I was going build my own PC, but after doing some initial component shopping I stumbled on this pre-built. The components are definitely more than the price of the PC here so, yeah, you could build a better PC but I'd think you'd be paying an extra $400 for any significant gains in performance. I upgraded from another iBUYPOWER machine that served me well for about 5 years. It was just a little bit noisy, so I was pleased to say this is super quiet right off the bat. I was playing DOOM on Ultra (not saying this is a benchmark just what I was playing) and it performed without any issues right out of the box. The case has plenty of room for any upgrades and makes it very easy with the handy removable mounting plates. I added both a SSD and a Corsair water cooler and upgraded the RAM. This was not necessary, but I had the components before buying the PC so I figured I'd use them.
Pros
1. Price - The components on Amazon cost about $950 - $1000.
2. Noise - Very quiet even when running games
3. Case - Looks great and has plenty of room for easy upgrades
4. Performance - Plays all the games I currently own on the highest settings without issue, even streaming to Steam Link
Cons
1. Power Supply - only 480 W. My only problem with iBP is they always skimp on the PS. It's not the most expensive upgrade but it's a PITA
2. RAM - 8 GB is fine to start, but they use a stick that I simply can't find on adata's website to upgrade to match.
Neutral
1. No CD/DVD drive - as I said I don't consider this a con per se, the same way I don't consider not having a floppy disk drive a con in 2017. But I guess some would consider it a negative.
Components:
ASRock Motherboard Motherboards B250M PRO4
Intel Core i7-7700 Desktop Processor 8M Cache, 3.6GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 4.20GHz) 7th
MSI Computer GTX 1060 ARMOR 3G OCV1 NVIDIA GEFORCE GDDR5 DVI/2HDMI/2DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card (I think)
ADATA XPG AX4U240038G16-BSZ 8 GB DDR4 2400 (good luck finding it)
Thermaltake View 21 Dual Tempered Glass ATX Tt LCS CA-1I3-00M1WN-00
WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (WD10EZEX)
I'll start off by saying this is my second IBuyPower PC in the last few weeks! So I'm a pretty happy customer.
I bought this one because my teenage daughter's GeForce 780 video card (on a custom built 4 year old PC) decided to blow a VRM. There is never a good time for that to happen, but right now is really bad (January of 2018) because the cryptocurrency mining craziness means it is extremely difficult to find a good video card. I looked for several days and couldn't find a good 1060 video card for a reasonable price, so I decided to buy this one. I really liked the first IBuyPower PC that I bought a few weeks ago though it was a higher end model.
This machine is just about perfect for what I need it to do and right in the price range I wanted to pay. I estimate it saved me around $200-$300 over what it would cost me to build myself, especially when you consider that it includes a copy of Windows 10 Home.
Overall this is a nice mid-range gaming PC for the money. The components are solid. The HDD was a Western Digital Blue which is a decent drive with low failure rates. The motherboard that was in mine was an ASRock- a good name brand manufacturer. They also put a single 8GB memory stick in, which is good, because I can easily add another 8GB if I want to upgrade to 16GB. My board has 4 total memory slots, so I could go up to 64GB. The RGB lighting is also a nice touch. It's basically a single strip of LED's at the top of the case, and they include a remote to change the colors. Wire management isn't bad, and unused cables are all zip-tied together to keep them nice and neat and out of the way. I did end up moving a few of the cables around so they wouldn't be as visible.
While not really an issue, the motherboard is a bit smaller than what I normally use. There are only two PCIE slots on the board, and one is in use that holds the 1060 video card. If you are planning on upgrading to SLI (two video cards) and still need a PCIE slot for an add on card, look for a different model. Despite the smaller motherboard, there are still plenty of USB 3 ports, and even a USB C port. There are two USB 3 ports and a headphone jack on the top of the case which is nice for USB sticks and headphones, etc.
I did encounter a couple of minor issues. I heard a rattling noise in the case when I went to take out the foam that comes in it for shipping. After digging around and taking off both sides of the case, I eventually found a small piece of plastic on the bottom of the case. I don't know what it goes to, but it doesn't seem to be necessary and it runs just fine. It looks like it might be a cover for something. Anyway.. while taking off the glass sides of the case, I also noticed that the screws holding the 1TB hdd had come loose. It was pretty easy to take the hdd holder off, tighten the screws, and put it back on. While I was in there I also added a 250GB SSD drive that I had laying around (and cloned the original HDD, so the SSD could be my primary drive). There was an extra SATA power cable available on the power supply. It was pretty easy to add the drive once I figured out how to connect it to the tray.
