Having worked in the Gaming PC industry for many years, I’ve come to know all the custom pc or boutique builders. Outside of the big name companies such as Dell and HP, for example, two of the largest of the gaming computer manufacturers are iBUYPOWER Computers and CyberPowerPC. (Don’t confuse CyberPowerPC with CyberPower, which makes uninterruptable power supplies. They are different companies.)
A misconception that a lot of people make are that iBUYPOWER and CyberPowerPC are the same company. They are not. They may be physically located in the same city but they are not owned by the same people. They are close friends, but are also competitors. So, the best term I have in mind is “Frenemy”.
Other Custom Gaming PC Builders
In the custom gaming pc industry, you have value to mid-level and then mid to high-end builders. I consider iBUYPOWER and CyberPowerPC to be on the value to mid-level side.
Other companies such as Maingear, OriginPC, Falcon Northwest and Digital Storm would be on the mid to high-end builders.
Xidax is a relatively newcomer to the scene starting in 2013 but their parent company has been around for over 20 years. Not specifically in gaming but in the PC industry in general.
OriginPC would be the next newcomer starting in 2009 and founded by former Alienware employees so they have the history and years of knowledge of gaming computers.
So Which Company is Better, iBUYPOWER or CyberPowerPC?
First, I’ll start off with the old adage of “you get what you paid for”. With the higher-end custom pc builders such as Maingear and OriginPC, you’ll be able to get some of the best quality systems by staff who know and understand that people are paying top dollar for these systems.
On the other hand, with iBUYPOWER and CyberPowerPC that cater to the more value oriented customers, their priority is to push out as many systems as possible. While you may be able to configure an extremely high-end system at both of these companies, they do not put as much effort into those systems compared to the other custom pc builders.
With that being said, however, if you are looking for a value-oriented gaming pc, either of these two companies are better than the other builders. Most of the other custom pc gaming builders won’t have anything below $1,000.
So which one would I choose for a value-oriented gaming pc? CyberPowerPC.