Best Pre-Built So Far: ABS Challenger ALI521 $1000 Gaming PC Review & Benchmarks

The ABS Challenger ALI521 is the next on our list of pre-built reviews, and thus far, it has been the most impressive of the other 3 we reviewed. It has faults, but is built competently overall.
Sponsor: ASUS TUF Gaming B550 Plus WiFi on Amazon - geni.us/DbWZ
The ABS Challenger ALI521 has a GTX 1660 Super and an Intel i5-10400F CPU. At $1000, it *is* expensive compared to the DIY approach, but it has become clear to us that this is roughly the average price for these two primary components in the current pre-built market. The weakest part is the power supply, but ABS makes up for many deficiencies of its competitors by running two sticks of RAM (16GB, too, which is better than the 8GB found in other options) and better airflow and intake on the case. ABS is a house brand of Newegg, as is Rosewill, and so the two components get the benefit of being sold directly by a retailer that has shelves of parts. We're benchmarking gaming performance, thermals, noise levels, power consumption, build quality, and more.
We buy these pre-builts out of pocket to help inform your decision making. It's our goal to eventually find a couple that are good (without modification) so we can make some recommendations. If you'd like to help fund our ability to do this while also getting something in return, consider one of our Mouse Mats, Pads, or Modmat PC building surfaces:
Back-order a GN Anti-Static Modmat: store.gamersnexus.net/products/modmat
Buy GN's Red & Black Mouse Pad: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-charge-redblack-mousepad
Blue & Black Mouse Pad: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-component-blueblack-mousepad
Wireframe Desk-Sized Mouse Mat: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-wireframe-mouse-mat
Watch our review of Cyberpower’s Gamer Xtreme i3200BST: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2ebknhnr8aSd80
Watch our Dell G5 5000 pre-built gaming PC review (tear-down & billing): kzbin.info/www/bejne/anWwmGmeitqXfqc
Or Part 2 o four Dell review, where we look at bloatware & benchmarks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3-akoyqoN9-gMU
See our disappointment in the iBUYPOWER Slate MR1004: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6Sng5yXoLyWf68
Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us: www.patreon.com/gamersnexus
RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links]
ABS Challenger ALI521 on Newegg: geni.us/wAJz
iBUYPOWER gaming PCs on Amazon: geni.us/9BEnIa
Dell G5 5000 i5 Gaming PC on Amazon: geni.us/R6F03Mb
Some random Pre-Built Gaming PCs on Amazon: geni.us/UPWiwC
Or DIY it with an Intel i5-10600K on Amazon: geni.us/9xEIUZ
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - ABS Challenger ALI521 Pre-Built Review
04:35 - Tearing Down the ABS Challenger Gaming Computer
05:09 - Almost Immediately: Weird Front Panel
08:36 - MSI Continues to Disappoint
09:40 - CPU Cooler Flames & Mounting Pattern
12:18 - Power Supply & Smuggled LEDs
15:13 - Pre-Built Gaming PC Thermals (ABS Challenger)
16:04 - Gaming Benchmarks
16:30 - Cyberpunk 2077 Best Gaming PCs for $1000
17:08 - Rainbow Six: Siege (1080p, Framtimes, & 1440p)
19:43 - Hitman 3 CPU & GPU Benchmarks
20:07 - Red Dead Redemption 2
20:40 - Noise Levels
20:54 - Power Testing
22:08 - Instructions, BIOS, & Other Observations
26:16 - Conclusion & Bad Customer Support
** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! **
Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage.
Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates:
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f: gamersnexus
w: www.gamersnexus.net/
Host, Test Lead, Writing: Steve Burke
Testing: Patrick Lathan
Video: Andrew Coleman
Video: Keegan Gallick

[@GamersNexus]

We buy these pre-builts out of pocket to help inform your decision making. It's our goal to eventually find a couple that are good (without modification) so we can make some recommendations. If you'd like to help fund our ability to do this while also getting something in return, consider one of our Mouse Mats, Pads, or Modmat PC building surfaces: Back-order a GN Anti-Static Modmat: store.gamersnexus.net/products/modmat Buy GN's Red & Black Mouse Pad: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-charge-redblack-mousepad Blue & Black Mouse Pad: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-component-blueblack-mousepad Wireframe Desk-Sized Mouse Mat: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-wireframe-mouse-mat Watch our review of Cyberpower’s Gamer Xtreme i3200BST: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2ebknhnr8aSd80 Watch our Dell G5 5000 pre-built gaming PC review (tear-down & billing): kzbin.info/www/bejne/anWwmGmeitqXfqc Or Part 2 o four Dell review, where we look at bloatware & benchmarks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3-akoyqoN9-gMU See our disappointment in the iBUYPOWER Slate MR1004: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6Sng5yXoLyWf68

[@pythonl0rd584]

How has nobody replied yet

[@nathandials3847]

I seriously hope you tube never censors your content for being... (unbiased and real) I really enjoy how thorough your channel is, keep up the good work GN !! And thanks to you Steve for producing quality content for us while chaos is taking place in our lives.