The CPU fan was also a little noisy when I first started it up, but after about 5 minutes it quit making noise. I'm not sure why it would do that, but it seems fine now. If the noise comes back I'll just upgrade it to something else (only a $20-$30 change).
Lastly, I tried to register my warranty, but apparently there is an issue with how Amazon sells them. They reuse the same serial number so it gives you an error when submitting. I called in and they told me that I just needed to email the information in. The customer support agent was very friendly and I got through right away.
I give this 5 stars even with the minor issues because the machine seems to be working great, and I was able to get right through to customer service. I definitely would recommend this model to anyone in the market for a good mid range gaming PC.
So far so good for the price. Easy to install widnows is already installed you just need to enter couple of info also they gave couple of cds with if but its not possible to use them because there is no cdrom drive and also no slot to put your cdrom if you buy one only way to do is i thing buy an external dvdrom i wish there was a way to put inside the case but anyways first day use inpressions are good time will tell how durable it is.
This is a really nice build.
You can easily see the build quality through the glass, but I took it apart to inspect it anyway. The cable routing is clean and the parts are quality.
The graphics card 1660ti) performs wonderfully in every game I have installed already, and the LED lighting is very easy to control from software already installed.
As far as software goes, there was not a bunch of junk software installed - and I did not have to do a clean install like I normally would with a pre built computer to ensure there isn't a bunch of junk.
The keyboard and mouse are good for bundled equipment.
It was packaged nice and had protective foam inside the case to prevent parts from coming lose inside.
I was glad they used a single memory stick rather than two, since it will make upgrading the ram to 32gb cheaper in the future.
My only "complaint" about the build is that there is only 1 full size PCIE slot available for expansion cards and they could have easily fit a larger board - but you can clearly see that in the picture, so it was not a surprise.
The wireless works great, but I'm only about 30' from the AP.
-editing my review to clear up somethings-
Ordered this desktop about a week ago and I absolutely love it so far! I was confused about an issue I thought I had and when emailing the tech service people at iBUYPOWER they got back to me the same day and cleared it up for me!
Desktop is very quiet, fans only get a little louder whenever the graphics get intense which is to be expected. The RGB lights are very bright and vivid and the pc has very good cable management. Took me about 20 minutes to set everything up after receiving the package which was protected nicely. The only complaint is the keyboard it is pretty bad. The keys stick and it feels cheap although considering it was free it's whatever. The mouse is pretty nice, has RGB fade lighting. I can currently run Black Desert Online at high settings without experiencing any sort of lag or stutter.
Feature Product
- System: Intel Core i5-9400f 8-Core Processor 2.90 GHz (4.10 GHz Max Turbo) | Intel Chipset B360
- Memory, storage, OS: 8GB DDR4-2666 RAM | 480GB SSD | Windows 10 Home 64-bit
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB Dedicated video Card | VR Ready | 1x DVI | 1x HDMI | 1x Display Port
- Special Add-Ons: iBUYPOWER signature Slate Tempered glass RGB Gaming Case | 802.11AC Wi-Fi included
- 16 color RGB Lighting Remote Controlled Case | Free iBUYPOWER Keyboard & RGB mouse | No bloatware
- Warranty: 1 Year Parts & Labor + Free Lifetime us tech support | Assembled in the U.S.A
- OS : Windows 10 Home
Description
iBUYPOWER Elite Series of gaming PC's feature the latest generation of high performance components. Featuring the 9th generation Intel Core i5-9400f, which boasts eight processors with speeds of 2.90 GHz (4.10 GHz max Turbo) and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6GB). With 8GB of DDR4-2666 RAM and a 480GB SSD, you will have more than enough memory and storage to power through high resolution games, streaming and content creation. Look no further than iBUYPOWER for the greatest gaming PC's available - built by gamers, for all gamers.
Computer runs quietly and efficiently. I typically play casual games like Left 4 Dead series or Dawn of War and it runs them at peak performance with no issues. Built in wifi capability is excellent and enabled me to set up my pc away from my router.
Haven't played on a gaming pc in a long time. So I looked and looked for one that could get me back into it. This ibuypower pc is awesome, runs smooth, it's quiet, fast, and can handle ARMA like a boss. Very impressed!
Upgraded CPU cooler, added 16 gigs of ram and three more fans. All in all, this computer was good when purchased and even better after the upgrades. The front of the case can handle a total of three fans. It looks awesome with three led fans installed. Still looking to upgrade the power supply. How ever, the existing power supply is working fine with the additional upgrades.
