Kat
- Comment
Had you asked me a couple of years ago about buying prebuilt, I would never have even considered it. The cost was significantly higher than simply buying your own parts and building it yourself. But once I saw the specs of this machine, I couldnt believe how well priced it was. I went ahead and added to the best of my ability the same build onto pcpartpicker (case, keyboard and mouse are unique to iBuyPower, but theres decent substitutes for them, e.g. NZXT S340) and as of today, its identical in price, if not in fact cheaper to buy this desktop. I have no idea how these guys turn a profit. In any case, I finally caved. I had to have this, and Im absolutely thrilled with what I got. Here is exactly what is included from what I was able to view from a quick glance over: OS: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit CPU: Intel Core I7-7700k 4.2GHz Quad Processor CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 R Motherboard: AsRock B250M Pro4-IB Micro-ATX LG1151 RAM: ADATA XPG Z1 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400MHz GPU: Asus - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Series Video Card Storage: Western Digital - Green 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Wi-Fi Adapter: AC600 WLAN USB (Unsure of exact brand) Case: iBuyPower Slate Gaming Tower (2x Side Glass Panel) Mouse: iBuyPower GMS5001 Gaming Mouse Keyboard: iBuyPower Ares E1 Membrane Gaming Keyboard Power supply is the one thing I havent attempted to verify as its concealed quite well by the case covering and wires, but I can assume based on the power consumption of the build and other reviews that its some generic brand PSU, anywhere between 350W-600W. Ill update if I ever decide to take a peek. The case is really solid. Black with red LED lights on the fans and front panel of the case. Has 2 dark tinted glass panels that are easily removed by hand for easy access to hardware. RGB case lighting with up to 16 colors that can be controlled via remote can illuminate the motherboard, giving you a great view of your PC in action, or just additional eye candy. Can be turned off if not your thing. On startup, SSD booted immediately to Windows 10. No issues experienced in comparison to other reviews. No bloatware of any kind aside from the usual Windows games and apps, so thats very much appreciated. The few games I installed on the SSD as opposed to the HDD load incredibly fast. Multi-tasking is seamless with no hiccups. Can easily alt-tab in and out of games and browse the web/youtube without much slow down, if any. Game performance is fantastic at 1080p. With some tweaking, RIse of the Tomb Raider, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, GTA V, and Witcher 3 all run flawlessly at 60 fps, all settings either Ultra or High. Any game you throw at this should run amazingly well and look good doing it. (Unless its poorly optimized like Ark: Survival Evolved) I do not own a 4K or 1440p monitor, so I cant speak for performance at those resolutions. Air flow is great due to nice open space. (Great cable management does wonders.) Fans are pretty quiet and never get too loud. CPU and GPU temps are pretty good for being air cooled. CPU idles at 37°C and typically stays around 45°C-60°C during play. GPU idles at 42°C and goes up to 65°C-70°C during intensive play. Overall, this is the PC I always wanted, but there are some issues if youre ever looking to upgrade or make tweaks. Without liquid cooling, youre limited with how much you can overclock your CPU while maintaining decent temps (I personally wouldnt touch it. Stock speed is more than adequate). As for any hardware changes or additions, the motherboard is an upgrade bottleneck. Theres no room left on the motherboard to add a 2nd GPU from what I can tell, so dont even think about SLI with this out of the box. The motherboard also only supports memory up to 2400 MHz, so youd have to switch it out if you ever plan on upgrading and overclocking your RAM. One last personal gripe I have is that theres no front bays of any kind to allow for CD or Bluray drives, so I wont be able to add one like I initially planned. So heres a TL;DR list: Pros: - Quiet - Clean and open space, which means good air flow - Fast boot and load times with SSD - Plays all games on Ultra/High settings, 60 fps at 1080p - Amazing price/performance ratio for a prebuilt gaming PC Cons: - Limited overclock potential without liquid cooling - No room for multi-GPU upgrade - Motherboard memory capped at 2400MHz, so no RAM overclocking - Motherboard is an upgrade bottleneck, so it must be replaced if you intend to address the previous 2 cons - No front bays for an additional CD/Bluray drive (Since I havent verified, I cant claim whether or not youll need a new PSU if planning on GPU upgrades) All in all, this is probably the best prebuilt you can buy that doesnt skimp on power, with a perfect price/performance ratio. Every other gaming PC Ive seen sacrifices either the CPU or the GPU to accommodate the other (Get an I7 but with a 1060, or get a 1080 but with an I5) Unless we see some huge changes in game development soon, this PC should last a long time playing games at 1080p before it needs an upgrade.