[@xalex7923]

Lenovo Prebuilts look so good, try them. Maybe you finally find a good one

[@djizomdjinn]

Any interest in reviewing a Puget Systems workstation prebuilt? I use their published articles and testing results whenever a "what computer should I get for Photoshop" thread pops up online on artist forums/twitter, so it'd be really disappointing if their actual builds sucked.

[@jackripper3430]

Do redux pc

[@titaniummechanism3214]

On the ABS marketing page tomorrow: "I'm relatively impressed" - Steve Burke, Gamers Nexus

[@rogehmarbi]

*Sales up 9000%*

[@mattg1168]

@@rogehmarbi ...yeah, presently out of stock.

[@Arbiter099]

"I'm... ... impressed"

[@themote54]

"I'm [very] impressed!"

[@Nooboroshi]

That is relatively high praise

[@JunkieCS]

“I’m relatively impressed” now that is the biggest compliment ABS will ever get

[@Celician83]

That most companies get from Steve, this is great!

[@arox4133]

That is high praise, savoir it.

[@noonerofl8838]

I bought an ABS computer because it was the cheapest way to get a 3080, it was oddly cheaper than the going rate of a 3080 itself on eBay. It's been mining or gaming 24/7 for about 6 months, no issues at all. Air flow is good as he mentioned too.

[@nickcoats5227]

@@noonerofl8838 oh dang that’s nice! How much u get it for?

[@noonerofl8838]

@@nickcoats5227 About $1800, it was an open box deal, so I got lucky. I set a notification on slickdeals whenever 3080 or 3070 was posted in the forums and was able to grab it. I've seen it listed a few other times for about $2000. It came with an i9 9900 and an RTX 3080.

[@Liqtor]

Starting off with the crooked "ABS" logo on the front is fucking hilarious.

[@TonsOfFunk]

It's driving me crazy, honestly.

[@Liqtor]

@@TonsOfFunk It's a show about shitty computers. What did you expect?

[@fredthebasspro2256]

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE! ..PHEW......but - SHEEEESH 🤣

[@Janzer_]

it's not crooked, it's "jaunty tip o' the hat"

[@mikem2253]

I saw that too. Not done the video yet but I wonder if that is a preview of the build quality lol

[@TH3C001]

I’d actually like to see, even if it never actually gets sold as a real product but made more as a hypothetical concept, a Gamers Nexus pre-built computer. A complete functioning “protoype” with their choice of components and set up the way they wish more pre-builders would set their machines up. As well as an in depth mock review and teardown like they do with these pre-builts, then put up the chart comparing the performance of their pre-built vs these pre-builds. They could call it the GN-1 or Nexus-1 or something like that and even incorporate their logo and color scheme in the design. It could also be a fun challenge to see what’s possible price wise if trying to compete with the other pre-builts at their price ranges when it comes to component selections and combinations.

[@daedalus6433]

Would definitely be something they could sell.

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

@@daedalus6433 Problem is, they'd sell so many of them that they'd never be able to keep up with demand and would have to outsource it to another company that'd likely screw it up.

[@daedalus6433]

@@randomlyentertaining8287 Well, they can just do limited runs like they did with their newest shirt.

[@peterclarke7240]

Nah, the trick would be for them to name, right at the beginning, who they trusted enough to do the assembly, and who they trusted to do QC. Then nobody would be flying blind, expectations would be set, and they could sit back and watch the sales flood in.

[@Kromaatikse]

@@peterclarke7240 But that's the thing - they're *trying to find* a vendor that can be trusted to do this stuff (at a "normal" price, not a full-custom boutique price).

[@Kevin-xd2yv]

I'll likely never buy a pre-built, but I can't stop watching reviews of them.

[@to2866]

kinda like a slow-motion train derailment

[@malloott]

Well, here in Europe you can get complete systems for 200more then the GPU so it's getting pretty much the only option

[@GamersNexus]

They're a lot of fun for us to do because they're such a challenge. There's so much to look at with a prebuilt that it's easy to go overboard, so we've enjoyed getting the whole team involved to work on them.

[@TheHammerGuy94]

That’s the definition of cringe comedy You know sh!t’s gonna go down, but you wanna see how the train wreck’s gonna happen

[@Leahi84]

I only buy pre-built because I'm just not interested in building my own.

[@jamezxh]

I’m still stuck on the molex centipede from the last one 😂

[@hazonku]

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I molex on company time.

[@Hogdriva]

I mean it doesn't matter as long as you don't overload it like having too many christmas lights on the same circuit. I don't know what the big deal is tbh. Molex christmas lights are convenient =P

[@BrendenPragasam]

Im sad to admit thats actually the config in my case

[@jamezxh]

@@BrendenPragasam same here

[@MrLukassky]

@@SaviorTheBurn I believe it was the whole point of the MOLEX centipede, that the PSU had few MOLEX connections and all the peripherals had passthough plug. This way they could connect to one MOLEX connector from PSU.

[@PoulWrist]

It's impressive that 2 systems with the same components, basically, can have one lead the other by almost 100%.

[@LiberatedMind1]

Yup and shows why it's important to research before you buy.

[@F-15C_Eagle.]

i haven’t watched the other videos but from what he showed in the benchmark its a 1650 vs a 1660 super which is probably why its out performing it so much, not the same components whatsoever

[@crylune]

@@F-15C_Eagle. Look at the Hitman 3 results, compare ABS vs Dell G5. Same exact components, yet ABS gets 100% more performance.

