Why your next PC should be an ORIGIN PC

By Marcus Jones Posted on August 25, 2012

Many people who have thought of delving into the PC gaming market are usually faced with a number of hurdles to jump within the first few minutes. Hurdles that include questions like “does my current system handle gaming?” and “will I have to look into buying a new rig?” Those that are forced to choose “yes” on that second question are usually faced with even more problems: should they build their own machine and face the hassles or look into getting a pre-made gaming system?

Once again, depending on the choices, new PC gamers have problems to face – building a PC from scratch takes time and effort, research has to be done and a lot of money must be spent. For those that decide to just purchase those pre-made gaming PCs, they’re faced with jacked prices and dealing with Dell’s Alienware or HP’s “gaming series.”

Another choice for PC gaming enthusiasts, one that promises a lasting connection not only with your machine but with the company that made it for you. ORIGIN PC, created from the ground up by former Alienware employees (many of the ones responsible for what Alienware is today), offers an alternative solution to PC gamers looking to break into PC gaming with both style and power.

I sat down with Jorge Percival, part of ORIGIN’s product group, to discuss the company and their offerings. What I didn’t expect was the fierceness, confidence, and sheer love of gaming that Jorge, and ORIGIN itself, exudes.

ORIGIN PC is a relatively recent company in many ways, started from mainstays from Alienware’s golden days. The the people who started are originals from Alienware – Kevin Wasielewski, Richard Cary, and Hector Penton – all helped build up the company to the giant it is today. After Dell bought them out, a conflict of interests occurred and from the ashes of that ORIGIN was born.

Jorge went on to explain that ORIGIN was built to not only be a company that builds computers, but a company that builds lasting connections. Many of the people who buy a PC from them are remembered, and Jorge explained that many times the company will work with previous customers in helping them either swap out for new parts or look into buying a new rig altogether. They’re devoted to their customer base in a way that many larger corporations will overlook.

We toyed around with a laptop and spent quite a while talking to Jorge, and honestly, it was a great talk. He gave us a lot of insight about the company, about their ideals. Perhaps the coolest thing Jorge explained to us was the love of gaming, the sheer passion for it, that the company is steeped in. There is literally a line of games lining the wall along the ceiling and chances are if there is a title you can think of, it’ll be there.

Not only that though – everyone plays games. From the CEO at the top all the way to the guys packing the computers and shipping them out. Some companies have naysayers in their ranks, but it seems that for ORIGIN if anyone wants to challenge them to a game, they’ll throw down and game with you. All of them.

I decided to sit down and price out equivalent high-end PCs using the primary go to site newegg.com. Many PC gamers knew this site well: it’s one of the most central and necessary sites for people looking to buy parts and assemble it themselves. Using their Genesis model as a base, I sat down and slowly began to price everything piece by piece. I did my best to also make sure I got the same parts across both sides of the divide – and in most cases I think I nailed it square on the head.

NEWEGG

• CORSAIR Obsidian Series 800D Case – $274.99
• CORSAIR H100 Extreme Performance Liquid Cooler – $114.99
• ASUS P9X79 Deluxe LGA 2011 – $369.99
• Intel Core i7 – 3930k Sandy Bridge – $569.99
• CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W PSU – $209.99
• CORSAIR Vegence 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 Ram – $119.99
• GeForce GTX 670 2GB – $399.99 x 2 = $799.98
• Deskstar 2TB 7200RPM HDD – $259.98
• Blu-ray 12X Drive – $299.99
• Sony DVD R/RW Drive – $34.99
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional – $139.99
• McAfee Antivirus Plus 2012 – Free (came with everything!)

The final total for the Newegg machine is $3,194.87 and that price is as of August 10th, 2012. It did include some rebates and savings that might not be available at a later date, but it’s a solid machine that would be worth the money and effort to get it assembled.

But what about the Origin PC?

• CORSAIR 800D Case
• ASUS P9X78 Deluxe
• ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling System
• Intel Core i7 3930k Quad-Core Processor
• 1050 Watt CORSAIR HX1050 PSU
• Dual 2BG GDDR5 NVIDIA GTX 670 graphics cards
• 16GB CORSAIR Vengence DDR3 1600Mhz (4 x 4GB) Memory
• MS WIndows 7 Professional 64-Bit Edition
• 2TB SATA 3.0GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD
• 12x Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive
• 24x CD/DVD Burner Drive
• ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor (for shipping)
• 1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty (with more)

So as you can see, almost completely identical parts from the ground up. Literally. Even the case is the same. What’s different though? Yes, you will pay a little extra for ORIGIN’s stuff – only a whopping $3,479. Granted, this is without any true customization that would make that tower stand out as something you helped make. Ultimately though, a $280 difference for an already overclocked is amazing. Not only that though, you’ll get access to one of the most dedicated teams in the PC industry, not to mention you can also always expect them to help you out in almost any situation. Jorge explained to me just how far ORIGIN is willing to go – they’ll work with everyone on pricing, design, everything you can think of. If you need to fit a computer into a space that won’t fit even a mid-size tower, talk to them and see about getting it custom built from the ground up.

Literally, they’ll cut the metal for your case on-site. How crazy is that?

That extra work will end up costing extra as well, but in creating something personal for the person who will be owning it for years, isn’t that worth it? Computers and gaming PCs are now about the personalization and the flashy showing as much as they are about their capabilities – QuakeCon even has a recurring contest every year to determine the coolest cases and case mods. Spending that extra few bucks (it ranges depending on the amount of customization) not only gives owners something to show off to friends, but something they can honestly call their own without having to go out and design/cut/shape/paint everything by themselves.

People looking into a new PC might want to rethink how they’re going about the process. Do you want to buy Alienware (the symbol is cool, but it costs a ton) or spend the time putting a machine together only to have the motherboard and processor be incompatible (RMAs are annoying), or would you rather pay for something that gets to be yours in every way?