iBuypower Custom Gaming PC Review Power and Value
iBuypower Custom Gaming PC Review: Power and Value Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Best Products > Computer & Laptops
A tempered glass side panel provides you with an excellent view of the hardware inside and is held in place by a single thumbscrew on the back of the system. The mid-tower sized case features plenty of real estate for upgrades, including several mounts for SATA SSDs and HDDs in both the front and back. The size of the case also offers numerous options for cooling with 360mm radiator support along the top or front and space for a rear-mounted 140mm fan. There are very few screws holding everything in place, making disassembling everything relatively simple, and in my opinion, the fewer screws you have to keep track of, the better. While you might think by looking at the case, that the system might be starved for ventilation, the H710 features perforated edges that give the hardware ample airflow. A tempered glass side panel provides you with an excellent view of the hardware inside and is held in place by a single thumbscrew on the back of the system. There are plenty of pre-built options that allow you to swap out components based on your budget, but very few that allow for the level of customization you can get with a dealer like iBuyPower. While manufacturers like Dell and HP can certainly offer better budget options when it comes to gaming PCs, iBuyPower is the team to beat for anyone looking for a very specific build or access to top of the line parts. Alice Newcome-Beill / Lifewire
Cinebench R23 AMD 5900X Single:1553 Multi:18983 Intel i7-10700KF Single: 1309 Multi: 12678
Superposition (4K Ultra) Gigabyte RTX 3090 Score: 16096 Avg FPS: 120.39 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Score: 13947 Avg FPS: 103
Troy: A Total War Saga (4K Ultra) Battle: 57.98 Avg FPS Campaign: 60 Avg FPS Siege: 60 Avg FPS
Gears Tactics (4K Ultra) 59.9 Avg FPS
Borderlands 3 (4K Ultra) 59.93 Avg FPS Being able to quickly discern simple problems pay real dividends when purchasing these systems for anyone that doesn't necessarily have a technical aptitude for PCs.
iBuypower Custom Gaming PC Review
The experts at iBuypower have got your back for high-end gaming PCs
By Alice Newcome-Beill Alice Newcome-Beill Associate Commerce Editor Alice Newcome-Beill has been the associate commerce editor for Lifewire since December 2019. Her work has appeared on PCMag, PC Gamer, and GamesRadar. In her spare time, she enjoys building computers, emulating old software in DOSBox, and cycling. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 2, 2021 Tweet Share Email We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. 4.5iBuypower Custom Gaming PC
Alice Newcome-Beill / Lifewire What We Like Excellent value Solid build quality and attention to detail Powerful hardware for demanding games Very little bloatware out of the box Prompt and courteous customer service What We Don't Like Purchase and delivery took over three months Parts selection could be better Bottom Line If you're particular about the types of parts that get used in your gaming PC and don't mind waiting a while, iBuypower represents some of the best value for bespoke gaming PCs. View On Ibuypower.com 4.5iBuypower Custom Gaming PC
Alice Newcome-Beill / Lifewire View On Ibuypower.com in this article Expand Purchase and Setup Process Support Experience Design Performance Price iBuypower vs Dell Alienware Aurora R11 Final Verdict Specs We purchased the iBuypower Custom Gaming PC so our reviewer test it out to its full capabilities. Keep reading for our full product review. The scarcity of many new high-end PC components left me with few options to get my hands on new hardware, that is unless I went all out and bought a brand-new top-of-the-line gaming PC. The build I picked out from iBuypower spares virtually no expense, using bleeding-edge hardware that would turn most gamers green with envy. This includes an RTX 3090 GPU from Gigabyte and an AMD 5900X CPU. Some other bells and whistles include a liquid cooler from NZXT and Corsair RGB fans. The financial gap between building your own system and getting one built for you has reduced drastically in recent years, and while you can’t put a price tag on the sense of pride you get from building your own system, there are a number of advantages that come along with any pre-built system. Alice Newcome-Beill / LifewirePurchase and Setup Process The personal touch
Builders like iBuyPower can provide you with tech support when you need it, a warranty for replacement parts, access to hardware that might otherwise be unavailable, and having someone handle the more tedious aspects of building a system like cable management. All of these services really add up, especially for anyone that may be buying a system as a gift or doesn’t have the necessary skills to troubleshoot one themselves. While the delivery of my system was significantly delayed due to the general scarcity of the hardware, I was still given frequent status updates following the entire process from order placement to delivery. Any time I needed to contact an actual person, I was able to get in touch quickly, waiting no more than a few minutes to speak with a human being. iBuypower is a bit of a rarity among ISBs and other boutique PC builders. Plenty of builders can offer you PCs at different price points