I’ve had this computer for about a week now and so far have been pretty satisfied, and I’ve done a few various tests for the sake of this review. First, let’s look at performance. As you probably expect, I’ve yet to hit any issues with this machine on any day to day task like browsing the web, running several programs, using virtual machines, etc.
But, this is a gaming computer, so let’s talk gaming performance. I did some quick tests on some various games I own, nothing scientific, sometimes mostly just in the intro part part I tried to give it a little bit of stress too to get a better average fps.
I played on my 2560×1440 165hz monitor and set the graphics as high as possible. Not just the highest preset, I manually set the graphics to be as high as the unmodded game lets you get. The one exception is resolution scaling.
Where available I did some testing with the normal 1440p resolution and then cranked up the resolution scaling as high as it went. Also, I didn’t bother closing background programs in these tests (generally just Firefox and Discord) and I had a second monitor going, just 1080p @ 60hz.
So, keep in mind these numbers are from a bit of a stress test, there’s no need to set the graphics this high but, hey, if you’ve considering a pretty top of the line PC you probably want to know how well it performs in the absolute toughest circumstances.
Where possible, I used the benchmarking tools built into the games to get an average fps. Without further ado, here are some more or less average FPS I got, with the resolution scaling result in parenthesis and an asterisk meaning the game seemed to not let me unlock the framerate any further but there was no issue hitting the cap: Battlefield 2042: 80 fps Microsoft Flight Simulator: 55 fps (28fps @ 2x resolution) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: 90 fps (40fps @ 2x resolution) GTA 5: 170 fps (70fps @ 2.
5x) Cyberpunk 2077: 60 fps Red Dead Redemption 2: 75 fps Deathloop: 120 fps CSGO: 350 fps The Outer Worlds: 160 fps Age of Empires 4: 165 fps* Horizon Zero Dawn: 115 fps Age of Empires 2 DE: 165 fps* (note: 1338.
3 was the benchmark score) Cities Skylines: 110 fps Far Cry 5: 149 fps (66fps @ 2x resolution) Kena Bridge of Spirits: 145 fps Lego Builder’s Journey: 65 fps Hitman 2: 100 fps (51fps @ 2x resolution) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: 134 fps Rise of the Tomb Raider: 154 fps Subnautica: 125 fps Watch Dogs Legion: 67 fps (60fps @ 2x resolution) Watch Dogs 2: 90 fps (65fps @ 1.
5x resolution) Celeste: 60 fps* Minecraft Java Edition: 35 fps Microsoft Minesweeper: 60 fps* Okay, so pretty solid performance. Except for some notably badly optimized games like Fallout 76, Minecraft, or Battlefield 2042 which crashed several times in only a few rounds of testing.
I overall got generally very smooth framerates and virtually no actual framerate drops or lag spikes on even the most demanding settings. Minecraft was actually probably the worst, flying around a world with maximum settings sometimes even went below 20 fps.
I think this is partly poor optimization and partly very demanding maximum settings. Keep in mind, these games have varying ideas of what the absolute maximum options should be, as far as things like render distances and such.
If you are someone wanting to dip your toes into 4k gaming I would say this PC can get you there. Maybe not 144hz 4k, that’s probably a generation away, but for most games you can probably comfortably play at around 60fps at 4k.
But performance aside, prebuilts have a reputation for being a bad value so let’s talk cost. I put together all the parts included in this PC and came up with a total part value of around $2900 or so, depending on how you value the house brand case and the RGB fans which I couldn’t identify.
So, at the asking price of $3500 you are looking at a premium of around $600 for this prebuilt. At the current sale price of $300 you can call it a $400 premium. How much of a premium you are willing to pay for a prebuilt with a hard to find GPU in this market is ultimately up to you, make your own budgetary decisions with that number.
Do keep in mind though that I got that number just adding up the value of all the parts, but some of the parts may be more than what you wanted in some areas. You may not want a 3080ti for example, when a 3080 is generally a better value.
You may not want to go for RGB case fans. And you very likely don’t need Windows 10 Pro (or Windows 11 Pro, if you get the free upgrade). All in all I think the parts are pretty good and I’m happy with my purchase.
The GPU is more than I wanted but overall it’s a very good build and within what I was willing to spend. If you want the full parts list feel free to talk to Micro Center’s people, but I’ll give some more thoughts on the parts for this review.