[@trevorallen8514]

@@crylune mainly due to dells awful case designs poor air flow and barely enough fans to cool a warm fart . Dell has to go into the operating software and decrease the power out put of the CPU and GPU as thermal temps rise the hotter it gets the worse it will perform due to bottle necking the potential of the parts on purpose 😂 in any other situation proper cooling and settings PCs will perform the same or close enough to not notice a difference .

[@trevorallen8514]

@@crylune not to mention if they use liquid cooling they always go with the smallest cheapest one that isn't close to enough to properly cool what they intended part needs . Add the cramped cases poor air flow and not enough fans to begin with dell is a fucking joke they should be sued for the amount of people they have butt raped with their over priced out dated garbage that never even functions a fraction of what it should . Straight ass hats .

[@joker927]

"Is that a pre-built?" "No, it's the RELATIVELY BEST pre-built"

[@excalibur6812]

I got a pc with a ryzen 5 3400g processor with vega 11 intergrated graphics 1tb ssd . 300 mbps . For 450

[@ghostlegit]

@@excalibur6812 that's terrible

[@excalibur6812]

@@ghostlegit it was fiine for what i was using it for however ive now changed the cpu and ram

[@briand1337]

The winner is the one that makes you ask WTF the least. Sadly today's prebuilts reflect the fact that in this market people will buy whatever they can get their hands on.

[@enriquepadilla2542]

They have always been crap

[@nicodim159]

Well, they always say in their videos that prebuilts are generally more expensive but for a reason - you pay for the service. Your money goes towards you feeling free of responsability, should anything happen to your machine it is the seller's duty to provide support and fix it. Peace of mind basically, or money for whatever your time's worth.

[@nicodim159]

That however does not excuse crappy practice on their part. So they're looking for well built prebuilds at a worthwhile price.

[@mot0rhe4d40]

I locked onto an ABS ASUS TUF themed prebuilt with the 3060. Mainly for the fact, that from Newegg's pics I was able to see the TUF case ( meh ) , TUF 3060 GPU ( same cooling solution as the 3080 ) and the TUF ASUS MoBo. The only wild card was the PSU. Which ended up being a Thermaltake 700w 80+ gold. MS Win 10 ( spyware edition ) is still buggy BS. Other than that, been happy with it. And got my 3060 for less than $1300-1500 lol. I can work with that.

[@h8GW]

@@nicodim159 Sadly, _now_ it's often just to get a GPU at a decent price.

[@KinKaray]

I can imagine ABS Using the "Better than Dell" on their web page, with a picture of Steve with both thumbs up!

[@NonsensicalSpudz]

in like some weird early 2000s marketing

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

I'm fine with ironically bringing back that marketing. Remember the graphics cards? when the boxes had fancy 3D cover art and some of the coolers too.

[@artortiz3027]

One thumb up, one sideways, the "meh" face

[@rexyoshimoto4278]

Heh, heh, heh.

[@Halterung01]

Dude, you're gettin' an abs!

[@ClellBiggs]

I just bought an ABS PC (got it today) based on this review and it's incredibly well built. Couldn't be happier with it. Thanks to all you guys at GN for doing these pre-builts videos.

[@a.patriot2329]

Damn you! They are out of stock! Lol, grats on the system. Still working well?

[@ClellBiggs]

@@a.patriot2329 Yeah, it's been great so far. No issues at all. :)

[@ClellBiggs]

@Paulie Walnuts Yeah, still running great. No issues at all so far.

[@umeremad2123]

hey man how has your ABS held up?Getting mine tmrw

[@RedsHitpostMedia]

@Paulie Walnuts i too bought an ABS 3060ti model and so far so good even though its only been a week. They even replaced the stock cooler which multiple reviews pointed out giving problems

[@BrendanGeormer]

I saw an ABS some months ago that was a pretty good deal at the time. The thing that stood out to me most was that they included all the books and addons that came with the different 3rd party parts like graphics and CPU

[@zqzj]

That's a nice touch actually.

[@SoilentGr33n]

I bought an ABS Gladiator 3070ti right after christmas and it did come with all the spare stuff. Books, manuals, brackets, screws, cables. Everything. Basically everything they didn't use in your build+docs is packed in with the system. ALWAYS do a once over of your build when you get it. There was a very loose psu plug that I pushed back in place before powering it on but overall it fired right up and worked out of the box.

[@obake6290]

Reduced standards to "capable of turning on without a problem." Wow this market has gotten fucked up. The last prebuilt I bought was an eMachines that came with Windows ME. Back then the prebuilts might not have been great machines, but at least working wasn't generally a concern.

[@obake6290]

@J I didn't say it correctly, but I was trying to convey disappointment that consumer expectations are (probably) higher than back then when all you could expect was "working," yet these machines now are failing even that minimal standard.

[@LatitudeSky]

The only pre-built desktop I've ever bought was a Frys house brand (ECS maybe) Celeron. Cheap in every respect but it worked fine and every single part was industry standard and was eventually replaced and upgraded. It's kind of sad a really cheap system like that can nail it and much more expensive systems struggle.

