a little for the 3060 at adorama? Or should I just say screw it and buy a 1650 ? I know times are crappy I just miss gaming on a pc it’s been years. I’m almost to the point like I said of dumping it on a new laptop but I know they don’t preform well.. it sucks lol

I'd wait, the 30xx series has RTX and it is fun to look at while gaming if its something you can do, with it set to come out on february 25th, you dont have to wait too much longer, also if you are unable to get a hold of a 3060 at a price you want, im sure the 1650 will still be available.
 
I mean the 1650 wont give you great results. Its only got 4GB Vram and some games are going to struggle with that in the nearish future. But in a pinch it will play most AAA games at lowered details, and a lot of indie and older games will work just fine.

The Adorama deal does seem pretty good to me though, it seems to be even cheaper than deals on Cyberpowers own website.
 
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Right now pre built is the only reasonable option, the high prices on hardware is a consequence of the scalpers making cartel on parts, if you buy parts from them you contribute to that bad way of doing things.

A pre-built with a 3060 would allow you to play whatever you want at a good level, a lot better level of gaming than going for a 1650 would give.

I'm a modder and I don't have any problem going into deep modification of a Case as I handcrafted mine from scratch for the CMWS20, from my point of view I would say that a desktop PC can be upgraded easily.

But considering that you don't need a 4K 900 FPS monster, a laptop with a 3080 could work well for you.

If you don't want to modify the hardware and you have to wait a to buy a desk that does just a bit more FPS, I would consider the laptop the best choice.

All considered, at least at this time and the next few months, buying hardware especially GPUs is not a smart Idea right now.

Cheers
 
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Yeah I found a 3060 laptop for around 1099 and a 3070 laptop around 1600 the 3080s are unfortunately about 2000 I’m weighing the pros and cons between a 3060 pre built and a 3070 laptop currently
 
I was price looking on the 3080 earlier today and the hoarding and scalping of them is so bad there are several of them on eBay sold as mere pictures of them to deter scalpers and bots. I can see how that might deter miners whom use bots, but since they actually say in the details it's a photo instead of the actual product, don't see how scalpers would be that dumb.

There are also sites that act as trackers for specific products globally, and I didn't find one country that had the 3080s. I have to ask at this point, is it really necessary you buy now or this spring when you've not gamed in years? Seems like it might be better to wait 6 months or until the holidays even to see if things improve. I mean by then, many people will have been vaccinated for COVID at least.

Word is Nvidia is going to be releasing GPUs with a different market strategy too. Some speculate they will make bare bones GPUs that are just good at raw rendering, and others that have all the game related features. This of course would be to deter miners from buying product meant for gaming.

My point is, a decent gaming rig is somewhat of an investment and something you'll likely use for years. Six to nine months from now you may be able to afford something you'll actually want to keep for years and will easily handle yet to be released games. Sometimes it takes a bit of patience to avoid tons of regret.

Maybe try to find another activity to quell your anxiety while you're waiting.
 
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I was price looking on the 3080 earlier today and the hoarding and scalping of them is so bad there are several of them on eBay sold as mere pictures of them to deter scalpers and bots. I can see how that might deter miners whom use bots, but since they actually say in the details it's a photo instead of the actual product, don't see how scalpers would be that dumb.

There are also sites that act as trackers for specific products globally, and I didn't find one country that had the 3080s. I have to ask at this point, is it really necessary you buy now or this spring when you've not gamed in years? Seems like it might be better to wait 6 months or until the holidays even to see if things improve. I mean by then, many people will have been vaccinated for COVID at least.

Word is Nvidia is going to be releasing GPUs with a different market strategy too. Some speculate they will make bare bones GPUs that are just good at raw rendering, and others that have all the game related features. This of course would be to deter miners from buying product meant for gaming.

My point is, a decent gaming rig is somewhat of an investment and something you'll likely use for years. Six to nine months from now you may be able to afford something you'll actually want to keep for years and will easily handle yet to be released games. Sometimes it takes a bit of patience to avoid tons of regret.

Maybe try to find another activity to quell your anxiety while you're waiting.
Well I’m actually trying to find something to enjoy now for the main reason I’m supposed to be deploying over seas this year. Which is why I’m guessing I may go the laptop route and see how this whole gpu situation plays out.. I suppose if I go laptop I could use it over seas as well and when I get back build a rig
 

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