if you help somebody buy a computer, whether you build it or not, you are their tech support guy for life anyways. there are two ways to get around this: tell your friends that you only know how to use linux so you can't help them with their windows problems, or ALWAYS give a solution to their problems that requires buying a new part/software. that will be almost as good a deterrent as sending them to a for-cost tech support.
There's a third way, tell them any action you take will void their guarantee and you're not prepared to risk that for a pal.
I agree with not building to some extent, it is up to you really. If you build, get an Antec P182 case, Corsairh HX520 (OCZ is crap), 4GB Patriot as Hazardous said, an 8800GT, and a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with a Scythe S-Flex. Otherwise, go for AVA.
Some people prefer security rather than having the best deal, that is why some people pay extra insurance, extra insurance is never worth the money statistically, but when you will find your house empty/burnt/destroyed, you will be happy to receive a check so you won't lose everything ... Some people do not want the hassle to repair or wait for repairs or to send the parts themselves or whatever ... I know that if I was deadset on getting a pre-built, I would not ask my friend to make a PC, because I do not want to get angry with him over a broken PC. (i.e. can you cover me if my house get hit by thunder and all my electronics is gone ? like some insurance policies do)
The problem is not with voltage stability; That is decent. It's the ripple. ALL those sites test a PSU with a System, don't test it properly (extremely low up to extremely high loads, crossloads, etc), All except for EOC don't test for ripple at all, etc. Even if they did test for ripple, using a system effectivly negates the result, seeing how that's what the system PWM is designed to do; filter ripple. Don't forget that FSP even rated the psu for 200mw of ripple. ATX Spec is 150. Let me Clarify instead of using an analogy: ibuypower and cyberpowerinc do not support their products. They do not build their pc's with the same level of care that other brands may, and they leave much to be desired. iBuypower on reseller ratings: 4.96 | [H]consumer tech support: 1/10, overall, 2/10 cyberpowerinc: 7.98 | 7/10 (substandard) AVAdirect: 9.6 | Recommended Maingear: 9.58 | Highly Recommended 9.5/10 They will set you back a lot more, but you get what you pay for.
Aye. I'd say a PSU is hardly a highend unit if it doesn't even meet the ATX-standard After seeing OCZ's Ninja-carbon copy I like that brand even less anyway. And my personal rant about power supply reviews is that in 90% of time they just connect the cables and see if the rig works. Some even load it to the max, but so what? "Woah a proper PSU does what it's supposed to!". Atleast for a while. I'd rather look at some statistics showing RMA'd units than read those reviews. Real reliability can't be tested as it would require tons of units running for years, but I hope you get the point... The best that hardware sites can do is to atleast test all the specs and not only the max. output.
I'd rather see all those other psu reviews just go away. They're doing a dis favor to everyone. Just because they plugged it into a system that takes more power than normal, that doesn't mean anything. That's not loading it up, not crossloading it, not testing all the rails, not testing for ripple properly, not testing efficiency, etc. Same goes for newegg reviews. "I saw this product and it looks cool so i give it 5/5" "I bought this product and plugged it in and it starts up 5/5"