[@JETWTF]

@@obake6290 Dell hasn't changed since the 90's. Same quality as they have always made.

[@SuperLotus]

I have an old Dell prebuilt that's lasted me 10-15 years (I stopped using it several years ago, but it still powers on). I had a somewhat good opinion of Dell bc of that...until recently.

[@obake6290]

@@SuperLotus Sort of the same for me. In my case it was a laptop I bought in 2002. Still worked as of a few years ago, but I haven't turned it on since then. Actually not even sure where it's at now.

[@aegis7272]

The biggest two-faced compliment "it's better than dell"

[@Zarcondeegrissom]

yeah, almost like saying "I can't believe it's not crap" lol.

[@SuperLotus]

I bought a Dell recently. It worked ok and was a decent price considering the current GPU situation and it being a prebuilt, but there were certain application it wasn't powerful enough so I decided to try to upgrade. That's where I ran into trouble. When upgrading the CPU, a good cooler wasn't compatible due to odd screw positions, the motherboard wouldn't support RAM above 2666 mhz, and the 450 watt PSU limits what GPUs I can upgrade to (currently running a 2060). The thing is, I knew about these prebuild review videos, but chalked it up to PC master race elitism. Never again. In the future I'll either do a new build without a GPU or get Cyberpower where they let you choose all the components.

[@The_Keeper]

@@SuperLotus The real problem with Dell, beyond the crap components, is that just about every piece of hardware they put in is using proprietary connectors. Zero upgradability, and zero reuse of components.

[@ShroudedWolf51]

I believe the term you mean is "back-handed compliment".

[@SuperLotus]

@@The_Keeper Yeah. I couldn't upgrade to a better cooler or switch to a different case due to how it was designed. I might end up selling the 2060 that came with it to recover some of my losses.

[@nickllama5296]

"You can mount these fans to the frame. That's what all these holes are for." Newegg engineer: "... Ohhhhh!"

[@Rood67]

ROFL 🤣🤣🤣

[@MooseMoto7]

I got an ABS due to its price point with what it had in it a few years ago. Its actually been impressive. The biggest issue was I didn't built it myself, but it worked wonders! Biggest issue with ABS is it is hit or miss with each tower sold.

[@monetary687]

thats a lot of praise steve

[@thorluis226]

I think he probably got force-feed drugs and got threatened with his rtx 3080.

[@contra1124]

ABS: thanks Steve

[@laffeybunn8557]

Back to you, Steve

[@zSHREDHEADz]

Hey Steve, I just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me to pursue a career in computers and IT. The level of knowledge and care that you take with each video and product is unmatched. You made me realize my over analyzing way of thinking and constant search for improvement can actually be a valuable tool in my career rather than a burden to those around me. I cant thank you enough for the hope you have given me.

[@GamersNexus]

That's awesome! Best of luck in your endeavors!

[@ChaoticNeutralMatt]

Curious how it goes

[@JerameatC]

Hey man, IT guy here of 17 years. It sucks that you are stuck doing call center or helpdesm work first in most cases. It does get monotonous but stick through it and find what you love to do so you can narrow down what you want to major in so you can get out of the trenches.

[@RobBCactive]

Get the best qualifications you can! There's jobs where analysis is needed, then a lot of "toe the line" jobs like retail. Even in development, you need a track record before you start taking shots, there's always plenty of detail to test and get right, so focus on yer own crapola!

[@a.patriot2329]

Can't recall how many peeps have told me I'm OCD. "Mr. Perfect, raa raa raa." These are the same people that when they need work done, and it's important, they call me. Mmm.. Perfectionism isn't cheap. 😎

[@VeerMaharaj]

This series has been one of the best things anyone in the PC news space has done in years. You deserve every view you are getting. Well done to Steve and Company.

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

The "Pre-Built Wars" is now my favorite YT show about computery crap. You earned a sub, Steve 😁😁

[@meownime1603]

We can literally see it! , back to you steve is the best thing ever hehe

[@jasonsmini]

is ABS short for abdominals? because check out that washboard front

[@jm1695]

The ABS seems to be on slanted too.

[@SuperLotus]

ABS: Absent Stock

[@BrooklynBalla]

Anti-Lock Braking System

[@vidvierwer]

ABS = Acceptable (barely) System

[@steveweidig5373]

@@vidvierwer ABS = Acceptably (Pre-)Built System

[@gamingmarcus]

"This one's a lot less suck than the other ones we've looked at" Technically the exhaust only case had zero succ

[@nasanierulastname2997]

It certainly had blow though

[@marcgoodman4862]

Well played, sir.

[@judeg.8101]

I honestly feel you give the best information on pre-builts that I've seen. I watch several BIG name channels and still feel sort of loss as to "now what ". As I watch your channel I feel like I can make an informed decision. But now it's what will beat the last one before I buy one ! I like the break down and honest observations that I would not know what to look for. Thanks for the fantastic and funny informative reviews.

[@krazybonnie5523]

i've been waiting for this since the community post

[@GamersNexus]

Thanks to the viewers who recommended ABS as a brand, too! Good call.