The processor is nearly as good as it gets, the 12900KF is generally speaking the best consumer CPU for the time being, other than the latest Threadripper if you need that many CPU cores (i. e. not for gaming).
One big downside on this CPU is they didn’t spring for the extra $30 or so for the version that has integrated graphics (the 12900K). Meaning, if your GPU gets fried then your PC will not boot unless you have a spare GPU hanging around to replace it.
The cooler is the Cooler Master ML240L RGB and I have no real issues there. The GPU is a 3080 Ti FE which is more than I wanted but it’s a great card and I do love the look of the Founders Edition cards.
the RAM is 3600 MHz GSkill F4-3600C16D-32GVKC and it doesn’t really concern me. 32GB is a great sweet spot for the time being. The motherboard is the ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WIFI D4. No complaints so far, plenty of connectivity, but you should be aware that this motherboard has only two RAM slots (for 64gb maximum RAM) and, like all DDR4 Z690 boards, you will not be able to put in DDR5 ram whenever that becomes more available.
Slightly less future-proof I suppose but a much much better value for at least the next few years while DDR5 gets improved. The boot drive is a WD Blue SN550 1TB M. 2 SSD. Works just fine, I wish it were more like 2TB, but 1TB is manageable.
Personally I just picked up an 8TB hard drive to go with this computer for all my less frequently played games and bulk storage needs. I’m not really sure who made the case fans, but I’m not worried about case fans.
This PC has two in the front and one in the back, all RGB, in addition to the fans on the CPU cooler. Gives you a nice pretty glow and, of course, everyone knows RGB lights give you higher FPS. All the RGB is managed through the ASUS Aura software.
The power supply is a PowerSpec PS750GSM. Personally I would have gone for an 850W PSU to be extra safe and future-proof but 750W is plenty of power for this PC even if you add in some extra storage or something.
You won’t be hitting issues of not having enough power. PowerSpec isn’t the biggest name in the PSU market, but as far as I’m aware these PSUs aren’t known to spontaneously explode or fry your PC or anything either.
Hopefully I don’t regret saying that. Finally, the case is made by PowerSpec and I’m very happy with it. I wanted a white PC to brighten up my setup so it’s a great fit for me. Goes well with the fans and whatnot too, I would say this is a nice looking PC but to each their own.
Overall, the PC seems to be built pretty well. I briefly cracked it open when installing the extra hard drive and all the cables and everything seem neatly organized, no complaints there. The PC has two USB 3 ports on the top in addition to the power buttons and your audio connectivity.
Plenty of connectivity on the rear side too, which you can read more about if you look up the GPU and the motherboard’s interfaces. I want to close with one major issue you should know about, and that’s the warranty.
With this PC, Micro Center and PowerSpec have decided to carve the GPU out of the warranty since the market is so hot right now. If your GPU fries outside the 14 day return period (or maybe even inside?) then you are out of luck.
Plus, as I mentioned, your PC wont even boot since they went for the cheaper 129000KF without integrated graphics. You’ll have to either use an old GPU you have sitting around or go to the store and grab some cheap GPU so you can even use your PC.
If this concerns you then no worries, for the price of over $300 extra they will cover your GPU with the extra warranty coverage. They will also rush it to you, letting you cut past anybody else in line to get your replacement GPU as soon as they’re in stock and if it takes too long they’ll refund you for the PC so you can buy a new one.
It’s a pretty solid insurance policy, but for $300 it was too rich for me. Be aware, the sales people will push it hard. Usually people won’t make any claims and these are 100% profit. If money is no object then by all means, feel free to buy yourself the peace of mind, but at their price I’d much rather take the risk.
In summary, this PC is top of the line as you might expect. You won’t lag in pretty much any game unless it’s incredibly poorly optimized (looking at you Fallout 76, Minecraft, Battlefield 2042, and Cyberpunk 2077).
The prebuilt premium is around $400-$600 depending on if it’s on sale (and more if you add in the price difference between whatever part you get and what you would actually want, like maybe getting a 3080 Ti instead of a 3080).
Overall, it seems well built and the parts aren’t too concerning to me. Lastly, the warranty is a little bit wack but at least if anything other than the GPU breaks I won’t have to mail it in like with online PC builders since I have a Micro Center in my town.
So far I can report no real issues with the PC itself, the only lag has been from slow internet and programs being poorly optimized or buggy. If this PC falls within your budget and you don’t want to deal with the GPU market right now then I think you will be very happy buying this PC.