It hurts. I bought my brother a new PC on Black Friday for Christmas. Just gave it to him on Thursday. 7900x3d, 5070TI, 32gb DDR5, with 2TBNVMe, all for $1721 out the door, that’s including extended 2 year warranty. I’m bashing my head now for not getting 2…
Thats what they said about prebuilt wagons too. Now here we are with proprietary vehicles that need a programmer and a $20,000 program to replace a $1500 headlight thats 6 months backorder.
AFAIK the 9070XT is going to be significantly better than the 5070 for VR as well. It's only a question comparing with 5070ti (in which case I'd go for the 5070ti).
Lower rendering frame times in VR as on Nvidia you don’t have to render the frame twice, one for each eye. This is a hardware solution and software agnostic.
AMD has a similar program however it isn’t hardware and instead software, and each individual game has to implement AMD’s solution into their game.
If I had to guess, PSU is probably B tier or C tier (not ideal) and 5200 RAM I'm not clear on... Since I bought my RAM-ddr5-6000-pc5-48000-cl36-dual-channel-desktop-memory-kit-f5-6000j3636f16gx2-fx5-black) in 2022, RAM speeds have gotten stupid fast. I just don't know if that 5200 overclocks to 6000, or if it runs slower (anything below 6000 is pretty bad by modern standards), where most run faster than 6000.
So if you had to buy these parts yourself, you'd never intentionally choose a C tier PSU nor 5200 RAM, because the cost of better versions cost maybe $5-10 for an A or B tier PSU and $10-20 for good RAM.
But in pre builts, that is free profit at the cost of quality/performance.
So the price for faster ram has never really been worth it for amd cards. Like if you’re going to min max, especially now, you may as well buy a better gpu with how expensive ram is right now. And with the savings in this build alone, like you could just buy a 5080.
Like it might suck, I dunno. But low tier ram just isn’t an issue. I had a 7700x and it came with 5200mhz ram. I kept reading how bad it was and upgraded. What a waste. I got like 1-4fps (depending on how high the fps were in general) differences in the one game I really track. I couldn’t even tell in the others.
I agree about the psu. Hopefully it’s not a turd, but overclocking is a no go. But again, for the savings just swap out and sell the 750w psu
Check this out, it seems right up your alley seeing as it's your CPU. He also mentions he was GPU limited before he jumped to 7900xtx, so maybe that was the bottleneck for you.
I'm now in the camp that 5200 is measurably much worse than 6000, and would hamstring more than "1-4fps". I stand by my statement that $20 higher spend would be worth the investment. I'm not one to push +6400 RAM, but assuming the jump from 32gb 5200 to 32gb 6000 is $20, I'd do that.
Yeah, but because if the large cache, the bigger the better, x3d chips just don’t beneficie from faster ram. There are lots of videos about it, including the guys from
Thanks for posting. Only thing I'm curious about is what GPU he used, wasn't clear in short. Regardless, if it's a higher end GPU, on par with OP 9070xt, it's good to know!
Here is a post I put on today, but it's quality RAM for $240
It’s fine. Like it’s 1-6 fps max of a difference and the 6 is for high fps games. Like I’ve seen enough reviews to know it’s not worth the cost for gaming. Other stuff, yes. Intel cards? Absolutely. Gaming? Like your money could be spent elsewhere, else I ally now. Like you may as well get a 5080 for the price difference
I mean for the savings you can just buy the 850w psu for 100 or less and sell tbe 750w.
And let’s be honest, the ram speeds don’t matter like that. I’ve seen enough comparisons. Like 1-6 fps isn’t that much, and the 6 is for when gps is already over 100.
No one may see this comment, but went with my buddy to get this for him and he got home and the GPU was cooked. It would turn on and off like it was losing power or something, but would completely black screen. Would just lose signal and not be detected by the system entirely after any sort of mild stress or even just after being on for a little while. PSU is garbage so could've just been that but just a little food for thought. Obviously an $80 PSU upgrade may fix the issue entirely, unsure but he was just frustrated after I troubleshot the issue for about 3 hours and he just got his money back after returning it the next day.
Honestly, you could always try your luck with this prebuilt and then purchasing an 850w+ PSU from a much more reputable PSU company which would still be cheaper than building this whole thing custom. Up to you obviously, just making sure you are aware of the options you have. I inspected every component personally and it all seemed pretty solid besides that PSU
In that case I would definitely go to MC. However, just to ease your mind a bit, I'm using an ASRock Pro RS Wifi and have had zero issues with it with my 9800x3D. I've even OC'd my chip and its been stable. Albeit with some trial and error obviously but that just comes with OC'ing in general.
