The $500 Gaming PC

[GopherMusket]

I built my system over a year ago for $600 (U.S.). Every game that I have bought in the past year I can run at 1920x1080 at max settings. I see no real reason to upgrade anything on my pc. Since game developers are no longer using the pc as their lead development platform, but using the consoles as the main platform and then porting to the pc, there is no real reason to upgrade.

It's a common misconception by non pcgamers that you need a $3000 pc and need to upgrade yearly. But that's the fault of the gaming press.

 

[Teachingaddict]

I'm going to being to disagree with the any nerd needs to upgrade a pc every two years, I personally , think a bloody good PC now will last you 4 - 5 years, and still run games with pretty good specs at the end of those five years. Also, considering the problems with backwards compatibility, DX10 and perhaps Windows 7, I dobt any decent publisher will want to start developing strictly for those systems - baring in mind non XP compatible, within the next 2 - 3 years. Plus, if you consider all this, whats the average lifepsan of a console these days before a new one comes out, give or take i'd say five years or so. So good pc or good console, i'd say its now more down to the type of gaming you like rather than the size of your wallet.

 

[Baby Tea]

This looks like a pretty sweet deal, actually. I'll have to price it out locally.
As for the monitor? I've got my LCD TV, plus an extra monitor kicking around.
The OS? I'll partition and throw on Linux and Windows 7. Save up, and then buy windows when I have the cash. Or, more likely, just stick with Linux until Windows 7 comes out.

Seems good to me!

 

[Horticulture]

Maximum PC is late to the party [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.105715#1708936].

(and their build is slow )

 

[TaborMallory]

Still. $500 is PS3 money. Not to mention the main reason I gave up following PC gaming; after a year or so you'll have to upgrade at least 1 part of it to play the latest game.

That's also $500 towards versatility.
Until they bring:
-a desktop
-good internet
-media manipulation
-easy multiplayer (i.e. No XBL or PSN subscriptions, no matchmaking, etc.)
-a keyboard and mouse
-hard drives bigger than 120gb
...to the consoles, I'm sticking with a PC.

I, personally, am getting a top-grade PC from Newegg, and I've got a super geek friend to help me build it

 

[oliveira8]

Still. $500 is PS3 money. Not to mention the main reason I gave up following PC gaming; after a year or so you'll have to upgrade at least 1 part of it to play the latest game.

I bought mine 4 years ago and the only games it doesnt run is games that need:

1)Vista.
2)Dual-Core processor.

And the ones that need that are crap ports of Console games.

No upgrades so far. So unless you get massively riped off in a deal you dont need to upgrade your PC for some time.

Hell I can run Crysis perfectly well!

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Still. $500 is PS3 money. Not to mention the main reason I gave up following PC gaming; after a year or so you'll have to upgrade at least 1 part of it to play the latest game-

-on ultra high at 60 FPS I believe you ment to say. Surely you aren't implying that PC components somehow age faster than console components, especially since they're all the same damn parts.

Sorry I did forget to clarify that. My, limited, experience with PC gaming is that over time it seems like my PC games slowly wind down as you have to play them at lower and lower quality to run properly.

I do agree that consoles and PCs are practically the same hardware wise, but my point wasn't that they wear out faster, rather that there is no "PC" like there is an "XBox". If a new component comes out, say a new GPU, PC developers will be able to take advantage of that tech straight away, so if you want to play Crysis or something of that Ilk then you'll have to upgrade, a PS3 developer couldn't do that as the hardware stays the same. While this means that console innovation comes in chunks rather than a steady flow having a fixed console does mean that, hopefully, the latest games will play just as well as games when you bought it.

In reality since you do have to upgrade your console to the latest version it is like taking the PC upgrade costs in one big lump.

FYI none of the above is me saying "Consoles are better than PCs". I'm saying that, to me, High level PC gaming is like the gaming world's car modding. You need some know-how and money to get the most you can. I just can't be all that bothered and just buy my sports car rather than build one myself.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Still. $500 is PS3 money. Not to mention the main reason I gave up following PC gaming; after a year or so you'll have to upgrade at least 1 part of it to play the latest game.

I bought mine 4 years ago and the only games it doesnt run is games that need:

1)Vista.
2)Dual-Core processor.

