"I am very impressed with the parts available. I was looking for a bracket for a processor fan that is not currently made anymore, and AVADirect had it! One thing that disappoints me is the shipping. I paid $15 for shipping a $1 part, and it was shipped USPS. I was under the impression that it would be sent UPS or FEDEX, who are usually much faster, and as I do a lot of shipping for my job, I know (approximately) what shipping rates are. Now I haven't received the bracket yet, but will update this when it comes in. I just feel the shipping price is inflated, especially considering the fact that it was shipped through US mail. I am otherwise satisfied so far with AVADirect, but will probably have to pay more for them in the future to expedite the shipping to make sure this doesn't happen in the future."

"Excellent company. Nice online configurator and helpful customer service, had all the options I needed to assemble the exact high end CAE workstation I wanted.

Great price, quick service. I'll be back. Thanks!"

"I've built several PCs from scratch and I was always leery about ordering a custom-built unit online, but when it was time to put together a home theatre PC I wanted to make sure it was extremely quiet and I wanted a professional to handle it.

I am so glad I chose AVA Direct. From the beginning they were professionals, they helped me pick the right components over the phone, they built and shipped it in a timely manner, and everything worked perfectly right out of the box.

About two years after purchase, the PC stopped powering on. I called AVA and they provided me instructions on how to RMA the unit. Other than having to pay over $100 to ship it back to them, they fixed and tested the unit in a reasonable amount of time. When I got the computer back, I was getting a "CPU fan error" but they helped me fix it over e-mail (turns out when they do a repair, they pack some styrofoam inside the case with the components to make sure nothing gets jostled or broken in transit).

I would definitely recommend AVA Direct and the next time I build another HTPC, I am going to use them again!"

"I just wanted share my experience ordering a custom PC from AVA Direct. I originally ordered a sandy bridge based system on 1/20 but wound up changing to a 1st gen i5 based system due to the sandy bridge recall. This is my second time ordering a PC from AVA, the first time back in 2007. Overall, I am very satisfied with my experience. Some observations:

* AVA is the ONLY custom computer outfit that gives you nearly the amount of options that you would have as if you were building your own PC. I've looked at many other custom PC outfits and nobody comes close to the options you have from AVA. With that being said, I recommend that you do your research into each component before ordering as components offered are of varying quality.

* Once you get past the sheer amount of options you have, ordering couldn't be easier. AVA really handled the recall as well as can be expected, and while I had to resubmit an order, there was no hassle in calling them up and having the original order cancelled. I had to wait an additional couple weeks to receive my system, but that was to be expected.

* AVA's prices are good. Lower then most boutiques and about on par with sites like ibuypower. Unlike them though, you have the option to save money by only ordering components that you need. For example, they don't force you to get an optical drive if you don't need one.

* I received my PC on 2/17. The packaging was really good, with tons of packing peanuts and double boxing, as well as styrofoam supports. The build quality and cable management was flawless. The PC functioned out of the box well, although some drivers were not up to date and turbo boost was disabled in bios for some reason. Also the cpu ran a bit hot during prime95 testing. The PC was completely stable however, and so far I've not run into any crashes or BSODs.

Overall, I would recommend AVA for those. Looking for a custom PC but don't want to do it yourself. Be aware though that you MUST research the components for your build before ordering."

"great price and quality, received my computer as expected, no issues upon powering it on or 2 weeks later. I would order from these guys again. Earlier had considered my local Microcenter but I liked the ability to choose exactly what goes inside my computer - ended up getting a more powerful yet cheaper 6 core AMD system."

"I was searching for components for my own build, hopefully from one source for simplicity's sake, without much success, when I chanced upon AVADirect. Not only did they have everything I needed but they also had the widest selection of components of any of the 6 or 7 custom builders I checked or even e-tailers like NewEgg or multi-sourcers like Amazon. In addition, their prices were more than competitive and they would assemble anything from a barebones set-up to a full system to your specifications from the parts you choose, test it, burn it in and offer a warranty on all components along with tech support, all for the cost of the parts. This was fast becoming a no-brainer.

You can assemble a system and order online from their configuration tool or browse the site for available parts or you can give them a call. When you call AVA Direct appears to have a small form factor front end. By that I mean you will make contact with one of just a few reps. This is mainly a good thing as you receive a more personalized service than you do at some of the larger builders. Just try to reach the same rep on subsequent calls to someone like Dell. This can sometimes result in a bit of phone tag when they are busy but it is well worth it. Everyone you reach will be knowledgeable and offer solid and reasonable advice with no pressure to "buy now" or upgrade to a more expensive component than you need. Their focus seems to be to sell you what you want and need rather than what they want to sell you. More companies should follow this model. Communication is excellent with call-backs and emails answered in usually no more than 24 hrs. and very often within just a couple of hours either via email or an onsite PM.

Normal delivery times seem to average around 10 days to 2 weeks from the order date which is quite reasonable. They will keep you updated on your build and contact you if there are any stock or compatibility problems. Build quality is top-notch - among the best I've seen - with all wires and cables tightly bundled and carefully routed around the edges of the motherboard and sides of the case for an open design allowing the best possible airflow. If anything, it might be a bit overdone. Even with standard shipping everything comes well packaged, double boxed and well cushioned. In the box you will receive everything you paid for including all manuals, extra cables, mounting screws & parts, standoffs or anything that came with components of your build - even the leftover thermal paste. The only minor glitch with my order was that I received the right case but the wrong color faceplate. As I said, very minor and not worth complaint or return.

As you can guess, I'm very well pleased with my purchase and overall experience with AVADirect including after sale support. The system has performed flawlessly from day one. I'd be hard pressed to come up with a reason for not ordering from AVA Direct."