[@BReal-10EC]

@@GamersNexus This shows that buying a pre-made PC is way more than specs and price- which seems to be how most shop pre-made PCs.

[@matasa7463]

@@GamersNexus May I recommend checking out the Lenovo Legion desktops? They seem to be very good from other reviews I saw, but I would like you to tear it apart and give it the GN treatment.

[@JunkieCS]

10:02 There are flames, embedded in the blades... “*Wow*”. I absolutely love the cheap fire affect lol

[@autotropicplaybench1819]

That's one way to fan out the flames

[@Xtoxinlolinecronomicon]

Reminds me of old cars with the flame decals on the side panels. It just basically makes it look faster. So yeah, I think that's why it looks like that.

[@georgf9279]

Computer company: Let's make a good computer. Steve: The component selection is ... compatible. Computer company: Success!

[@fezzik1620]

only 4 minutes in, but I can't stop staring at the abs label on the front that's not level

[@jasonvandyke5401]

When Steve says "Not how I would have done it," that makes me want to see a GN pre-built

[@scottmcdonaldAAL211]

If only we could get GN to build systems for us! That would be something really special. Anyone wonder what GN does with all the hardware they buy at retail with their own money?

[@tianlexie5011]

@@scottmcdonaldAAL211 probably sells it under MSRP to LTT so LTT can sell the parts for MSRP to gamers /s

[@Alex-mp5xe]

@@tianlexie5011 that's just bad business. They definitely sell at profits lmfao its common sense

[@tianlexie5011]

@@Alex-mp5xe therefore the sarcasm mention. Also more of a "this is how the community views GN and LTT" kind of comment

[@Alex-mp5xe]

@@tianlexie5011 never use the /s so didnt recognize it my fault

[@electrified0]

IMO tripple filters make sense for a prebuilt, especially with positive static pressure. As long as you can make the thermals work, which they've done here, keeping dust out is a big win for longevity. People buying prebuilts often have no intention of ever opening their case, even to dust it, so keeping dust out will keep it usable for longer.

[@ffwast]

@@neon_necromunda Yes,and don't forget ignorant.

[@chrinaldi]

@@ffwast It might come as surprise to you... most of them don't know how to, and probably don't know where to look for. It is kinda scary opening up your PC for the first time, especially those who doesn't work on their PC all the time.

[@nathansiukuta9238]

@@neon_necromunda Not all are lazy, some simply don't have the time for due to other commitments, lifestyle e.t.c and while many of us find building and maintaining a DIY pc a piece of cake, some people genuinely find it pretty difficult to grasp.

[@nathansiukuta9238]

@@chrinaldi Spot on!!!

[@neon_necromunda]

@@chrinaldi not a suprise to me just in 2021 its bit of a cop out.

[@AnthonyMcqueen1987]

ABS Challenger, Skytech Chronos, and Maingear are the only three that are acceptable which is a lot of praise, thank you.

[@Yuenix]

I love the honest review, thank you Steve 😁 Ive bought my first gaming pc 7 or 8 years ago from ABS/ Newegg have never dissapointed me, and fully gave me exactly everything i needed with no Issues hardware/software. 2022 I've leaned on ABS again on the ABS Gladiator with my newest prebuilt, since I've been unable to buy parts for build because of the shortage and busy schedule. So far so good again, ABS support and contact info was also clearly a 100% respectful and also quick to respond and actually Cared for my satisfaction and notified me if anything needed as well. But Thanks Steve and ABS/Newegg.

[@laurencem2327]

"Rainbow Six Siege could run on a Tamagotchi" Thanks Steve.

[@slickgiraffe6650]

When are the Tamagotchi benchmarks coming out?

[@ApolloDL4]

the ABS logo on the front is wonky, that would drive me crazy.

[@ZepG]

Mr Taylor That's the first thing I noticed, I would rip that crooked badge off pronto!

[@kamui004]

You had one job!

[@1129dover]

I specifically looked at the comments to see if anyone commented on this. I would have to buy a new case as that would drive me nuts every time I looked at it.

[@joshuascholar3220]

@@1129dover I mentioned it then scrolled down to see this!

[@ichiyamamoto785]

Thankfully it's only attached by like a double-sided adhesive/tape.

[@slob12]

Loving these pre build teardowns and analysis

[@BenKlassen1]

Very entertaining, thanks. The disparity in quality between a good custom-built and a pre-built is quite great, as we are seeing. Pre-builts can still be a viable choice for the non-builders on a budget if you pick the right one, as we are learning from these reviews.

[@reggielacey2235]

It's just as good

[@SlappytheNinja]

surprised that one of the good ones ended up being ABS, they have tons of newegg reviews where people had parts DOA

[@GamersNexus]

Too bad to hear about that. Luck of the draw, maybe. That'd come down to support, then, and we were unimpressed with Newegg's (hence the asterisk in the thumbnail!)

[@Sp1ncycl3]

That can come down to confirmation bias as well. It's far more likely for people with DOA hardware to leave a review complaining about it, people who get a PC that works just fine are likely happy with it and actively using it. Sure, some of them take the time to leave a review but I know the majority doesn't. Nearly everyone with an issue will complain about it online. I personally bought an ABS build, and recommended it in the community post when that went up. I'm normally a DIY person but this market is wild and ABS looked like good price:performance ratio and it sure enough was.

