"AVADirect is THE company to buy from when purchasing a custom computer. The endless customizations may seem intimidating at first, but with a simple forum post, or a call in, and there will be help coming in from every direction.
For me, I really liked how I was able to customize every part, and also to know that it will be tested to perfection.
My order was placed on june 27, and I received my computer on july 17th, which was much faster than I expected. During this period, Joe kept me updated on the status of my system. The computer was packed very safely, even on the inside of the computer to prevent part from falling off during shipping. It booted right up without any problem, and no useless junk programs at all.
Also, the wiring was spectacular. I chose the Antec 900 case for my build, and if you're a DIY person, you would know how much of a pain the wire management in the antec 900 is.
I really don't know what else to say. It's basically been a smooth and worriless ride. AVADirect really made me feel like a valued customer."

"Asked AVA Direct to build a custom gaming computer for me. Needed an upgrade badly!

Spoke to Joe at AVA to ask questions I had about ram size, PS and a couple other minor questions about the build I was considering. Joe answered all questions without any pressure to upgrade what I had configured. I ordered the computer and much to my surprise, got it just yesterday. Thought that was a pretty fast build and ship date after dealing with other builders.

Love the computer. It's the quietest I've ever owned and I'm sure I will be happy playing all my games using quad-core 3.2 and a GeForce GTX280.

Let me just mention that their pricing is excellent too! "

"Their website is extremely easy to use, the shipping is great, and they gaurentee 24-72 hours of burn in. Great service, I'd order from them again, and likely will for my next computer."

"After learning of Alienware's purchase by Dell, I decided to investigate other online retailers who could custom-build powerful computer systems. I am primarily a photographer so I needed some power to edit some seriously high-res photos, which my old computer was not giving me.

After some time, I discovered AVA Direct through browsing on various tech chat sites. Their Reseller rating was so astoundingly good that I decided they would be able to do the job for me at a reasonable price and great selection.

There was a little snag with the processor I chose (Intel's fault, not AVA's), and Mischa (head customer service rep) was nice enough to offer me free overclocking of a slightly slower processor to account for the time that had elapsed. Their customer service people are extremely friendly and helpful; I never called on the phone, but I used the online help form frequently, and Mischa or another rep would always get back to me within a couple hours.

My system arrived several weeks ago, and it flies like Thor riding to Valhalla. AVA did a great job on the wiring, packaging, driver installs, etc. The only thing I had to do was connect one tiny fan wire that had become disconnected during shipping, and I was ready to go. I have had no problems with the system at all and it performs better than I had hoped.

If it is professional service and craftmanship that you want in your custom computer at competitive prices, AVA delivers.

Go AVA Direct, thanks for everything!"

"It took me several months of online browsing and shopping at different sites to find what I wanted. AVA Direct had the best selection of quality components available, at the most reasonable price. They even offered Windows XP, with media included, an option I couldn't find anywhere else. It took 10 business days from ordering to receiving.(Not bad for a custom built machine.) Everything was well-packaged, and arrived in perfect condition. The Antec Sonota Designer case runs whisper quiet. Another plus! And since my purchase, I've been impressed with AVA Direct, & Joe Mundy's excellent communication and service after the sale. Excellence, integrity, and friendly people. A satisfying experience. Thank you, AVA Direct."

"This review is in regard to my recent purchase of a barebones system from Ava Direct. To make my review easier to follow i have divided this review into sections:

Initial impressions/ reason for buying:

To be perfectly honest, I was looking for a basic machine to suit my needs with certain specifications. I felt comfortable ordering an Antec case, 550watt power supply, and motherboard/cpu all preinstalled. I am a systems technician for a well known company and honestly, the last thing i want to do in my spare time is build a system from scratch. This being said i also am a very technical person, can assemble systems from scratch albeit at my own leisure.

My machine arrived on 6/26/2008 which was only a short while ago. To Ava Direct's merit my machine was packed with great care, in two boxes. After unpacking the machine the first things i noticed was how well the system was packed, and the appropriate documentation. Upon opening the case i noticed how fantastic the wiring was done at no additional charge. At this point i was quite impressed with my new build.

System performance:

Unfortunately here is where things get ugly and i shall explain why. There seems to be issues with the 750I chipset and the instability of the drivers supplied with it. The default drivers that come with the CD will actually cause the system to crash. So i read up on the issue independently and the board I picked apparently has a fair share of issues. I also noticed that my front audio was never hooked up in the computer, which is a big inconvenience as I like to use my headset. This brings me to my next gripe, which is the fan i ordered to cool my processor. I orders the Zalman CNPS7000b off their website. This cheap but better then stock cooling solution keeps the CPU cool. However, the fan is loud because it has no thermal sensor. In order to quiet the fans to a reasonable level you need to install the fan controller which should have came with my system but did not. One of their technicians informed me the fan that was selected for my system causes problems with a fair amount of systems. It would have been nice to receive that information in advance, and been given another option.