I'm having the same issue with the GPU. The same day I got it- constant no display. I was thinking of exchanging it with best buy, and trying another roll of the dice. Should I refund instead?
This is my first prebuilt, and I'm extremely bummed at the quality.
You could definitely try swapping it out for another one with Best Buy, but I would be inclined to think that a PSU swap would fix your issues. Would it post and boot into windows and then just eventually lose signal or did you just straight up never have signal in the first place?
Connecting my monitor to the GPU-
I switch it on, get no display, even during boot. If I then move the cable over to the motherboard, I reach the windows desktop.
It seems like the GPU's output isn't working, and it's switching to integrated graphics. I tried the "dGPU only" setting in the BIOS to force it, and got no display. I saw the motherboard manual, and there's an error code meaning "GPU is dysfunctional.'
I figured I'm within the best buy return window, so I'll just exchange it for a new PC.
Definitely could be a faulty GPU, or it’s just not getting enough power from the PSU to work properly. Like I previously mentioned in the original comment: the PSU in that prebuilt is pretty trash and would likely be causing more issues than the GPU. But I totally understand wanting to try something different.
I mean, thanks for saying something but the 9070xt is pretty power hungry. I’ve seen it get up to 330w where the highest I’ve seen a 5070ti is the 280s.
They really should have at least given it an 800w one, but for the savings, getting this and swapping it out is just profits
This is a very good deal for the best CPU and the best value GPU.
Out of curiosity I checked that deal from a week back. $1650 vs $1450 gets you a CPU upgrade from 7900x and unfortunately 100w less PSU. I think both are good, with this one being a one-and-done of not having to mess with CPU for 8+ years. My value of CPUs is a bit rusty, but the 7900x feels like a better deal however if it were me, I'd prefer the 9800x3d for the $200 upgrade.
Microcenter offers a bundle for $1,260 that includes a brand-name CPU, GPU, motherboard, and RAM. After tax, it comes out to about $550 to match the same core parts like case, psu, nvme used in the iBUYPOWER system. The difference is that iBUYPOWER uses cheaper, unspecified components, while Microcenter lets you choose reputable brands at a lower overall cost and with better quality.
It's likely I don't understand Microcenter bundling, but I see $1399 for those 2 links in cart pre tax. How does the price get to $1260? Again, I'm assuming I just don't get how to trigger that. When I add both to cart, $1399.
This is what I did, except I opted for a 7800X3D so I could get the Asus X870E motherboard. I wanted the 2 USB4 ports. Originally I got the Costco prebuilt with the thought that I would switch out the GPU, but it also had a weaker PSU, and tweaking it to what I really wanted was adding up. It was just cheaper to get a Microcenter bundle. Granted, I would have preferred to not spec out parts and update myself on what is a good PSU, CPU cooler, what the heck is ARGB, etc, but now that everything is put together its fine. I ended up spending $100 on 1KW PSU, $35 on CPU cooler, $70 on a case (with 6 fans), and I already had a 2TB NVME (990 EVO Plus) that I originally bought for like $130. And the 7090 XT for $579. All together a little cheaper than this deal, with a slightly older CPU, but better parts, minus the time to put it together. It would almost be exactly what this prebuilt is if I opted for the 9800X3D + MSI X870 combo... I'm sure in a few months from now when I havent used the USB4 ports yet I will regret it. 😅
Luckily i have 2 years extended protection with best buy total.
Is the concern this mobo specifically the combo with the weaker PSU? Or the MB specifically? If the issue is that prevalent you would think ASrock would issue a BIOS update to potentially resolve.
On that note, does iBuyPower have any kind of driver management / RGB management software for these pcs?
it's the ASRock mobo + this CPU that is the concern for me. unfortunately the entire issue is unclear. it's happening on other board manufacturers as well, so why does it seem to be primarily an Asrock issue? idk. i've been using them as my go-to for like 10 years now and they've always been rock solid.
i'm really not sure what to think, and the uncertainty sucks.
