How to Build a $500 Gaming Machine 305
bacterial_pus writes "Tom's Hardware has a very interesting article on how to build a $500 gaming rig. 'Instead of the newest killer rig from Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Voodoo, etc... how about a system for the rest of us with a realistic budget starting from scratch? We set out to build a reasonable gaming system that will get you through today's game titles without breaking the bank for around $500.'"
Re:And then there's how to game for $500 (Score:3, Interesting)
The moment you bring it up, the moment they go into a tizzy about how those game types suck anyway and you should just be happy with other types of games, 'cos, hey, they are, and they don't feel like they're missing out on anything.
What works for them has to work for you. Or else!
Re:Pirates! (Score:3, Interesting)
Toms did, and now slashdot has directed traffic to them. I dont recall seeing an update on the front page of /. last time ArsTechnica or Anandtech put up budget rigs, which anyone with some common sense could easily look at and say "oh i dont need a new case or monitor for this, ill spend even less on a budget rig!" just so they could attract traffic.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Pirates! (Score:2, Interesting)
Who needs a case? See? [comcast.net]
REAL sub $600 gaming rig (Score:2, Interesting)
Western Digital ATA133 80 GB HDD: Fry's $50
1 GB OCZ DDR400 RAM [2X512]: Fry's $100
Sony 16x DVDRW Dual Drive: Walmart $70
Samsung DVDROM 16X OEM: Micro-Center $20
Diamond/Stealth ATI Radeon 9550 256MB DDR: Micro-Center $65 [easy to overclock]
Turtle Beach Catalina 7.1 Soundcard: Fry's $35
MGE M1 Gamer Case with 450W Power Supply: Micro-Center $50
2X CoolerMaster Case Fans: Micro-Center $10
Antec Slot Fan/Blower: Micro-Center $5
Windows XP Home Upgrade: Wal-Mart $89 [All you need is an old Windows 9x/ME/NT or system restore disc to use as full]
After tax, a tiny bit under $600, not cheaping out on anything [this system has a good burner, a real sound card good for gaming and HT, twice the amount of RAM dual channel at that, and happens to have a case and proper cooling, 0h, and a legal operating system] If you bought all these parts online or ebay, I'm sure you could do even less than what I did.
And Tom didn't even count in shipping or tax..loser. Someone could counter his system "performs better", but I seriously think the difference in performance would be very marginal, with twice the system and video ram, less intergrated parts, and better though cheap cooling.
my new pc... (Score:1, Interesting)
It is possible to make a complete, decent system, just remember that once you hit that $500 mark, spending a few more dollers over, goes a long way.