"Background:
I'm a "power user" who does Music Production, Graphic Communications and Hi-End Gaming full-time. My last custom-built rig held out for 7 years before the graphics card and mother board starting to fail. I was getting I/O and boot errors from the board.

Oneline experience:
The website is clean and user-friendly. They have lots of options for customization but not overwhelming to the point where it doesn't even make sense. Their parts lists are not necessarily the msot extensive, but as I found out later, they are hand-picked venders and manufacturers tested and chosen to work well together in a build.

Initial Build Process:
I put together a spec for a custom rig with what I thougt I needed to achieve the ultimate hi-end build. It was not cheap and came to over $10,000. This site works a bit differently than other boutique builders. You can choose to submit a "quote" of your build without adding it to a cart for purchasing. A "knowledgeable" sales person will evaluate your quote to make suggestions for changes. You can then choose to contact the sales person for further discussion.

Sales Process:
So to be fair, I attempted to spec out the same rig configuration with some of the other big name boutique builders out there. Not only were they rude to me on the phone by telling me to just pick what I saw on the site because it was going to work regardless, they also were not willing to talk things out with me unless I was willing to buy immediately.

AVADirect was the oppostie experience. The sales guy - who was also a very knowledgeable builder himself - didn't try to upsell or push stuff on me. In fact, we ended up having a two hour phone conversation about venders and manufacturers. He helped me to pick the best configuration which would work for me. This was not necessarily the most expensive configuration, either. I was still able to get what I wanted for quality without sacrificng the integrity of the build, and I saved some money in the process.

Now, unlike other big-name boutique builders, AVADirect sells components and parts based upon what works best in a tested build scenario. This means that they do not jsut offer you a laundry list of all the typical brand names becasue they are looking for the hightest margin on sales that they can get. Often times, AVADirect is taking signifecently less margin in order to offer you a quality product.

Build Process:
The build did take over two weeks, but I received direct emails along the way from my sales guy giving me updates of the build, QA and stress testing process. At one point, there was something scratched and dented which came from one of the venders. They took a picture of it, sent it to me and then, replaced the component from the vender for free without adding too mcuh more time to the build. The computer rig arrived in a massive double-boxed shipment with lots of protective foam around the computer and inside the case of the computer, itself, to protect the components.

First Boot-Up:
Not much to say. It runs so quietly and smoothly. The OS and all drivers were installed and configured to run efficiently. The motherboard, fan controller, graphics card, CPU and lighting were all tested and configured to run flawlessly out-of-the-box. No additional setup or tweaking was necessary on my part. There was no bloat-ware or additional vendor software installed. The interior of the case was well managed and the cabling/wiring was very professional. They even left two sets of SATA calbes and power connectors open for me as I requested, so I could install two additinoal SSD drives on my own which were taken from my previous build.

Important Side Note:
AVADirect is the ONLY custom boutique builder online to offer a lifetime warranty with parts, labor and repairs for a nominal fee. Worth it!

Final Thoughts:
The whole experience from start to finish was seemless and flawless. The best part was having a good, detailed, informative and "nerdy" tech conversation with my sales "builder". He guided and helped me every step of the way. The informative and personal touch was very nice. Trust me when I say that this is the best thing because I have "custom" built several of my own computers on my own at home in the past. My sales guy taught me a few things about what to do and not do with certain components in a configuration that even I was not aware of. "

"Ordered a custom PC gaming build from them and it turned out great. I wanted to switch out components multiple times and they were very helpful in ensuring the process went smoothly. Would definitely purchase from them again. Highly recommend Avadirect for your first custom PC build."

"The Z690i is just what I needed, when I needed it. A Digital Audio Workstation requires CPU power as well as extra fast disk access for playing entire symphony orchestras from sample libraries. m.2 slots as well as Thunderbolt and USB 3.2 provide all the fast disk access I need. As graphics needs are less, a smaller form factor became desirable and feasible. AVA aided me in putting it all together for me and I am quite satisfied."

"I hope this review detailing my experiences will help anyone reading in their decision to purchase a PC from this company, as the custom PC market is very large, and it can be difficult to find a trustworthy and reliable company to invest the substantial money needed for a high-end gaming PC. I’ve done my best to keep this review unbiased as a result, so that readers can have a fair and detailed impression of AVA-Direct before making their purchase.

