Don't go with I Buy Power. Those guys are assholes and they don't honor their warrentes.

A real hardcore PC gamer would probably build it.

I always just buy a Dell. I'm Goddamn lazy.

Best place I've found is magicmicro.com They are a small company based out of Cleveland, Ohio. They let you custom build including case (and they have cases that look like they came from Alienware) and they let you customize every aspect of your computers internals, from a to z. Their range of companies for parts may be restricted a bit (Pentium and AMD for processors, NVidia and ATi for Graphix,) but they let you build from the ground up, and you can even get it sans the os if you already have a copy to save money. They offer massive warranties and I know from experiance that they honor them. My friend who ordered one from there the day after I ordered mine had a power unit (also customizable) that blew out and they replaced it for free. These guys are awesome.

I'm with JonC, if you're hardcore you build your own.

WidowPC

Apple

I think Dell does just fine. I bought a E1505 "built" for gaming and it works damn fine. My brother got himself an XPS and the damn thing is very nice, expect they tend to get alittle expensive.

I would reccomend Dell, because most of their normal laptops can be configued to play games very well. The XPS line is nice, but only if you've got cash to burn.

I've always built, and will always continue to build my own PCs and think any serious PC gamer should do the same. It's smart for the wallet and gives you something to do on the weekends when your girlfriend's disgracing the 42" HDTV by sleeping in the bedroom. I mean WHAT. THE. FUCK. The bedroom's for gaming and nookie, not SLEEPING.

Besides, everybody, no matter how "underground" they are, are in it for the dollars. the euros. los yen. dos pounds. You pay a premium for over the counter hardware with a brand name on it. You think your Sony brand TV had inflated prices? Typical Alienware and the like rigs are sometimes double what the hardware costs.. for what.. laser cut chassis'? Fan-fucking-tastic, can't find anybody local to do that for me! /sarcasm

I work for an outfit in Canada building PCs for universities, corporate clients and occasionally the gamer (not our core market) -- and we've had Core Duo, Pentium D and the new Xeons before anybody else in the country, and you'd think we'd maximise our opportunity being an Intel Premier Provider has given us on the gaming market, but it's really.. just not on my bosses radar. I speak endlessly about the opportunity for online gamer sales to the brick wall that is management, only to have my ideas pushed aside.

Hopefully these corporate grabbings will help the cause, but realistically, as a tech, i don't fantasize about working for HP or DELL, i take pride in being a thorn in their side..

So.. the new hot PC maker is your local Intel Premier Provider. Go. Buy. Be satisfied.

I use a local computer builder that I am good friends with. They have a website at Custom-computers.com. They can do pretty much anything you could want. Check em out

Definately Widow PC. Anyplace that allows you to make a PC for $25,000 is A-OK in my book.

Build it, or get someone you know to build it for you. Also, don't go for "flashy" cases, those are usually the noisy ones, a mistake I've made.

If I want a PC desktop I usually use Shuttle and just pop in the parts.

If I want a laptop I just buy a Macbook Pro.

A refurb dell XPS is a godsend.

Velocity Micro for sure, you can get them from the best buy website.

One company that stands out to me can be summed up in one word:
CyberPowerPC.com

Whether you feel as though that is 3 or 4 words or 1, it doesn't matter, I think you'll find that CyberPowerPC.com build great gaming rigs.

I used to be a hardcore PC builder. And lemme tell ya, it's all fine when you're in college or highschool, but in the real world I use my PC for work too, and I just don't have the time to tweak, overclock, change timings and stuff, and I can't afford the downtime that comes from over-stupid-tweakage (I habitually destroyed components). So this year I finally bit the bullet and had a system pre-built for me. It was really painful, an admission of failure as a geek, but I got over it.

I picked up a Hornet from MonarchPC.com, and have been verily pleased. Excellent build quality, excellent customer service, excellent selection of components, and all the rest.

Seriously, at some point your wife/girlfriend/roommates are going to start complaining about the constant dremelling and swearing, and at that point, you will use your hard earned bux to suck it up and just buy a nice PC.

Maingear
ABS (part of newegg)
Puget Computers
Overdrive PC
All American Computers
The list goes on and on...