Conclusion:

Perhaps my quibbles with the system could be considered advanced issues if not for my constant exposure to information technology. The reason Ava Direct received my business is because they offer a customizable computing experience. In this regard it is hard to be pleased having issues that could have been avoided. Personally I expected to do a little work since i had to install the dvd drive, graphics card, and hard drive /w OS separately. I did not expect to receive a motherboard plagued with problems, no front panel audio hooked up, and a exceptionally loud CPU cooling fan. The price of the barebones system was quite reasonable, except it does not work properly. It's really not worth it for me to return the system because there would be restocking penalties for doing so. Due to these issues, this PC has not fulfilled the role it was intended for. Sadly as of currently I cannot recommend this seller, as my disappointment outweighs my initial outstanding impression.

-Jesse
"

"SKULLTRAIL extreme Dual Quad-core just arrived from AVA Direct. Very clean and professional intsallation. Works perfectly. This is my second order from AVA Direct and now I'm convinced that they are the best. There was a small problem during the assembly of my machine vis a vis harware compadibility, but the CEO of the company called me to explain everything and how the problem would be resolved. The CEO! I am editing video with Avid Media composer on Vista Ultimate 64-bit. Flawless. So all you Mac users who put down windows can line up to kiss old rosie! If you are shopping for a computer, have AVA Direct design one for your needs. Don't worry about the price they really can't be beat. Plus you will get customer support from an amazing team of individuals. That's about it.
AVA Direct=best price and best quality and best support.

-extremely satasfied customer"

"I first found out about AVA Direct in January 2007, when I started researching where to buy my next computer. My last two computers were from Dell, the latest being a Dell XPS from 2003. The XPS computer worked fine, but I wasn't happy with Dell's propriety parts, which made it very difficult to upgrade the computer except for adding RAM and upgrading the video card. No overclocking was possible due to their BIOS. So I went looking for a boutique vendor that used standard parts and had a good reputation. AVA Direct was one of ten vendors in my list. After configuring similar systems from all ten vendors, the AVA Direct system was the least expensive, in some cases by a lot. They also provided the largest selection of components. During the time between then and now, I have had two friends and my father purchase computers from AVA Direct (based on my recommendation), and all of them were very happy with their computers.

Anyway, I was waiting until a game came out that my Dell XPS couldn't handle, and that was eventually Age of Conan (released in May 2008). It was time to buy, and there was no doubt I would be purchasing from AVA Direct. I used their website to configure the computer I wanted, and then spoke with their sales rep Joe Mundy about some questions I had (including overclocking). With Joe's advice, and researching on my own the components he recommended, I changed a few of the components, and e-mailed my order late in the afternoon of Thursday, May 29. AVA Direct was offering free overclocking for the month of May, which saved me $99. I received a reply in the morning on Friday, May 30, and the order was finalized later that day. I mailed out a Cashiers Check that afternoon, which they received on Monday, June 2, and my order status was set to Processing. I received my computer on June 17.

The computer arrived in perfect condition. Not only was it packed well for shipping (which was important due to the large heatsink installed), they even used protective thin plastic around the case to protect it from scratches! After booting it up, everything seemed to work fine, and I installed some games, including Age of Conan. After setting all of the in-game settings on high, I entered the game, and it simply looked amazing, and still had high framerates :)

The only problem I had with the computer was when I tried to play audio CDs, and they would all stop playing, with an error, after 1:03. I checked for newer firmware for the Samsung SH-S203N, and found there was a newer firmware version available, so I installed it, but it didn't fix the problem. So at this point, it was time to call Technical Support. I called at 12:07pm and chose option 4 for Technical Support on the phone menu. Chris Mundy answered after two rings. I explained my problem, and what I had done to try to fix it. He said he would need a few minutes to research the problem. By 12:15pm I had received an e-mail from him with a link for downloading new motherboard drivers. There seemed to be an issue with the eVGA 750i SLI FTW motherboard and SATA optical disk drives. I just clicked on the link to download the new drivers, then just ran them. They installed, I rebooted, and the problem was fixed :)

I have a more detailed review at http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1311103 if anyone is interested. I highly recommend AVA Direct for their friendly staff, huge selection of parts, low prices, and great technical support. Two thumbs up!
"

"These guys are great! We've ordered 8 machines from them so far, and expect to order more.