1. The Website: AVA-Direct’s website is decent, leaning towards variety rather than streamlining PC purchases. Pre-builds are featured front and center; they can be customized once selected, or simply purchased outright. However, the pre-builds are categorized around the motherboard/CPU chipset, which subsequently can limit the configuration options (IE: If you choose an Intel pre-built, you’ll only be able to view Intel-compatible components. Choosing a motherboard model will lock your motherboard options to that model (Z690, B550, etc.) as well), so be sure of your motherboard/CPU selection before choosing a pre-built for customization.

2. Customization: AVA-Direct offers an extremely wide range of options for every relevant PC component, which comes with both advantages and disadvantages. If there is a PC part available on the market AVA-Direct will have it. The obvious advantage is the extreme customization possible with your order, akin to selecting and buying the parts yourself. This is rarely seen among most of AVA-Direct’s competitors, who often limit their parts selection ostensibly for ‘consumer convenience’ but in reality to cut costs by reducing component logistics. On the other hand, this places the burden of parts selection on the customer…meaning you are responsible for your PC specs as well ensuring your selected components are compatible. Obviously this can be avoided by sticking to AVA’s prebuilt configurations, but otherwise I advise you to do extensive research on PC building and part compatibility/availability prior to making an order.

3. Price: Unfortunately, this variety comes at a cost. While AVA-Direct’s pre-builds are more or less in line with their competitors in terms of price, making a custom PC order will see you paying around 100-200$ more than if you purchased the parts yourself. While this is somewhat made up for by their multi-year warranty, excellent quality assurance/customer service, and overall convenience, you may want to stick to their pre-builds or look elsewhere if you are on a budget.

4. Processing: If you’re not ordering a pre-built, AVA-Direct’s order processing can take an extensive amount of time. It took me a month to receive my PC after I ordered it, though I would say the average is about 2-3 weeks depending on how your PC is customized as well as your location (AVA-Direct is based in Ohio).

5. Customer Service: I found AVA-Direct’s customer service to be excellent. I communicated with them mainly through their website messaging system, but they would almost always reply back to me within a day of each message (Can vary depending on your time zone). In my case I made several mistakes in my build configuration, but AVA-Direct’s customer representatives, namely Aspram and Craig, were extremely helpful with their advice and quick to make any changes I asked for (Some of which were quite extensive), often at no additional cost.

6. Quality Assurance: I’ve never had any issues with the custom PC’s I’ve ordered from AVA Direct. Their multi-layered packaging is very secure, able to weather careless freight handling from FedEx with no damage whatsoever. It is also clear that unlike many other PC-builders, they take the time to extensively test each build they make to ensure there are no issues prior to shipping.

Overall I can say I’ve been very happy with AVA-Direct. Provided you have some PC knowledge, the customization and order experience are very smooth, and they are quick to address any issues that do happen. While they aren’t the cheapest builder around, they more than make up for it with their excellent customer service and quality assurance. I’ve been a loyal customer for many years now and I intend to remain so in the years to come."

"When looking for a company to purchase my husband a gaming PC I did a bit of research and AVA was listed. I am so happy I found them! We did an auto builder quote and there was some things my husband wanted specifically that were not listed. We called in, Kyle is who we spoke to. Great guy! Willing to listen to our needs and customize the build. We needed to skim down a few things to get the price down and Kyle found those things to make it happen. We said we had to split payment methods and again Kyle worked with us to get that take care of. As I am sure everyone knows the state of supply chain lead times we were worried it would be 2 plus months before we saw the PC. It arrived 3 weeks after we ordered. Thank you Kyle and AVA for your help and support with building this PC. "

"I have a need for an unusual set of functionality in my computer which cannot be met by over the counter purchases. I am also a hardware novice and would never consider building myself. I have used AVADirect for my last 2 computer builds and I am 100% satisfied with every aspect of the experience. Up front, they will consult with you as to your needs and make suggestions that meet those needs, not those that increase the price. They keep you informed throughout the build process and thoroughly check out the unit before shipping with a 24 hour burn in to detect any problems. Shipping is fast and packaging is secure. Everything that came with the parts and not used in the build is included in the shipment: extra screws, cables, all instruction manuals, even the empty thermal paste tube. I have had occasion to call AVADirect on several occasions with questions, always the result of my lack of knowledge or user error. They have always answered my concerns with patience and easily understood information. Thanks to AVADirect, I get the computer I require at a fair price and receive excellent customer support. They also sell pre-configured desktops and laptops. I purchased a laptop for my wife from AVADirect and she has been very happy with the product and performance. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with AVADirect for your computer needs."