[@SlowHippie]

I had gotten one with DOA gpu, no replacement available had to rma i was very disappointed.

[@KuramaKitsune1]

I purchased an ABS with a 3070 and the GPU was fried on delivery, Newegg/ABS struggled to setup the RMA the system wanted to ship back the WHOLE PC, We got it sorted out eventually tho, I shipped just the GPU, but the label said it was for the whole PC lol The 3070 they sent me back was a really cool white edition with a big ring ( like a big thick wear on your hand ring )

[@amemiya8]

@Eon Reeves Not my experience. Just received my ABS Legend today with no packing material in the case and was DOA. Support told me I should drop another $4k right now since they couldn't guarantee that it would be able to be replaced by the time the RMA will be resolved.

[@nasser_almashjary]

The confetti after "it's better than Dell" statement made me pass out from laughter.

[@KyokujiFGC]

Just a warning that a ton of the ABS prebuilts sold on Newegg arrive with GPUs that are DoA or begin artifacting after several weeks. Steve also mentioned the CPU cooling issues. You're almost sure to see some thermal throttling on the ABS machines with more powerful CPUs because they swap the stock coolers for the cheapest possible Thermaltake ones.

[@RubenRyb66]

Thats crazy cause the stock coolers are generally crappy as well @.@. I mean why wouldn't they at least pop a $20ish tower cooler in? >

[@joelcarson4602]

I see a tier of ratings developing here at GN: "Better than Dell" means "It almost didn't suck." "Relatively Impressed" means "It's likely OK to buy this" I wonder if anything is going to make it to Tier Three?

[@donnie9252]

I’m praying, so I can finally feel comfortable buying a prebuilt lol

[@cIeetz]

I had a "Thinkcentre" prebuilt with a 660 ti. For an old prebuild it was solid.

[@crispylizard4348]

@@donnie9252 I'm buying an abs rn good deal for a i5 11400f and 3060ti at 1299(it's 1399 now) that's only 300$ more then this build for a gpu only 20% less powerful then a 3080 I'm hoping it's as well built as this one but I've built a pc before so anything short of gpu DOA I can deal with

[@technoturnovers7072]

@@cIeetz I also have a thinkcentre, but mainly because my grandpa has an absolutely insane IBM retiree discount on lenovo computers, so it really was criminally cheap in terms of price, possibly even cheaper than buying the components myself

[@thannydevitos2332]

“I don’t have any egregious complaints”

[@BReal-10EC]

I bought an ABS computer back in 1998 when it stood for Always Best Service. It was a good PC (I bought because Computer Shopper ranked it #1 for under $1k PC)- though I had to swap the Cyrix to a Pentium to add a graphics card later as no drivers recognized the Cyrix as a viable CPU. Lol. EDIT. Jumpers.. I hate 90's era boards with jumpers. We have it SOOOO much easier now.

[@GamersNexus]

Wow! That last sentence was a serious throw-back!

[@TrueThanny]

Jumpers were great. You had to find some obscure piece of paper then decipher what it meant. There was no internet to search for the answer on, either. I do miss Computer Shopper, though I'm not sure why.

[@lucidnonsense942]

Hey, at least with jumpers the manufacturer couldn't screw you with cutdown BIOS or locked down CPU. You wanted to OC? Just change the multiplier with the jumpers. Want to disable a device? Take the jumper off. Need to re-assign the IRQ? OK... that gave me PTSD - lets not mention the IRQs. But, sometimes I miss the simplicity.

[@sjholmesbrown]

Remember having to set IRQ priorities so that your fancy new 4-channel Sound Blaster didn't clash with the video card? Ahhh, fun times. Not.

[@SilverJackLeg]

Why the hell did they put Sound Blaster IRQ to 7, when at least parallel port is using it? Damn, set BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 -> five, FIVE!!!

[@MHSDankusPotatus]

My first computer was a abs prebuilt. Loved it so much

[@XxUltimateGodzXx]

Hey thanks for doing this research on all of these PCs, looking for PCs for other people and this goes further into it than I reasonably can.

[@sharkmenyus]

You revied the motherboard manual and the PS2 port as well... That is some dedication! Great content overall as always!

[@rlifeh]

this is the best series in GN channel, I like it more than normal reviews 😂

[@JorJorBinks123]

This intro just stole my heart. Favorite intro now! ♥️

[@misterthegeoff9767]

This is the first one of these I would be happy to own. It would be really easy to sort out the airflow and front fan locations, every component is good enough for now and every part of this is easily upgradeable. I'm not gonna be selling my current rig and downgrading to this any time soon but if someone asks me "I have $1000, what should I buy" I know what to tell them now.

[@Crgx22r7]

Loved when LTT did a series like this and love it even more with you guys doing it. I would likely never buy one of these, but I find it so interesting to see what the different companies do, where they cut corners, etc. Keep up the great work guys!

[@shawnj4554]

"I'm relatively impressed" these guys just won the gold medal at the prebuilt Olympics.

[@LiLBitsDK]

must be prebuilt paralympics :D but it's still a win :D

[@nunya404]

Bants are sick, yet tame. Love watching reviews of pre-builds.

