Gaming PCs are some of the most popular computers on the market. In the same space, they’re some of the most expensive machines you can but, in large part, because the best gaming PCs are packed with high-end components to run the most demanding games at high frame rates – some like the Skytech Azure (with Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU) can run modern titles at the highest settings in 4K fluently.
For gamers on a tight budget, pre-built gaming PCs are often the most sensible solutions, but choosing the best from the available options without settling for an underperforming rig is never easy. If you’re such a gamer and have been shopping around for a budget gaming machine, you must have come across the STGAubron Gaming Desktop, alongside other pre-built machines from CyberPowerPC, Skytech, and iBuyPower among others.
We have reviewed some great gaming machines from CyberPowerPC, SkyTech and iBuyPower, and recommended some of them over builds from major vendors like Acer, Alienware, HP, Corsair, Maingear and more. In this article, we take a deep dive into the STGAubron brand that’s undercutting most prebuilt gaming PC brands on pricing, product selection, build quality, and more.
Is STGAubron a reliable brand?
There’s very little information online about the STGAubron brand. However, after digging around, we found that STGAubron branded PCs are sold by Skytech USA LLC, which appears to be the USA branch of Skytech Global LTD. We assume, the “STG” in “STGAubron” is most likely an acronym for “Skytech Global”.
As such, STGAubron gaming desktop PCs are fairly new in the market; in fact, the trademark for their brand name was filed on August 21, 2022, and the first batch of prebuilt PCs was released into the market in the fourth quarter of 2022.
However, while the names are nearly identical, Skytech USA LLC and Skytech Global should not be confused with Skytech Gaming; these are completely different companies. Skytech Gaming is a popular brand in the prebuilt gaming market, offering different configurations optimized to deliver the best performance for every budget, including our Editor’s Choice, the Skytech Azure, Skytech Prism II and Skytech Nebula gaming desktops.
On the other hand, Skytech USA LLC specializes in selling refurbished, mostly office-grade PCs from major brands like HP, Dell and Lenovo, but they seem to be branching into the budget gaming arena with the STGAubron line.
So far, STGAubron PCs are targeted at gamers looking for budget gaming machines with dedicated graphics cards and decked out with RGB lighting on the cases. And unlike Skytech USA LLC’s offerings, STGAubron gaming desktops aren’t refurbished, they’re brand new. This is a major stride from Skytech USA LLC’s usual business model, and that makes for an extremely interesting product lineup.
As with any new brand, it’s not unusual to have some doubts as to the brand’s legitimacy. It’s safe to say, however, that STGAubron PCs are legitimate, at least in the sense that they’re made by a real company that sells real computers (Skytech). Skytech is a Microsoft Certified Refurbisher and Microsoft Gold-Certified partner that distributes over 20,000 PCs monthly on average, so they may not be a scam company after all.
Should you buy an STGAubron Gaming Desktop?
Suppose you’ve been shopping for a budget gaming PC recently. In that case, you must have at least seen a couple of STGAubron’s offerings, that come at lower prices than even the cheapest pre-built gaming PCs we’ve known from the likes of CyberPowerPC, Skytech or iBuyPower. So, there’s real appeal here for someone who’d rather not blow more than a thousand bucks on a new PC just to run games.
And since I personally haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with any of STGAubron’s gaming PCs, I can’t say for sure that it would be a bad idea to buy any of these affordable gaming PCs. It’s possible you could get years of fun out of this hardware.
But my experience tells me some of these STGAubron deals are too good to be true. If you’re thinking of buying a cheap gaming PC from these online retailers Amazon or Walmart and others, I think there are a few things you want to look for before dropping hard-earned cash on a product you likely can’t return.
That’s the biggest and most obvious reason why I think buying a cheap gaming PC like these STGAubron branded PCs off online retailers is a bad idea – you can’t count on having reliable tech support or warranty coverage.
Most online retailers like Amazon offer a basic 30-day return policy. Still, the PC has to be either damaged/dead on arrival or in an unopened box, so if you’re unsatisfied with the way it runs games or find it dies on you 2 months in, you’re likely out of luck unless your PC vendor offers a warranty – and I can’t even find a website for STGAubron, much less any details on what warranty (if any) they offer on their products.
Compare that to pre-builts from CyberPowerPC, iBuyPower and Skytech; or even, popular vendors like Acer, Dell or Maingear, who all offer at least 1-year limited warrantied on their gaming PCs that you can easily find by just Googling them. These warranties typically cover the cost of returning the machine in the event a component like the hard drive or graphics card fails, and that offers some peace of mind when you’re investing this much in a PC – especially when you’re not comfortable doing the repairs yourself.
(However, I can’t say with authority whether these companies are easy to work with when returning products, or how well they honour their warranties, but at least they offer!)
And if you’ve been buying, or even building PCs, your entire life, there are a couple of warning signs that give you a pause when you’re about to invest in a gaming PC. For instance, the specs sheet of STGAubron’s gaming desktops makes it hard to understand what specific components are in each build. Knowing exactly what’s in the PC you’re buying is critical to getting a good deal, so a vendor that obfuscates those details has more to be desired.
The specs sheet on these STGAubron branded gaming PCs only specifies the processors used as Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7, but that doesn’t tell you the generation from which the chips are drawn, and that’s very critical as it could tell if you’re getting Intel’s Raptor Lake 13th gen CPUs or AMD’s Ryzen 700 Series CPUs, or something outdated. But when a vendor like STGAubron doesn’t tell you exactly what’s in the PC you’re buying, I think that’s scary enough.
Bottom Line
Well, from experience, I understand that when looking for cheap deals on gaming PCs, sometimes you might have to settle for older-generation hardware or a less well-known vendor, but at least you need to know what goes inside the PC you’re buying. Again, a gaming PC isn’t something you want to skimp on if you don’t know how it works or how to fix it if it breaks.
So, while you could most certainly get one of these STGAubron gaming desktop PCs for less than other prebuilt alternatives, I think you’d be much better off spending a little more for a better gaming PC from a more reliable company.
For example, I like the Skytech Nebula as a solid starter gaming PC thanks to its solid performance, runs pretty quietly and arrives with components (including an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060) good enough to run most games in 1080p at 40-60 frames per seconds for under $1000.
That’s still more than the sub-$500 asking price of the cheapest STGAubron Gaming Desktop, and it might not be cheap for a budget hunter. But it’s a solid deal for a great gaming PC, and I can vouch you’re getting incredible bang for your buck. Plus, you get the added benefit of a warranty and tech support from Skytech, which is more than I can say for this cheap STGAubron gaming PC.