"I'm going to be honest, this computer that I got from AVADirect is a BEAST!! This is my first "Professional" gaming computer. The cable management on the computer is done perfectly. Runs ALL my games smoothly. There was a problem with the testing process before I got the computer, but it was just a compatibility issue, MY FAULT not AVADirects. They were trying to fix it the best they could, but the part that they needed took to long to come in so I just told them to remove the Wi-Fi adapter. I do wish the website UI did have a notification letting you know what is compatible or not. Also, a preview of what the computer would look like would've great, I do wish I had more RGB, if I had the option to preview there computer I would have known what parts had RGB and looked nice on the PC. Those are just some picky problems I had. Other then that, the process of ordering the computer was great, the customer service is terrific, the computer build is amazing. "

"AVADirect has a customizer to let you build anything you want, and it has a ton of great options. Plus, once you build it, they work with you to make sure it is what you want. I'm writing this review using mine, and it's working very well after several months."

"There was an issue with a power supply that was out of stock. Customer service called me and after I missed the email and the issue was taken care of immediately. Was extremly surprised on the speed of build/shipping, and it arrived with no issues. Truly a class act in the boutique PC space."

"I've bought two high-end computer systems from AVA and bot times the systems were on spot with the specifications I ordered, well assembled with clean and organized installs, properly burned in and bench-tested - zero surprises. The company keeps it's commitments and is very transparent through the design and purchase process. I would absolutely recommend them."

"I have been talking with AVADirect, specifically Kyle Mizer, for about three years. This company has been exquisite. Every step of the way we discussed all the different options available for my system. Constant discussion back and forth to make sure that I would have a system that not only fitted my needs but also planning ahead for future proofing the system. When time drug on, due to my poor planning, I was kept informed of upcoming technologies. I would get recommendations to wait until new equipment was released to better serve my needs. And through it all they fought to get me the best price. I would configure something on my own but when I asked the sales team, again thanks Kyle!, I would always be set up with the best deal saving a ton!

One of my favorite parts? No bloatware. No proprietary tools that take up space, use extra processing power, and go unused only to go obsolete and be a drag on the system. It's only what you ask for."

"AVADirect was a really responsive and helpful group. Working through all of my questions and providing prompt feedback and help. High-end workstation got the support it warranted. Thanks!"

"The website was easy to use and they had a wide selection of components. I setup my PC and put in the order. They didnt have all the parts (only downside was the website doesnt show what is/isnt in the warehouse) but a customer service rep (Aspram Shahinyan) was absolutely amazing. He reached out, let me know what wasnt in the warehouse, gave me replacement options or the option to wait. We waited for some and replaced another and the process was quick and painless. The PC shipped and arrived quickly and works great! Easy to take out, hook up and use. No complaints!"

"Wife complained about my old noisy pc.
Contacted Joe at AVA and he helped guide me through the process of building a great and almost silent machine with all of the bell and whistles you could want.
I have been using it for months and could not be happier with the machine or the awesome service I got from them.
I would recommend them without blinking an eye.

JJ"

"(Background: I retired as a computer programmer for 42 years, 5 yrs. ago.)

Another '10' for AVADIRECT.
I have ordered 4 custom made desktop PCs from them in 2008, 2012, 2016 and just two months ago:

11th Gen Intel Core processors, Z590 Chipset, Custom Computer Desktop

It's always the same 'story': Excellent support during and after the order process.

This time, my order was finalized on Oct 25 and the PC was at my door Nov 17. That's 3 weeks and two days. It is important to state that, for the 1st time, I ordered a custom made PC WITHOUT a GPU (AKA video card). That's because I don't use my PCs to play modern, state of the art games, which require their own dedicated CPUs to run properly. (There's a long wait on those...)

For the 1st time, I concluded that the state-of-the-art Intel Graphics subsystem met all my needs, so no video card was necessary.

As usual, the PC was extremely well packed. A nice box contained all unused parts as well as every installation CD-ROM that came with the products.

Everything worked, 'first time every time' (phrase that we computer geeks use, not as often as we would like). Not a single flaw and complete attention was paid to every detail that my release notes specified.

*All* these times (4) I have always dealt directly with Joseph Mundy whom I highly recommend at AVA."