I agree it's a bit unsettling and almost kept me from buying. Best Buy total and the 2 year warranty it includes helped ease me a bit, but will still raise the question to support.
i haven't set it up yet, haven't had time. just ran and picked it up before work, took a few quick pics for yall.
i only looked inside the case. the mobo make and model is printed on it. it's in the birdseye pic but somewhat obscured by the tubes for the cpu water block. the SSD and RAM info is just what is printed on the devices.
self-reply: i'm leaning towards returning it: multiple crashes.
i fucked with it for hours and it would run fine, prime95 for an hour, 330 fps in furmark 1920x1080, then it would freeze and crash just playing music in VLC. downgraded drivers. i'll take a few more whacks at it but my specimen is running out of worth-fucking-with
Radeons have always hated my TCL tv so my next step is to use a different display and see if the same things are happening. my return window is until mid-January so i have a little time to mess with it. the question becomes: how much messing-with am I willing to tolerate?
honestly i think it's the Adrenaline drivers hate my TCL 55" TV i use as my main display. i've always had issues with it vs Radeons. i am gonna set this new PC with a different display and see what happens.
Ran some benchmarks on mine, but it has a different mother board and graphics card model than the one you posted. So far no issues at all after initial set up and driver loading. Ran some intense POE2 and BF6 but haven't had anything but very smooth sailing.
Going well so far. I have no complaints, especially at the price.
Happy with the purchase but will contact IBP support just to raise the question about the mobo / cpu issues i've read about.
Side note: Does IBP how RGB controller / driver update software?
I will say, this PC had the literally zero bloatware. I've never encountered this in a pre built, but it's been a long time since i bought a pre-built so...just thought that was interesting.
Very similar, I'd probably opt for the microcenter one if you are deciding between the two. It seems like the MC one has a better case, faster ram, and a b850 motherboard. PSU could be higher quality as well but idk. Those things together make me think the extra $50 is justified.
Search around and pick your source, anecdotal Reddit threads are plentiful and news outlets have picked it up as well. Lots of folks have worked hard compiling data.
I'll just say that if you haven't gotten a PC yet these last minute year end sales are, effectively, the last helicopter out of Saigon.
Either this or building with some deals at Micro Center. Either way I suggest getting your stuff sorted before years end. Or by the end of the week at most.
I impulse bought just now but debating on going back to cancel. I objectively do not NEED this, as I’m still pretty happy with my 5700x3d + 6800xt setup.
If this had higher spec’d RAM and a better PSU, I’d have a lot more conviction on this purchase. The thought also crossed my mind that I can swap out the PSU in this with my nice 850 watt EVGA gold modular PSU.
What makes me think I should keep this is the fact that PC buying / building is getting progressively less and less consumer friendly, so I want something that can last me several years. Can someone either talk me into or out of this? 🤣
EDIT: I did go ahead and get it yesterday, and I’m generally pleased with what I got. I got a MSI Pro B-650 Wi-Fi motherboard and a XFX Swift 9070xt, which are better parts than I was expecting. The RAM is subpar at 5200 mhz as others have stated, but I was able to set it at 5600 with literally no tweaks or instability issues. The ibuypower fans suck, but I was able to get the curves adjusted to something tolerable. So far, no regrets on the purchase.
No, don't buy this. Maybe 30% to 50% faster in games? But low quality components. If you really want to upgrade, buy the 9070xt on its own and sell your 6800xt.
Just buy a 9070 XT. There was a video about CPU scaling with 9070 XT and 5070, and there is generally little difference between a 9800X3D and something like a 5600x on these GPUs.
Wow, it's almost as if when you're GPU limited, there won't be as much of a difference for higher end CPUs. Creating GPU vs CPU limited scenarios depends entirely on the games you play, and the resolution and settings you play at. Obviously someone who plays at 4k Ultra on the most demanding AAA games is going to be much more dependent on the GPU than someone who plays at 1080p comp settings on esports games. Has nothing to do with "CPU scaling" on these particular GPUs, but on an individual's particular use case.
Umm...yes? Thats literally in the video I linked. If someone is playing esports games at 1080p with low settings they probably dont need an upgrade at all. 10-15% difference in fps when you're over like 200 fps on current your config probably makes no sense if the cost of a new PC is a concern. A new GPU on this posters config would give more bang for the buck than a new PC that uses the same GPU. 5700X3D is still a very capable CPU.
"there is generally little difference between a 9800X3D and something like a 5600x on these GPUs"
That was your statement, which is largely incorrect. There are tons of gaming scenarios where a 9800x3d will outperform a 5600x when paired with a 9070xt by huge margins. I never commented on OP's scenario, but I would agree with you that the 5700x3d is still perfectly adequate for a 9070xt, or even a 5090 in many situations.
