Good experience with NZXT pre-built

[djoye]

My niece wanted a gaming PC and specified a budget ($1500), I didn't want to even think about or have to deal parts availability, so I considered pre-built. I remembered either JayZTwoCents or LinusTechTips mentioning that NZXT did well with their pre-builts. I referred my niece to NZXT's Starter Plus PC (currently H150 case, 500GB M.2 NVMe drive, RTX 3060, 16GB RAM, i5-10400F) and she ordered it; I advised her to let me unbox it in case we needed to deal with build, packaging, or shipping damage.

Received the PC double-packed with formed foam inside the case to keep the GPU and CPU heatsink in place. Everything in excellent shape and in its place. There was an extra case thumb screw loose in the backside of the case, but it doesn't appear to have caused any issues.

Pros:

• It arrived exactly as pictured. The cable management is awesome front and back of case; super clean.
• Additional SATA cables are included and brackets for mounting 2.5" drives are on the backside.
• Real parts used, no proprietary crap that can't be easily replaced or upgraded -- all parts are common/standard parts that can be used elsewhere or upgraded
• No bloatware installed, just Windows 10 that you perform final setup on. Gigabyte RGB Fusion was installed or installed itself, not sure if that came from Windows update. Motherboard is a Gigabyte B-something.
• The GPU was some kind of MSI VENTUS OC model with 12GB. Not sure if that's luck of the draw because the exact model isn't specified on the specs area.

Cons:

• Can't really think of anything other than the extra loose screw in the case. It being in the backside of the case probably kept it from doing any damage.

Things I did to complete the setup (this came with a clean Windows 10 install where you run through the first start):

• Use CPU-Z to identify the motherboard and then download motherboard drivers
• Update UEFI/BIOS
• Update GPU drivers
• Configure secure boot -- Not sure if I really needed to do anything or if it just finally worked after a few reboots
• Enable the CPU's TPM function to meet Windows 11 pre-reqs
• Enable above 4G decoding then enable Resizable BAR for the GPU
• Enable the RAM's XMP setting
• Windows updates

I think I'm really impressed with the NZXT pre-built because I've been around long enough that I've seen some real flimsy pre-built crap, but this was a solid build with legit parts that can be upgraded upon in the future.

Edit: https://nzxt.com/product/starter-plus -- Link that will probably become outdated at some point

 

[xx0xx]

That's what, maybe $1000ish (maybe slightly more) of items (hardware+OS) for $1200 and seemingly built pretty well? That's not that bad of a premium to pay for having a single warranty point of contact + the labor already done for you of building, cable routing, etc.

The only weak part I could see maybe potentially being PSU. I know NZXT sells their own PSUs, not sure if that's what is in this, nor am I aware of the quality level / OEM of them. On the other hand, if it isn't pushed too hard, maybe it's not much of a concern.

 

[pendragon1]

other than you having to do all those updates, they should have, its seems not bad....

 

[djoye]

That's what, maybe $1000ish (maybe slightly more) of items (hardware+OS) for $1200 and seemingly built pretty well? That's not that bad of a premium to pay for having a single warranty point of contact + the labor already done for you of building, cable routing, etc.

The only weak part I could see maybe potentially being PSU. I know NZXT sells their own PSUs, not sure if that's what is in this, nor am I aware of the quality level / OEM of them. On the other hand, if it isn't pushed too hard, maybe it's not much of a concern.

The PSU is definitely something I didn't look at because it was nested down there hidden away, so I don't know what it is, however, no proprietary connections on the PSU or motherboard. Next time I'm at the in-laws' I'll have to remember to look at the PSU. I'm just thrilled that everything can be upgraded; it's a good foundation for a kids' gaming PC. The premium they paid was time I didn't spend piecing something together.

other than you having to do all those updates, they should have, its seems not bad....

I'm not sure how I should feel about that stuff. They can probably keep cost down by slapping together a PC (which they did a good job at) and not spending the time to do BIOS/firmware updates, so that's my reasoning for not being mad that I had to tweak some stuff; the UEFI was basically at default settings, which is probably the safest way to put a PC into basic end user hands. I also assume that Windows 11 acceptance may still be rough, so perhaps they don't yet feel the need to set the items that would make it Windows 11 compliant. I got it into the compliant state and then showed my niece how to apply the update when she was ready. I don't think I should hold that stuff against them.

 

[pendragon1]

The PSU is definitely something I didn't look at because it was nested down there hidden away, so I don't know what it is, however, no proprietary connections on the PSU or motherboard. Next time I'm at the in-laws' I'll have to remember to look at the PSU. I'm just thrilled that everything can be upgraded; it's a good foundation for a kids' gaming PC. The premium they paid was time I didn't spend piecing something together.


I'm not sure how I should feel about that stuff. They can probably keep cost down by slapping together a PC (which they did a good job at) and not spending the time to do BIOS/firmware updates, so that's my reasoning for not being mad that I had to tweak some stuff; the UEFI was basically at default settings, which is probably the safest way to put a PC into basic end user hands. I also assume that Windows 11 acceptance may still be rough, so perhaps they don't yet feel the need to set the items that would make it Windows 11 compliant. I got it into the compliant state and then showed my niece how to apply the update when she was ready. I don't think I should hold that stuff against them.

not the tpm or win11 stuff but i never let a new build leave without all the current drivers and bios. bios doesnt need to be tweaked but it definitely should be up to date and xmp should be on.