[@ReksratYTB]

I'm loving the pre-built saga. Steve tearing them to shreds will never get old

[@zsorens4570]

Give the editor a raise for the "better than dell" and explosion from the cooler fans.

[@WarhavenSC]

Winner of Gamers Nexus' "Doesn't Completely Suck" award!

[@mkall]

its more of a "its working!" award lol

[@BetterVersionByCreativeInsight]

You provide a tremendous amount of information, most of which I do not understand but it is a bit depressing to see all the problems in these prebuilt computers. I will search for one of your videos where you rave about a prebuilt. I will watch your "one of the best" titled videos. Thanks so much. Interesting and informative but a bit over my head. This is the first one of your videos watched but I now am subscribed because you clearly are honest and want the best for those watching.

[@rexyoshimoto4278]

These pre-build videos are great. Very competent. Thanks, Steve. I keep wondering how proficient they are. Plus, it makes manufacturers more accountable for their product.

[@claudiom9207]

I've had a great experience with ABS, bought 3 computers with 3080s, one of the gpu had some problem and I messaged them. They told me to ship back the gpu (they provided the label) and shipped one soon as I shipped mine, with next day air shipping, I was impressed! Wonderful customer care. Good Prebuilts.

[@MrBoombastic_]

We can literally see it!

[@ianemory5800]

I bought an ABS computer roughly 4 years ago, had a 1080 and a I7 8700 for like $1300.(I did price out the parts at the time and it was like a $50 difference) I did have to replace the regular HDD as it failed, but other than that it's been great. Running basic test show everything running well. After building my first two rigs this really boosted my confidence in pure build machines.

[@pwneytube]

Back in the early days of the mechanical keyboard craze I had an ABS M1 keyboard. It was the loudest keyboard I think I've ever heard and I loved it.

[@EthyrielY]

A pre built whose airflow _isn’t_ hot garbage at a glance (mesh front)? Already off to a better start than 90% of others!

[@nintendoatarikiller]

Between you and Dawid does tech stuff, I'm having a blast watching you both tear apart crappy pre-builts

[@scottcraig5394]

Crap is so much fun to watch!

[@Zetofire]

I'd love to see yall do a review on the EKWB prebuilt systems. I've seen some reviews on other channels, but I like how much more detailed and in-depth yall do on your videos.

[@tns6862]

Nice, can't wait fot reviews of the rest of the brands

[@DurzoBlunts]

Can we get like a GN sticker or case badge made that says "It's better than a Dell". Not gonna lie I'd slap that puppy on my case in a second haha.

[@nyag1337]

make this happen

[@stevenmay4563]

I rate this idea

[@Diceman82]

"Rainbow 6 siege can run on a Tamagochi" I know it's hyperbole, but some needs to make this so :p

[@blai5e730]

Well, Doom was successfully ported to a pregnancy tester so there's probably somebody out there willing to try.

[@nateshrager512]

I bought 2 of the most high end systems available from ABS and both were well put together and were very reasonably priced considering current GPU pricing. Solid customer service as well. Would recommend

[@jyveturkey1894]

Thumbs up for use of the be quiet screwdriver!

[@ahmedanssaien6449]

Pre-builts remind me of the saying, "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

[@TR33ZY_CRTM]

Too bad you can't do it yourself because GPU's these days costs as much as a prebuilt

[@Granhier]

Depends. Boutique prebuilts will still shit all over anything you'd build. Probably some of these less fancy prebuilts too. Like I'm relatively confident in my PC building ability, but are you? Not everyone is that tech savvy. And at the end of the day it still comes down to prebuilts being available while components right now are less so.

[@yup-yl7yo]

@@Granhier well again then that comes down to pricing, sure you can pay for a fully CLC build but you also pay a premium for them building it. i wasnt able to CLC mine because the waterblock was limited for the Kingpin. when i built it was the flagship on every part, and saved quite alot of money. half priced Aorus xtreme board etc.

[@BlindBison]

@@Granhier what brands would you recommend if one was willing to pay the premium for a boutique builder? MainGear? Falcon Northwest? Thanks! I’ve had so many bad prebuilt experiences at this point and I’m willing to pay assuming the prebuilder does their job and does it correctly/builds it better than I could. Thanks! My last prebuilt from ABS was nothing but trouble and cost me 2100 bucks. I’d gladly pay more if it means the freaking CPU cooler is gonna be attached correctly, with good cable management, a solid case with good cooling, they actually probably configure the advertised memory timings etc.

[@Granhier]

@@yup-yl7yo And that is a very valid point until you realize you can get a boutique build right now around the price of a higher end card. Most people wouldn't recommend prebuilts, and they aren't entirely wrong. But right now the market is so fucked that if you don't care about the specific part brands and models, prebuilts are actually good value.

[@jblev736]

Steve, it is now out of stock! Look what you did 😂😂

[@NoxLegend1]

Even me who hadn’t watched a Steve video in a long time I had to see this. You already know this video is going to blow up.