But computer enthusiast is something you cant just through your credit card at, it has to be earned.

for europeans.. www.komplett.co.uk (or whatever your equivalent .net address is) is the place to look at. You have to build your pc, but if you buy the bundles (ie processor with motherboard and stuff) the rest is just plug in and connect a few wires.. like graphics, memory, hard drive etc..
pretty good value too..cheaper than dell on similar systems

Yeah, I agree with what Kite just said. Velocity Micro has cable management that would remind you of Alienware, but very respectable prices, good customer support, and to put icing on the cake, you can configure (yes, configure, not just buy one) from a Bestbuy store near you. The ability to take it back to a brick and mortar in the case of catastrophy was the biggest reason I chose them. Alienware used to be my choice, but Dell blew the goat on a recent Monitor Exchange/Return/Exchange/Refund which took MONTHS to get my refund (after the monitor made it back to them >< horrible customer service) I payed about 2,200 for a Core 2 duo 6700, A 7900GT, 2gb of Corsair DDR2, a 250gb HDD, Windows XP Pro, etc etc. WAY more than I got in the last gen with Alienware (I think I payed 3,000 or so for a 6800 Ultra with water cooling, a 3ghz Xeon etc. I was really paying for the case). Speaking of the case, Velocity Micro comes standard with a very well built Aluminum case, though to save money you could opt for a regular plain ol'beige monstrosity. Definatly give them a look

Velocity Micro is amazing. Good prices, good cable management (Ala Alienware), sold through Bestbuy or from their site (Either way, you can configure the components yourself. Want an Asus motherboard with Overclocking not borked like in HP/Dell etc pre-builts? You've got it). For 2 grand I got a Core 2 Duo 6700, a 7900GT vid card, 2gb's of Corsair DDR2 memory, a 250gb SATA, Windows XP pro, etc. The case is Aluminum by default, and it's very well built with a clear lexan (I guess) panel on the side so you can see into the computer. Not Alienware pretty, but half the price (Payed like 4 grand for an Alienware comp with a 6800 Ultra and a 3ghz xeon when the 6800 Ultra was still king. And this new comp beats that comp to death.) Definatly worth the purchase, and even for an entry level computer, you'll get more value out of Velocity Micro than you would from Dell/HP.

Completely caught up in image, Crescente. Why can't you just purchase a computer based upon logical conclusion instead of being so scared to become a patron of one of the Big Two? Are you afraid that they'll revoke your gamer card?

With the way the quality of the big companies tends to fluctuate and how often these "high-end" companies are getting bought out now, I've got to agree that the best bet for the hardcore pc gamer is probably just to build their own machines.

Besides, building your own machine is fun.

I bought a PC from Cyber Power about 14 months ago and have been really happy with it. Amazing prices and a huge number of customization options. I had actually ordered a Geforce 6800 and they were out, so they gave me a 7800 at no additional cost!

Build it yourself. You save a pile of money and you get a better PC. Newegg has been the only name in PCs for years.

IBM/Lenovo ThinkCentre.

I am my own best PC builder. And I'm in the "real world" no less! What amounts to a single night of work is a PC cheaper than the rest and a lot more debuggable as well (since you'll actually know all the parts inside).

Plus if you can build the whole thing inside a metal suitcase you're good for transporting it.

Apple.

Heavy lay of Dell and HP Brian. I see the two largest consumer (and business) computer manufacturers taking an interest in the PC gaming market as a sign of possible growth. Remember higher gaming PC sales means more gamers. PC gaming is a market that is seemingly slowly turning into a niche.

This is nothing to do with the fact that I just started a tech support job with Dell today. I'm working in the business sector but they are opening a gaming division for XPS and Alienware systems. They are putting out feelers for those with knowledge of gaming systems and technology. Basically people who understand gamers.

Shuttle for me. I got one prebuilt, and I liked it so much, I'm building them for everyone I know.
Great computers, fast, small, quiet.
I recommend them to everyone.

"Apple."

Yeah, where in the world of "waits three years to port over 5-10% of the available PC games, not necessarily based on either popularity or quality" do you guys come up with them as catering to the hardcore gamer market? That's like saying Yugo caters to the rally racing types.

I bought a computer. It works good. In fact, I'm using it now. That's all I need.

Packard Bell

@purple dave

Boot camp.

I bought my current computer from an outfit named Digital Storm at a recommendation; I've been very happy with it. Good gaming computers without Alienware's "but we're elite and ALIENWARE!" markup.

It's a matter of trust, and I don't trust any system builder more than myself.

Not that I'm perfect, but I'd much rather be irate at my own mistakes than sit on the phone with support for hours trying to convince a company that they made a mistake and need to fix it.

Besides, I just love working with hardware. Building a new system, or even upgrading an old one, is almost as good as sex. New electronics smell awesome.

I'm sorry, Purple Dave, I read the post and it asked...

"Who's on your list for next hot PC builder?"

