Opinions or experiences on Corsair build kits

I'm no expert, but I've purchased a couple desktop PCs in the last 4 years. In both cases, I went to a part-compatibility site (like https://pcpartpicker.com/ ), and started with one of their suggested builds, and then began customizing based on the needs of the user (RAM amount, disk size, etc.). Paired that with a [trusted] online vendor which will do assembly for you for a reasonable fee, and iterate a bit between both sites to get around part unavailability. I (and the users) have been satisfied with this process.

They key with a site like pcpartpicker is that I can have peace of mind that my noobness isn't going to mismatch parts that won't work together.

As to your original topic, I don't see why I'd need to go to some specific brand vendor like Corsair to do this.

I can't speak on personal experience with the Corsair build kits, but looking at them on their website, they seem fine. I find it odd that they are all Intel-based, when the AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3D is probably the best gaming CPU on the market and costs less than many of these Intel chips.

I don't think you would have a bad experience, and you're still saving money compared to buying something pre-built. You could also look at the parts included in these kits and order them yourself, and customize from there. PC parts in general are pretty interchangeable, so if you wanted to go AMD instead of Intel, the only other thing you would need to change is the motherboard.

I (also) can't speak for the build kits on their own, but I've been quite happy with my corsair power supplies...some of them are entering their second decade of service....

Their RAM is fine, though not sure of being worth the premium over other brands.

looking at the parts list for the least expensive option, what sticks out to me is that you get a Corsair case, SSD, power supply, RAM, and CPU air cooler...but they only give you the model number of the case.

so in practice, for those other parts, they're most likely going to be giving you the bottom of the barrel, or a SKU they have trouble selling on its own. slowest SSD, RAM with the worst clock speed and timings, power supply with a Bronze efficiency rating, etc.

now, that's not necessarily a problem - the parts will still all be compatible, and even a low-end NVMe drive is quite fast, especially compared to whatever you're rocking in that 10 year old PC. but it's a factor to be aware of when comparison shopping.

personally, I'd buy individual parts myself, rather than a kit like this, but I've been building custom PCs for 20ish years, and enjoy the process.

if you decide to go the individual component route, I second the recommendations for PC Part Picker, and going with AMD over Intel because you get much more bang for the buck. AMD committing to the longevity of the AM5 socket also gives you a bit better upgradeability in terms of being able to upgrade the CPU later on, without a motherboard upgrade, if that's a factor you care about (like if you're planning on running this new PC for another 10 years)

I've never been into building custom PC, particular the planning and research portion on what parts to get.

if you post your desired budget (which of those kits you were looking at, basically) and any special requirements you have (storage space, a game you really want to make sure you can play on high settings, etc) I bet several people, including myself, would be happy to plan out a parts list for you that'll be as compatible as the Corsair kit, and probably less expensive for higher quality components (including quality beyond strictly performance - things like the lifetime of the components, efficiency of the power supply, and so on). the main benefit the Corsair kits would still have is that they preinstall Windows, if that's a factor that's important to you.

I own an Origin built computer (owned by Corsair) and I really love it. It wasn't a kit but I'm sure everything will be well matched. Kepp us updated on what you do.