[@agelualofa]

Beautiful work bro. Love it all

[@thezerb]

"Ist it capable of turning on without a problem" You didn´t just lower the bar, you buried it xD

[@notlikethis9932]

Made my day! :D Thank you for this comment! :)

[@KaeYoss]

And some of those systems still tunneled underneath it

[@thezerb]

Yeah.... Maybe they were actually designed for mining. :P

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Can it turn on and run a game without crashing

[@Allyshin]

You're right. Now I'm sure one in this next group is going to grab the shovel.

[@OlettaLiano]

Every time I watch one of these videos, it makes me so happy I built my PCs.

[@anthonybrown9678]

I recently got an ABS Gladiator pre-built system. The tempered glass side panel shattered when removing it the second time after cloning a drive. I called ABS support and they sent me a new case right away with no hassle what so ever. I was very pleased.

[@DKarkarov]

I love how defeated Steve sounds as he says "The test is now... will it turn on without issues?"

[@JuraIbis]

I live in Quebec so i always thought QC passed meant it was stamped at the border when imported

[@JuraIbis]

Thanks Steve.

[@alhuno1]

Gotta love the SQ xD

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Et moi qui pensait que tous les appareils électroniques passaient par Montréal avant d'arriver en France 😂

[@gwgux]

This still hasn't restored my faith in pre-built PCs, but it's a start.

[@EliteLoserZR]

I bought an ABS as a "starter" computer with a graphics card that wasn't ludicrously priced at the time a few years back because of this video and I still use it today. I will say it was funny seeing a few friends of mine who've dealt with prebuilt computers shocked mine came with two sticks of RAM.

[@sp3lllz]

i hope one day to achive the "relatively impressed" award from steve

[@falcie7743]

I'm getting a mod mat for Father's day, it's the one thing I actually asked for at least. Doing my small part to fund the prebuilt journey and getting a fun, functional product in return.

[@GamersNexus]

Thanks! We have the original large and medium in stock. Volt is on back-order. We appreciate it!

[@Celician83]

Wonder if Newegg is going to add a picture of Steve doing the "Relatively Impressed" on their product page.

[@josefelix2846]

Great information and very helpful.

[@nateshrager512]

For this case I bought some of the noctua redux 120mm fans, which have high static pressure and very high CFM. Was able to replace the stock intake fans on the front panel with the noctua, but only after using heavy duty toenail clippers to trim down the thin plastic bit at the end of those fan standoffs. This doesn't cut into the threads whatsoever and makes the noctua fans fit snug, giving great airflow that is nicely filtered.

[@PopKMedia]

"act as IT in your own groups...." The acting is real

[@joannaatkins822]

Goodness, mild competence from the pre build space? The miracles will never cease!

[@russianbot8576]

i'm glad to see that prebuilts are getting attention thanks to the microchip supply problems. whether it's a time issue preventing individually informed buying decisions (as opposed to 'asked reddit' decisions) or disabilities preventing the ability to build a PC, or even just a combo of all of this and time, i think this has a place even if prebuilts are disparaged by toxic users in the overall community, and by professionals putting these prebuilt companies to the flame, perhaps they'll get better for the users who have reason to get them. so, yeah, i feel like this is kind of important work to do, great job, and i hope this stays as a thing even once the shortage is over!

[@JAM0LO]

Just noticed the vertical bars on either side of your graph sections acting as timers for how long that graph will be on screen, that's really neat!

[@ThaDuDeMaN1]

"rainbow 6 seige can run on a Tamagotchi" i was literally playing with a Digimon Virtual pet while he was saying that, Another great quote from steve

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Which means LoL can run on a piece of paper.

[@ThatHypnotizedHimbo]

Be warned though, ABS is, apparently, very inconsistent. Be wary when pick out one of these systems

[@McV1llaiN]

Love love love the Warhammer 40k reference!!!god miss that game and my 2,000 point army my little brother stole......in the market for a new PC for competitive play.so glad I found ur channel!ur the man! Thinking about just building my own PC.pre built just seems like a nightmare

[@DanielOfRussia]

An outstanding job there ABS!

[@M00NM0NEY]

“The contact isn’t that great… but… neither is the cooler.” Made me exhale out of my nose and squeeze my eyebrows together. A good chuckle for those who don’t know 😂

[@klln1998]

Was wondering when one of the channels I watch was going to cover an ABS system, I recently helped upgrades a friends computer that was an ABS prebuilt and was really impressed with the cable management and well thought out parts

[@majifloof]

I have an ABS machine myself, not exactly the same model but it’s held up perfectly to all the benchmarks I’ve put it through so far, i like it so far

[@Bigfish11]

After watching this series I just ordered this one for my son. ABS Challenger.

[@kramasnu3826]

13:35 "There is not a 'Molex Centipede' in this one" - Good, the sequels don't compare to the original anyway.

[@barbarosa13]

I don't even live in the US so i don't have access to these prebuilts, yet i anticipate these videos so much :)

[@jd31068]

Love this series!

[@joecool1875]

I love these tests you're doing! Great value for "normal" people who don't possess the skills needed to build their own system. The "Better Than Dell Award" is priceless, or about $1050 (I think) =) I've actually owned both Dell and Compaq back in the days before I started building my own. They may even have contributed to me starting to build because they were allways lacking in areas where one can make nice improvements. Keep up the good work!