And the ones that need that are crap ports of Console games.

No upgrades so far. So unless you get massively riped off in a deal you dont need to upgrade your PC for some time.

Hell I can run Crysis perfectly well!

Since this is like the 6th reply I hereby recant my previous statement.

I'm a console man when it comes to games, and I secretly know if I went into PC gaming I would end up living in a cardboard box as I would spend every penny on getting those shadows just crisp enough.

 

[Horticulture]

I'm a console man when it comes to games, and I secretly know if I went into PC gaming I would end up living in a cardboard box as I would spend every penny on getting those shadows just crisp enough.

Unfortunately, 'crispy shadows' is the most performance-killing option

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I'm a console man when it comes to games, and I secretly know if I went into PC gaming I would end up living in a cardboard box as I would spend every penny on getting those shadows just crisp enough.

Unfortunately, 'crispy shadows' is the most performance-killing option

I like my shadows like I like my Bacon

 

[Horticulture]

I like my shadows like I like my Bacon

Made out of turkey?

 

[DragonChi]

I'm that kind of person that can't settle for less than the best parts. my computer is a power monster,I've spent...countless bucks on it. but that's just me, I'm a gaming enthusiast. I enjoy it that way. not saying its necessary. but i will say, that my rig can run Crysis flawlessly. and that feeling is awesome.

 

[Syntax Error]

I wonder what Eggo will say when he sees this.

$500 on a gaming PC is respectable though. You have versatility plus it's easier to replace parts for when something breaks or becomes outdated.

The thing about that build is that it's not meant to play the current games on the highest possible setting. It's built to just get the job done. IMO, you're still playing the same game whether the game has crisp shadows and textures or not.

 

[Talendra]

Those that buy alot of games should also factor in the cheaper cost of pc games. I would probly buy a new game once a month at least, and at about $20 cheaper, I have more than $400 saved away to get myself a new graphics card every couple of years.
Also the 4870 is not exactly a budget card, it is quite a good card, I find if you want to game on the cheap, it's better to buy a little lower end, and upgrade later, yesterdays star graphics card is always better value.
Not trying to convert anyone, just pointing out, factoring all the extra things a pc can do that a console can't, if you are not the kind of person that has to have the latest hardware in their machine, PC gaming doesn't have to be that expensive.

 

[GoldenShadow]

My Radeon 4870 was $270 when I bought it last year. This card is awesome.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

I wonder what Eggo will say when he sees this.

Wasn't he permabanned?

 

[Syntax Error]

I wonder what Eggo will say when he sees this.

Wasn't he permabanned?

And that is why I'm wondering what he will say when he sees this. You see, he's very proud of his rig that can display more pixels than 1080p. You're also inferior to his eyes if your computer has anything less than 4GB of RAM (recalling all those PC-related threads started by him). Though he did come up with a pretty extensive list on the good (but expensive) stuff that you would really have to consider if you're an enthusiast.

 

[Ancientgamer]

I wonder what Eggo will say when he sees this.

Wasn't he permabanned?

Yeah, for making a one word post in a troll thread.

Which seems a little odd, considering he had several thousand posts, and had quite proven he was capable of intelligent in depth and on topic conversation. I thought the mods would've been more case considerate for something like that, but hay, I can't presume to know what history of warnings or offenses he had. :/

Oh hai, that whole post was OT, right, back to PCs:

Took an old mid-range dell used for E-mails and stuff, upgraded the Ram, graphics card, and PSU for roughly $270. And I can max out crysis in XP fine. (lucky enough that it had a pretty good CPU already, but still...)

 

[Horticulture]

Whats $500 in £

Even though $500 is something like £350 on the currency market, you'll probably end up paying close to £450 for something similar due to higher prices in the UK.

 

[DaxStrife]

Makes sense to me; I built my box a year and a half ago for around $600 with a friend's help and it still runs high quality stuff just fine.
The important caveat is that I cheated on a few items: I recycled the mouse and keyboard from my last box, as well as the operating system. And the monitor was a freebie from my boss who just had it lying around in his basement. So taking out the monitor and O.S., it can be done for around $500... but if you don't have those it'll cost you around $300 more. That's the important factor, I believe.