PROS: Photos do not do this case justice. Tempered glass on both sides give it an amazing look. . Wire management is on point. Lots of space to add additional items. The power supply is only 480w, it will be the first thing that gets upgraded. Depending on the gaming you will do, the ram and 3g dedicated memory on the card will be fine. Pubg , ARCH and team fortress 2 Run flawlessly on high settings. The keyboard that comes with the setup is quite loud and clunky. I added a different keyboard. The mouse you get is a keeper. All in all, would purchase again. Can’t beat the price. CPU cooling system kept it at 40c-45c at idle. I upgraded the cooling system today. Its now sits at 30c idle. 40-45c is not bad but if you are going to do gaming for an extended period of time, its def worth the upgrade.
CONS: The ram that comes with the rig is impossible to find anywhere else. If you want to upgrade the ram you will end up just buying all new ones. I am def against have two different types of ram.
Bench Mark info (Before any upgrades)
General Information
PerformanceTest
Version 9.0.1023
Baseline ID
968224
Operating System
Windows 10 build 16299 (64-bit)
Submission Date
29th of January, 2018
Benchmark Scores
Passmark Rating
3,709
CPU Mark
9,570
2D Graphics Mark
1,004
3D Graphics Mark
10,588
Memory Mark
2,278
Disk Mark
1,238
Hardware
CPU Type
Intel Core i7-7700 @ 3.60GHz
CPU Measured Speed
3.60 GHz [Turbo: 4.20 GHz]
Motherboard
B250M Pro4-IB
Memory
8GB , A-DATA Technology DDR4 2400 2OZ
Video Card Tested
GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
Hard Drive Tested
WDC WD10EZEX (1 TB)
A PC package like this is the reason why you can make an argument for pre-built over building a computer yourself. I did not look up the each part through Amazon, but googled them separately and chose the cheapest new part and it came out to be a little over $700. Buying the Slate2 080i at $699, you will actually save money without having to purchase each part separately and assemble the computer yourself.
A couple of cons before the pros. The case itself seems to be used. The tempered glass clearly has scratches and the CPU fan has little notches on the rim of the fan housing. The computer is running fantastically, but I will be keeping a close eye during the 30 day window for any issues in which case I will promptly return it.
The case is your typical iBuypower case that is somewhat versatile with decent airflow. If you were inclined to use a 360mm, 280mm, or 240mm radiator you can mount it in the front, otherwise you can mount a 120mm radiator on the top or back. The front LED casing looks cool but impedes the airflow from the front of the case tremendously. Remove it to increase airflow if you need.
The motherboard is an ASRock B360 and quite good considering this is a prebuilt computer. The BIOS has several things you can tweak and play with and I especially appreciated the ability to control the extra fans I added. The computer very quiet with the fan curves I created. Unfortunately the i5-9400f is a locked CPU so any overclocking features won't be needed here.
Speaking of the i5-9400f, it is an amazing Intel chip that rivals price to performance of AMD Ryzen CPUS. I suspect by removing the iGPU they were able to price it very competitively. The 9400f packs quite a punch in a small power package of 65 watts with a single core boost of 4.1ghz and all six core boost of 3.9ghz. At full load this CPU doesn't go past 60c with a cheap air cooler.
What sold me on this pc package was the SSD. The Intel 660p SSD is 1 TB! Although it loses handily to a Samsung 970, it also costs considerably less and because it is a M.2 SSD it blows your typical SATA SSD away. This is my girlfriends pc and we play side by side so we are able to make pretty direct comparisons. I use a Samsung 860 EVO with an 8700k at 5ghz. I suspect the clock speed is the reason why my load times are slightly faster. Needless to say, we are loading into our games in seconds.
I won't comment on the GPU because I had a spare OEM RTX 2080 and tossed it into this thing as well as an extra stick of 8gb 2666 ram. My girlfriend plays on 1080p 75hz and a 9400f paired with a RTX 2080 is overkill. It'll play anything on ultra no problem.
This package really is a great deal. You get 6 cores at good clock speeds that is simple to keep cool and a 1 TB M.2 SSD for quick and snappy Windows experience as well as blazing fast load times on your games.
5 Stars.
As a life long gamer of many genres, I can say that this computer, at this price point, is a beast. It’ll play pretty much any game on the market at recommended or better settings.
It is kind of future-proofed as well, though, I will say a few things that I knew getting into this that you may not know. These aren’t complaints. Think of them as just helpful advice:
It has no internal DVD drive, so you’ll need to use a shared one on your network, or get a USB one you can plug in.
It also doesn’t come with a monitor.
Another point worth mentioning is that it has four total memory banks and comes with (1) stick of 8GB ram installed. So you still have three more memory banks you can throw ram at.
It also has a spare PCIe slot availble, should you need it.
It runs great and I love it. Good price. Good hardware. Easy to upgrade.
P.S. It has built-in WiFi.
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