That would be Apple for some people. Boot Camp and Parallels have blown away your complaint of no games available, and the imac, for the cost, is a decent gaming machine.

I still avidly play UT2k4 with friends on it and it smokes my old 3Ghz P4 with 2GB ram and a ATI 9600.

I buy almost everything from Newegg.com and build it myself from the ground up.

But all these posts here are very informational. I'll give them a shot.

I started with GamePC before I built my own. Their prices aren't that great, but they have some of the best technical staff I've ever seen at a company that sells things. They also do fairly hardcore in-depth hardware reviews, on par with Anand and Ars.

The only site I have ever considered purchasing a system from is gamepc.com. I never have, simply because real gamers build their own, but I have purchased a CPU kit(mobo, cpu, and ram pre-assembled and tested) from them back when I didn't feel like cutting up my hands trying to install those p.i.t.a. heatsinks back around 2001. They have a limited selection, but know their shit, and have been around since 1997. They are located in Palo Alto, CA (heart of Silicon Valley).

I'm with Crecente. The phase shift from indie to corporate has somehow irrevocably tainted the whole matter for me.

I never respected Dell in the first place, and now... It's like the Borg. They 'SAY' your uniqueness shall be added to their own, but you just end up disappearing in an amalgam of nonsense that you need to blast with a frequency modulating phaser.

I barely comprehend SATA on HDDs, but I would rather build my own any day than rely on stock. It feels very geekly to have accomplished the feat successfully, and you have 100% control over your baby.

I thought anyone who plays games on a PC and calls themselves anything other than casual, built their own now. I'm quite surprised to find out this is not so, and that more to the point, some people try to defend not building their own as sensible. I'm going to assume this means most of you 'gamers' don't upgrade your own machines either? Send it off maybe? Throw it away and buy a new one?

At least the people singing the virtues of custom builders might be getting good components and just pay a premium on the brand and build effort. You people talking about Dell and HP sicken me. Which is nothing compared to the Apple evangelists. A machine that uses entirely proprietary components and requires a dual boot to use properly, for double the price. In a shiny white box with a logo.

I just lost respect for a lot of commenters.

PS. I hope Gawker got paid enough for letting in all these shills.

New Egg + local computer shops
Id rather build my own system, as Im sure many here do. Its half the fun really.

@Frodo

Boot Camp still sucks. Playing anything from the past year runs like ass.

Just build your own. Why not? It's incredibly easy, and it's cheaper.

The only part that's at all complex is assembling the mobo/CPU/heatsink, and you can get those pre-assembled. Connecting all the case lights and buttons to the mobo can be a pain too, if you don't end up with any decent documentation. But it's worth the flexibility and the cost savings.

Informal, perhaps a big inaccurate poll, whatever....

7 "Build It Yourself!"
6 NewEgg.com
3 Apple
3 Dell
2 Velocity Micro
2 CyberPowerPC.com
2 WidowPC
2 Shuttle
1 MagicMicro.com
1 Custom-Computers.com
1 Monarch PC.com
1 www.komplett.co.uk
1 Maingear
1 IBM/Lenovo
1 "Whatever! Whoever!"
1 Packard Bell
1 Digital Storm
1 GamePC
-1 IBuyPower.com

I only put down NewEgg if it was specifically mentioned, and that's where I go often aswell.

@Frodo
"Boot camp."

Depends on how "hardcore" you want your system to be. They're great for most things, sure.. but they can't possibly compete with SLI and the newer QUAD CARD systems with ram sticks that cost more than your monthly rent.

They make good computers, in general, though.

i never trust anyone with my gaming rig...i always build it myself :D

Yeah, sign me up with the rational camp. No brands need apply.

Roll. Your. Own.

Rooster says:

Packard Bell

bwahahahaha!

The Commissar:
our minds are like this (fingers crossed gesture)

you are just too cool for school

Only talentless hacks need apply to boutique system builders. Honestly, if you're not going to build it yourself, you're better off going with a Dell or HP, simply because they won't charge you the absolutely ridiculous markup. Seriously, just compare the prices off of WidowPC to the prices of each component from Newegg.com. In some cases, Widow is making 100% profit, and the other boutique builders are no better.

Honestly, for those who have no time to build their own PC any more, is your time really worth paying double (at least) what it would cost you to build it yourself? Given the choice, I would go with a Dell, an HP, or a CyberPower/IbuyPower if I absolutely could not afford the time to build my own system, because the "boutique-chic" just isn't worth the price.

I'm with redhex. wtf if you want to play games like simcity and 3 year old unreal games use a apple