"I am very impressed with all aspects of AVADirect performance .
The order process was straight forward ,since I knew exactly the specific components I wanted .The selection available is huge and it is very easy to find exactely what one is looking for .
The price quoted was very good and approched the cost of building your own .
The machine arrived 10 days after ordered, it was very well packaged .
The built was done with great deal of care , the cables were routed very neatly .
The computer started and ran without a hitch and has been doing so ever since , it is very stable .
The files in the memory showe a reasonabe burn-in and testing .
In all I think it was one of the best computers I ever bought ."

"Great support by AVA. I had some issues that I caused and they took care of me very well. The bottom line is that they care which is way more than you can say for the main stream computer makers. Great outfit to buy a computer from.

"

"Fantastic company! They guided me every step of the way, discussing and choosing each component. The final price was excellent and the system is still fantastic today, although memory and hard drives have been upgraded since. I would go to no one else for my next system!!! Can't recommend AVADirect enough! DWMantz"

"Did a little research and chose AVADirect to order my next machine from. Made the order online, a couple days passed, and they gave me a call.

The system I had ordered was a fine choice, but some things had changed that were not reflected on the web site. I could get a better GPU with a nicer warranty at no extra cost -- was I interested in making the change? Why certainly!

So, the ordering process was not only easy, they even called to help make it a little sweeter.

I'd like to say that machine arrived and there has never been a single glitch, that was not the case. To steal a well-worn phrase, "Sh*t happens..." -- it's how the people you bought your machine from handle these situations that makes the difference.

I had ordered a dual boot system -- Win 7 and Fedora. The machine arrived and Fedora would not accept the password, no matter what I tried.

Called AVA and they apologized profusely and we walked through getting that issue resolved. The Tech Support agent was great -- friendly, knowledgeable, and not above admitting when AVA had made a mistake somewhere.

He wanted to help me resolve the situation and didn't talk to me the way some Tech Support people do -- like you're some kind of lower life form who should consider yourself lucky to be in the presence of such greatness...

Anyway, months go by and I am really enjoying the new machine. Then BINGO!

Windows throws me that lovely little error message: "The hard disk is goin' down Captain! Abandon ship!!!"

Called AVA and spoke with Joe Mundy. Told him the issue and working together we tested a number of issues to see if it was indeed a hard disk error, a cable gone bad, etc. The issue was resolved, new HD on the way, with assurances to simply call back if I have any issues whatever getting the new disk installed.

Fast, efficient, and friendly. I can not stress how important the last part is. Nothing worse than getting someone with an attitude, or some poor guy at a call center in god-knows-where, reading off a script, trying to maintain the illusion you're talking to an expert when it's painfully obvious the person has nary a clue.

Heck knows I've been on the horn with folks from the likes of Dell, talking to someone who swears his name is "Steve" while I can hear people hollering in Hindi in the background. And, by the end of the conversation, I've taught him more about hardware than he's taught me.

Thank you everyone at AVADirect for being so cool and easy to work with!"

"I was very pleased with the entire ordering process. I configured my system, saved the configuation/quote for a very generous 30 days, while I compared other vendors. After shopping around, the choice was made to go with AVADirect. I was then able to get some suggestions for changes to my configured system that optimized it for performance, cooling, etc. without blowing the roof off of the original quote.

Great pre-sales and post-sales support and quality workmanship for a reasonable price--what more can you ask for?"

"After researching many custom computer outfits online and comparing the prices of the build that I wanted, I finally settled on AVADirect due to their very low price and generally positive rating here. I was a little concerned after discovering some very "vocal" negative reviewers on some forums from a few years ago, but I decided to give them a shot, and I'm glad that I did.

I spent some extra time with my build ensuring that everything would be compatible before I submitted it. I basically treated it like I'd be building it myself, because I didn't want them to come back telling me that it would have to be altered or that my video card wouldn't fit in the case. I also made sure that all the components that I selected were in stock. I submitted the build on the night of 12/28/10 and it was shipped on 1/13/11, with great communication the whole time on the part of AVADirect.

Packaging was good, and after letting it warm up a bit from the cold, I opened it up, examined it, and booted. Everything was exactly how I ordered it, with no alternate parts subbed in or anything. In addition, the wiring inside was very professionally done. I've since added a few extra hard drives and I've found it very easy to work with their wiring.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed with their level of service, and my computer has been humming along perfectly for the last few weeks. I'm very happy with their work.

I'll try to update this review in about 6 months."

"I received help ordering and creating a complex Server-based workstation. Asus MB handles > 190 GB ram, twin XEON 5600 cpus, etc. Added an LSI MegaRaid card with 6GB/s throughput and Constellation 6GB/s drives. OCZ SSD for OS drive. System works great. Wonderful fast data I/O for my modeling needs. Great build and nice clean setup. Well Done!

"

"I spent several months shopping around, looking for exactly the computer I wanted. I do a lot of Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator work, and I need a computer that can do a good amount of heavy lifting.

When I found AVADirect, I was immediately blown away by first the pricing, and second the sheer amount of customization available. I spent roughly three weeks tweaking and re-tweaking the setup to get what I thought would be the most computer possible for my budget.

Joseph was extremely helpful, answering my questions and making suggestions to help me maximize performance while staying within my budget.

It was WELL worth the time. The computer arrived in perfect condition, and fired right up. And it is everything I'd hoped for: extremely fast, very quiet, just an amazing machine.

Technically, the build was very clean, the cable management top-notch, everything was just what you'd expect from a pro shop.

I highly recommend giving the people at AVADirect a chance to satisfy you."

"I had a good experience with AVAdirect. I did have a problem with my order (one of the components that I was charged for was missing when my order arrived). I was able to get a refund for the missing component without too much hassle."