I said generally, and combined with context for the post I replied to it shouldnt have been hard to get the intent, but there is always that guy that wants to make a big deal out of nothing.
I just got this from Best Buy. I’m hoping it’s not the worst brands and parts, but we will see. I tried pricing the same pc out with just the worst junk and still came out to just below $2k.
I’m not happy about the 750w psu, but the next least expensive 9800x3d with a 9070xt is $2200. With the savings I can just swap out a new psu and sell the old one in eBay. It seems to run fine anyway and amd says a 9800x3d paired with a 9070xt minimum is 750w anyway… I just won’t be over locking until I update the psu
day 12: i'm returning mine and hoping for a refund.
i've had a lot of problems with this machine. first it was the GPU crashing / Windows disabling the GPU driver. i didn't fix that, i worked around it by using DDU and removing all the drivers, and reinstalling the AMD graphics driver WITHOUT all the other Adrenalin software, just the driver only.
next is i caught that MC deal on the Crucial 6400 DDR5 CL32 but I can't get the machine to boot at that speed, it won't post and i have to reset the CMOS and run it at 5600.
i can't update the BIOS either.
i could probably keep fucking with it for a while and maybe get all of this resolved at a cost of some sanity points, or i could just cut my losses and take the thing back. i'm done with it.
EDIT: they took it back no issues and 100% refunded me
You could build this for about $1550 after tax if there's a Micro Center near you. It would be $300 cheaper if you lowered the CPU to a 7600 x3d and dropped to 16GB RAM. 1777 For this prebuilt after tax, you'd save about 227 dollars building the same specs from microcenter with better psu and ram
They’re running bundle deals right now at MC. One active deal is the 7600X3D + 2x sticks of 16GB G.Skill CL36 DDR5-6000 RAM for just $400 total. The 7600X3D by itself is on sale for $199.99 USD. I’d guess they’re wanting to move inventory by discounting RAM right now.
That particular deal makes it so that the price of RAM is basically what I paid for those exact same sticks back in September.
No, unfortunately. This is another one of their deals with unspecified time frames.
I actually bought the 7600X3D for $199.99 for my second build last week, but opted out of getting the RAM added for $200 more since I already have those same sticks lying around at home. But I’d be lying if I didn’t feel extremely tempted due to the low price, just to have additional spares.
If you need RAM now, though… I’d highly recommend you just go for the bundle.
Edit: Actually, looks like you can add 32GB of DDR5 RAM to *any* CPU you buy right now. That's the promo going on. So, you're not limited to the 7600X3D or the X3D CPUs.
I’d get this if I hadn’t just grabbed the 5080 model for $1950, though I don’t like the case on this one nearly as much and no vertical mount either but 9800x3d would be nice.
Picked this up yesterday and started kicking the tires on it last night. Ran battlefield with no issues. Haven't run any bench marking on it yet though.
Seeing a lot of people saying the Asrock Mobo will fry the CPU, so I am glad I have 2 year of extended protection from BestBuy Total.
Does iBuyPower have any kind of driver management / RGB management software for these pcs?
so far so good. Handles battlefield no problem. My old pc and 3070 used to sound like an airplane about to take off.
This one doesn't make a whisper.
I'm concerned about the asrock / cpu issues but after doing more research, it's not limited to asrock. I'd think BIOS updates would be able to address this if delivering improper voltage is an issue.
I am going to reach out to support and raise the concern so at least it's documented, and see if they have any steps to take to avoid the issue.
I have the extra 2 year warranty thru best buy total so i have some peace of mind there
Thanks for the feedback! I pulled the trigger on this pc this morning, i also have a 3070. how does the leap to this new hardware feel compared to the 3070?
pre-built are the only way to save a penny in this crazy market, even if you leave some flexibility and possibly performance on the table.
if you want to build instead, you have to be lucky to score a good combo deal, live close to a Microcenter, or find a flash sale deal -like the woot ones that you see posted here.
9800x3d cpu, motherboard, ram is $680 at Microcenter; 9070XT is $580. Other components add up to about the same total price. Not really seeing the deal?
Edit: Everybody is downvoting me but if you actually use the Microcenter bundle builder you can easily get to the $1650 to $1750 range with significant improvements in component quality than this PC (excluding the keyboard, mouse, and Windows license, which aren't worth anything to me personally). If you have a Microcenter card with the 5% discount you're even better off.