to fit nearly any budget, however, it's often disappointing to see a shortage of options when it comes to hardware. One of the main draws of building your own system is being able to pick and choose your own parts, but you’ll often find builders that either use entirely proprietary hardware, or have limited options. However, iBuypower, when compared with other ISBs has the most impressive selection of hardware I’ve seen, with a broad range of proprietary and name-brand hardware to choose from allowing you to mix and match to your heart’s content. The only category where I would have liked to see more of a selection was the chassis. There are plenty of standard options available, but if you're in the market for a desktop that breaks the mold from an aesthetics standpoint you may be a little disappointed. iBuypower, when compared with other ISBs has the most impressive selection of hardware I’ve seen, with a broad range of proprietary and name-brand hardware to choose from allowing you to mix and match to your heart’s content.Support Experience Patience is a virtue
While it would be easy to review the individual components in our system, I’m instead going to be focusing on the performance and aesthetics of the system as a whole as well as the overall service I received from iBuypower. While I was pleasantly surprised at the promptness and professionalism of their customer service, I took things a step further by calling them with a request for technical support. The system I received, arrived in pristine condition and without any issues, but I gave them a call to see how they would respond to a fairly common error. Alice Newcome-Beill / Lifewire Using the iBuypower Discord technical support channel, I mentioned that our display wouldn't turn on (the display cable was plugged into the wrong outlet). Thankfully, their support ran us through a quick troubleshoot of our problem and were able to resolve the issue quickly without the need to return our system. Being able to quickly discern simple problems pay real dividends when purchasing these systems for anyone that doesn't necessarily have a technical aptitude for PCs. While current circumstances and shortages of certain hardware are largely to blame for our system taking so long to arrive, bear in mind that even ordering a system with in-stock components may take as long as a month to reach you. Alice Newcome-Beill / LifewireDesign More bounce for the ounce
The matte black metallic case from NZXT is about as simple as they come, but what it lacks in aesthetics, it more than makes up for in usability. It features cable routing channels throughout the back panel, complete with Velcro straps and loops for tying down bundles of cables. The system builder put those to good use as there was very little in the way of loose cables when I opened the back panel.A tempered glass side panel provides you with an excellent view of the hardware inside and is held in place by a single thumbscrew on the back of the system. The mid-tower sized case features plenty of real estate for upgrades, including several mounts for SATA SSDs and HDDs in both the front and back. The size of the case also offers numerous options for cooling with 360mm radiator support along the top or front and space for a rear-mounted 140mm fan. There are very few screws holding everything in place, making disassembling everything relatively simple, and in my opinion, the fewer screws you have to keep track of, the better. While you might think by looking at the case, that the system might be starved for ventilation, the H710 features perforated edges that give the hardware ample airflow. A tempered glass side panel provides you with an excellent view of the hardware inside and is held in place by a single thumbscrew on the back of the system. There are plenty of pre-built options that allow you to swap out components based on your budget, but very few that allow for the level of customization you can get with a dealer like iBuyPower. While manufacturers like Dell and HP can certainly offer better budget options when it comes to gaming PCs, iBuyPower is the team to beat for anyone looking for a very specific build or access to top of the line parts. Alice Newcome-Beill / Lifewire
Performance UFOs and Big Rigs
I used a variety of both organic and synthetic benchmarks to stress test the system to see how it would hold up. I was pleased to find it blew away benchmarks for competing systems and was able to handle the most demanding games I threw at it. Synthetic benchmarks included UniEngine Superposition and Cinebench R23, which are both free tools that anyone can access to stress their systems GPU and CPU respectively. I’ve also included benchmarks from other systems I’ve recommended showing how it stacks up against the parts used in a competing Alienware rig.Cinebench R23 AMD 5900X Single:1553 Multi:18983 Intel i7-10700KF Single: 1309 Multi: 12678
Superposition (4K Ultra) Gigabyte RTX 3090 Score: 16096 Avg FPS: 120.39 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Score: 13947 Avg FPS: 103
Troy: A Total War Saga (4K Ultra) Battle: 57.98 Avg FPS Campaign: 60 Avg FPS Siege: 60 Avg FPS
Gears Tactics (4K Ultra) 59.9 Avg FPS
Borderlands 3 (4K Ultra) 59.93 Avg FPS Being able to quickly discern simple problems pay real dividends when purchasing these systems for anyone that doesn't necessarily have a technical aptitude for PCs.