[Ronbert]

LINK

My friend has been wanting to build him self a pc and didn't believe me when I said it's possible to build an acceptable pc for gaming at a budget of $600+.

He ended up sending me this link here of a guy who composed a list of "budget" builds. Thought I'd share with the group and see what you guys think of this other persons work.

[Archer0915]

Originally Posted by Ronbert

LINK

My friend has been wanting to build him self a pc and didn't believe me when I said it's possible to build an acceptable pc for gaming at a budget of $600+.

He ended up sending me this link here of a guy who composed a list of "budget" builds. Thought I'd share with the group and see what you guys think of this other persons work.

I dont think a lot of that link. Clocks and cores are the issue here and this guy (writer) just fell for the spin.

[SteveLord]

Looks like he (like many) seem to forget the $100 price on Windows 7 alone.

[oakstave]

Originally Posted by SteveLord

Looks like he (like many) seem to forget the $100 price on Windows 7 alone.

+1. He is not going Linux on a gaming rig.

The choice of video cards makes me shudder. I would get a second job before I used any of those choices for a gaming rig.

[Tokae]

I dont think he will want to game on that i3. If he is concerned about price that much, he could either look into used stuff, or just accept that he wont have a blazing fast machine.

I would personally recommend:


amd 955 phenom 2 x4 3.2ghz quad
4gb 1600mhz g skill ram
gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H mobo
typical 6870 for 180 after MIR)
Antec PSU
WD Black 1tb drive

dvd optical drive: 25.00

thats around 590 bucks (I forgot to add it all up)... just need to pick a case for it...

[Ronbert]

Originally Posted by oakstave

The choice of video cards makes me shudder. I would get a second job before I used any of those choices for a gaming rig.

I noticed this as well. I tried to explain this to Mike (friend) but what would I know I've only built 7-8 computers >_>;

[Quigsby]

I can honestly say a SSD is far and away the best upgrade you can do on any modern PC. If you spend $1000 on a computer, you should budget for an SSD.

[Mother Goose]

Originally Posted by Quigsby

I can honestly say a SSD is far and away the best upgrade you can do on any modern PC. If you spend $1000 on a computer, you should budget for an SSD.

Why?

[druidelder]

Great list for the writer. How can I sneakily use my content to sterr my readers to paid links by making them think I know what I am talking about....

At least his site wasn't about mesothelioma....

Another good thing about the drive is that it is the .12 version of the Barracuda's the older .11 and prior were not as great and didn't last as long

Who here thinks the author did research and who thinks he just thought, "Well, 12 is higher, so it must be better?"

[Daemonkin]

Originally Posted by Quigsby

I can honestly say a SSD is far and away the best upgrade you can do on any modern PC. If you spend $1000 on a computer, you should budget for an SSD.

SSDs have absolutely no effect on a strong majority of games. You're game might start up faster, but the fps would be the same. Videocard and/or cpu upgrades are better than an SSD upgrade where gaming is concerned.

[TheQuadFather]

Originally Posted by druidelder

Who here thinks the author did research and who thinks he just thought, "Well, 12 is higher, so it must be better?"

if anything the .11 drives are being more reliable than the .12s for me, so i doubt there was any research done there.

[Tokae]

Yeah I agree the author of that article was talking out of his stinkhole. Horrible advice for someone trying to build a machine...

[Ronbert]

Hopefully you guys don't mind but I'm gonna go ahead and link this thread back to my friend, I don't like to give him a "harsh" reality but he needs to see from other people who know what their talking about as well or he's just gonna end up buying this gear and realizing what a mistake he made.

I did this a while back when I bought my first dual core set up... fell for some guy one youtube saying what a great budget gaming build it would be... to this day I regret not doing more research but after all if I hadn't bought that lousy set up it never would've lead me here.

[Quigsby]

Originally Posted by Daemonkin

SSDs have absolutely no effect on a strong majority of games. You're game might start up faster, but the fps would be the same. Videocard and/or cpu upgrades are better than an SSD upgrade where gaming is concerned.

The point is, if I was to spend $1k on a computer, it would have an SSD. It's just night and day. Sure, it doesn't help with graphics in a game, but it helps pretty much everything else.

[Archer0915]

Originally Posted by Quigsby

The point is, if I was to spend $1k on a computer, it would have an SSD. It's just night and day. Sure, it doesn't help with graphics in a game, but it helps pretty much everything else.

I must agree. I have no use for an SSD in my Home rigs but I will not deny that they offer something that will cost more to try and match with massive amounts of memory and multiple raids (you can get close). I personally prefer the raids and ram but for everyday people you really will not find another upgrade that makes as much visible difference everywhere.

I have been considering one for my netbook and laptop.

[Pinky]

Originally Posted by Archer0915

I must agree. I have no use for an SSD in my Home rigs but I will not deny that they offer something that will cost more to try and match with massive amounts of memory and multiple raids (you can get close). I personally prefer the raids and ram but for everyday people you really will not find another upgrade that makes as much visible difference everywhere.

I have been considering one for my netbook and laptop.

I third this sentiment.