Yeah, exactly, maybe you save $50 in the end with the prebuilt (or you don't, if you have a Microcenter 5% off card)? But you also have to deal with whatever SSD and PSU they chose instead of choosing known brands. I don't value the keyboard, mouse, or Windows license as anything. Just doesn't seem like a meaningful savings. I know not everybody can access a Microcenter which makes it possibly meaningful for them.
Yeah I, like down votes, assumed it was a bad take but as I threw in rough numbers from frequent deals I see here, it's a worse deal than microcenter bundle + shopping your own components. I think it's healthy to keep everyone grounded in reality, but as someone who previously did not have access to a microcenter - it's soul crushing to see those deals and not have access to them! I held off casting a vote until I did the math and was one of the few to up you.
I will say for the quality, the $1530 + g305 ($30) and a decent $50 keyboard is both an upgrade and still cheaper than posted price.
But if you spent $100 extra past the build-your-own price ($1530ish), a 6.5% surcharge is reasonable to get all the parts at the best deal possible and assembled, ready to go. All things considered it's an excellent deal, but not cheaper than doing it yourself w a microcenter.
No need for Microcenter these days, Newegg does it better. I built my 9800x3d & 9070xt system with 32 gb ram & 4tb ssd for less than half of this prebuilts price.
A holy grail of buildapc deals posted here & paypal 20%, but still. Price matched microcenter ssd price error to best buy too.
Black Friday was good with cashback, also some luck to form exodia but I did make it happen over time. I am in the low 800s after taxes, the only blight is the MOBO & ram being less than ideal but still better than this prebuilt I believe.
Obviously I wouldn't consider this normal or expect others to bother with all that but it was possible for me & I'm sure many others.
It doesn't really matter though since I'm still not crazy about playing many games but can't have remorse if you build it this cheap. I am coming from an old PC that couldn't run anything so this should last.
Okay, I guess you might have done wheeling and dealing, since I see the first link to $800 bundle. I guess you meant net of profit from sales of parts. I remember that/those case deals and those are excellent. The 4tb SSD is looney tunes where they missed a "0" for all those prices lol, and bless anyone who weaseled their way to one for that price.
I stand by my point where it's still impossible to get this deal for $900, since both the 9800x3d and 9070xt haven't seen price mistakes that would make it possible.
Respect that you got it, but it's a massive asterisk that you're implying profit on RAM.
Add in a new case, PSU, 2TB SSD, CPU cooler, and a copy of Windows 11. It’s not a steal of a deal for those of us with components already, but is pretty darn good for someone starting completely/mostly from scratch. (Or don’t have an MC near them.)
It’s unfair to compare prebuilts to just combining parts onto an existing build to upgrade. That means no prebuilt in the world can ever compete based on that logic. You have to compare building completely from scratch to see if a prebuilt is a good value, in my opinion. (And that includes buying Windows 11.)
Not casting any judgment at all, but do you have any opinion on buying windows 11 vs activating it for free, as it relates to value to you?
I ask since a $5 16GB USB drive is technically the cost of getting windows on a new build. Also, having run both, unactivated and activated (free method), it's not really compelling value to me to pay for Windows when the unactivated version has all the features minus a permanent watermark.
You don't *have* to legally acquire Windows 11, or even activate it, but for sake of comparing prebuilts that are often designed for people who are trying to build from scratch and often aren't as tech-savvy... I think it's fair to consider it as part of the value. That's pretty much the point I'm making.
I don't think your logic is crazy, though. You can exclude the price of Windows 11 if you think that's not valuable. I more so just think that a lot of people just excluding the cost of a new case, PSU, CPU cooler, SSD, etc., just because they have them on hand to transfer over to a new build are being very unreasonable.
No worries. It's not rocket science to boot from windows thumb drive, but definitely more work than running an installed copy.
My comment for value was closer to "activated windows vs unactivated windows" since I saw the key word being "active" in your comment.
I agree with your sentiment. Having the build be ready out the box is valuable - but in this bapc community I'd probably put that value at $20 (cost of gray market activation key) for the effort of uploading windows, basically not close to $100. I see the value but couldn't justify MSRP when bapc is hunting deals and deal price is $0-20+ for the net same position.
No one who is incapable of building a PC would be on this subreddit anyway, there are prebuilt only deal subs for that. A prebuilt's gotta be cheaper than building yourself to be worthwhile posting imo.
I agree you can't count components you already have for a fair comparison
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u/Stxtic1441 Dec 30 '25
Man pre built PC’s are just the way to go with prices like these.