Skip to main content

Need a more powerful home PC? AVADirect lets you build your own

avadirect expands beyond gaming offers home office pcs
Image used with permission by copyright holder
AVADirect has announced the creation of its new Home and Business division, which will cater more to enterprise and home users than its previous systems, which were generally focused on gaming or, in some cases, high-end workstation applications.

Although a lot of mainstream users have moved over to laptops, two-in-ones, and convertible tablets, there’s still sector of home PC users who need the extra power offered by a desktop. There are also more enthusiast-end, end-users who might like to build an HTPC or office computer without having to un-tick that box for a graphics card and WC-equipped chassis in the usual configurator.

That doesn’t mean you need to build a ‘home’ or ‘business’ system without any grunt to it, though. There are still options for 900 series dedicated GPUs from Nvidia for those at home, and Quadro cards for those building something for the office. Each has a power supply limited to 650 watts, however, to keep the systems efficient.

You’ll have to buy from the newest Skylake generation of CPUs, which while hardly a bad thing, does mean missing out on the potential savings from dropping back a generation and using older stock.

Otherwise, AVADirect is offering the whole enchilada. The new line-up includes mini, mid-sized and full-sized desktop towers, Intel NUC  variants, laptops with displays between 14 and 17 inches, home theater and even server PCs. This extremely wide range is broken up into the “Affinity” line for home, and the “Ascendant” line for business. There are some systems that are unique to each line — for example, the Affinity includes a mini-desktop tower, while only the Ascendant line includes workstation towers.

Would you make use of a non-gaming desktop in your home, or do you feel you can get by with a laptop or tablet?

Editors' Recommendations

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
AMD’s gaming revenue is down by 48%, and it won’t get better
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card.

AMD has made some of the best graphics cards in the last few years, and yet its gaming GPU market still appears to be fairly niche when compared to Nvidia's gigantic share. This sentiment is backed by AMD's most recent earnings call, which revealed that its gaming revenue is down by a staggering 48% year-over-year.

Things have been looking kind of grim ever since rumors started spreading that AMD may be giving up on the high-end portion of the GPU market. There have been whispers that AMD may have had a perfectly viable high-end graphics card that it decided not to launch, instead focusing on the mainstream segment. The earnings call gives some context to these rumors.

Read more
Best MacBook deals: Get an Air for $605 and save on M3 MacBook Pro
A MacBook Pro M2 sits on a wooden table with a nice bokeh background.

Apple has been in the laptop game for quite a while now, and its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lineups are some of the best laptops on the market, especially since Apple has started using its own chips. Of course, you do have to pay a premium for the brand name and the product, and if you're thinking of grabbing one of these, then you may need to rely on some solid Apple deals to get you through. That's why we've scoured some of the biggest retailers online and found the best deals we could, whether you want an early-model MacBook Air M1 or the latest M3 MacBook Pro. That said, if you're not really feeling any of these MacBooks, be sure to check out these other great laptop deals instead. To complete your full Apple suite, pair a new MacBook with AirPods deals, Apple Watch deals and iPhone deals.
Best MacBook Air (M1) deals

The Apple MacBook Air (M1) started a seismic shift for Apple being the first of its Airs to have an Apple-based processor. We took a look at the differences between the M2 and M1 and the M1 is still looking pretty great. It's also a touch nearer to affordable than anything else here. Fast yet fanless so it's silent to use, you gain an 18-hour battery life, a gorgeous looking 13.3-inch Retina display along with all the effortless style you'd expect from an Apple device. These laptops are best for students or those who want something stylish yet reasonably powerful to use on the move. Nowadays, deals are becoming a little harder to come by unless you're willing to consider a refurbished/renewed model.

Read more
Hurry! Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 have hefty price cuts today
The Surface Pro 9 in laptop mode on a table.

Microsoft's Surface devices are high-performance machines that are designed to maximize the capabilities of Windows 11. If you're on the lookout for Surface Laptop and Surface Pro deals, don't miss this chance to get a discount from Best Buy on the latest consumer models, as the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are only available for commercial users for now. The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is on sale for only $800, for $300 in savings on its original price of $1,100, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is also down to $800, for $500 in savings on its sticker price of $1,300. You better hurry with your purchase though, as we're not sure when these offers will expire.
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 -- $800, was $1,100

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 -- $800, was $1,300

Read more