1) Price - If you price their builds against building yourself from NewEgg parts, you'll be surprised how little premium you pay for assembly, burn-in, testing and 3 years of support. And they don't try to gouge you on add-ons. Other shops make the basic machine price look good, but then overcharge for such things as extra memory or larger hard drives.


2) Service - They are eager to do whatever you want them to do. We supplied them with pre-licensed copies of Windows OSs, and they installed them for free.

3) Communication - They have a good system for providing order status and for communicating issues regarding an order.

4) Support - We haven't had any problems yet with our machines, but I expect these guys to be all over it if a problem arises.

My only wish is that the turn-around time wasn't so long on ordering from these guys. That's not their fault though. Rather, it's due to the fact that they build your machines to order, burn them in for 3 days, and then test the machines. That just takes time. I just wish these guys could find a way to defy physics. :)

"

"Nothing but excellence so far. They helped selecting the proper components. The computer arrived in excellent condition and was up and running in a reasonable amount of time. Have a couple of issues that need to be solved and got a fast response back. Have not tried to potential solutions yet but have confidence that they will provide timely help.

I would recommented ordering from this company."

"I had a Dell Insperion 1520 with Vista on it and it kept blue screening. Never did get it working. so i returned it for 100% refund. Researched other laptops to find one comparable to it. The MS-1636 (ex600) had everything i wanted plus the Independent
key pad built in. I had Ubuntu 8.04 installed and everything is running good."

"After years of buying Dells, I decided to purchase a custom machine. After doing about a month of research I went with AVA Direct.

The ordering experience was simple, and the system was shipped within a few days. The only thing out of the ordinary was the fraud protection, since I had never experienced that with any on-line purchase.

When the system arrived, it was everything I wanted and I have had zero issues with it.

In the next couple of months I will be getting another machnine, and AVA will be getting my business."

"My husband and I just recently bought a custom made laptop through this company. We were very impressed with the product and service that was provided to us. Everyone was nice and responses were prompt. The computer is as we expected it to be. I highly encourage anyone at all who is looking for a custom made computer to look into this company. I, for one, will do business with them again. Thank you Ava Direct"

"I recently ordered a new Shuttle PC from AVADirect. I placed my order with them because I was wanted a quality PC built to my specifications at a reasonable price, and it looked like they fit the bill. I've had two weeks to test out the new machine, and here are my thoughts on the entire experiences.

PROS:

Selection - They had a very wide selection of components to choose from. In my case, I was looking for a Shuttle build using a Q9450. The option was intially not available on the website, but after a quick email, it was made available.

Price - All the parts are very reasonably priced. In fact, I could not find another place that would build a custom Shuttle PC for near the cost.

Support - Support was very responsive, but - to be very honest - not overly helpful. However, they did send me an Everest log detailing the diagnostic and benchmark results from their end. I've never gotten anything similar from another builder. It was a good place to start for tuning the machine on my end.

CONS:

Hours - Their hours are EST based. I ended up needing to check the status every 1-2 days. For me being a West Coast person and not a morning person, it was somewhat inconvenient.

Delays - I ordered on 4/17. Credit authorization cleared on 4/18. The computer shipped more than a month later on 5/19. Part of the problem was I had multiple parts fail. They did not carry spares and had to wait for replacements to be shipped.

Work needed to get the machine working out of the box - I had 3 problems with the machine out of the box.

1) The 2.6GHz processor was running at 2.0GHz. This was not obvious (hidden by bootup logo) and could have easily slipped by if I didn't run my own benchmarks. It turns out the BIOS was reset during shipping and I had to re-enter the multiplier and fan settings. The Everest logs were helpful on this end.

2. One of the USB ports was not working. I had to open box and redo some cable connections.

3. The GPU fan was annoyingly loud. Support was not helpful. I had to find my own work-around to tune the fan settings.

Overall, I am satisfied with the final product. Once the initial problems were resolved, the machine has been running like a champ. However, it was by no means a hassle-free experience. I would recommend AVADirect if 1) you know what you're doing, 2) you have the time and energy to make sure the machine is built and configured correctly, and 3) you're not in a hurry. I would not recommend them to an average user.
"

"Since I build my own systems usually, I took a lot of time looking on the web for a custom game PC builder and finally chose AVA Direct after talking to them directly several times.

I am very satisfied with my system. I highly customized it and got exactly the parts that I wanted including custom cpu cooling, quiet case, brand new model hard drive, brand new CPU.

My sales person Joe Mundy was very nice and helpful every step of the way.

Only issue I had was about getting the order started which took much longer than expected due to fraud protection. That took and extra week to sort out since I was traveling.

Great customized gaming computer that rocks! Good company to work with!"