Help me justify the cost of building a gaming PC

[Octopod]

Dude, those PSU ratings for graphics cards are more of a suggestion than a necessity.

[J T]

Keyboard + Mouse is a lethal combo for a lot of game genres: FPS, RTS, Graphic Adventures, Diablo-style, Sims, and oddly enough, fighting games. I play Street Fighter IV better on a keyboard set-up than I do on an arcade stick or a dual analog controller. I was totally surprised by that because I was raised on Street Fighter II in the arcades and on the SNES. But being able to map different button combinations to different keys means that I have a button for my 3xPunch, 3xKick, Force Attack, Throw, and Taunt moves. It's a lot more versatile because you can add more and more buttons as you need them with the keyboard and a control editor.

[Octopod]

I dont want to be a dick but I would consider mapping keys for Street Fighter to be cheating. Not that I actually care.

[J T]

The option is there in the options menu, so I take advantage. You still have to get used to having 11 buttons to hit. These same options are available for a joypad, but you run out of buttons faster.

[J T]

Here are 607 reasons to get a gaming PC:

101 Best Free Games of 2003:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3109554

102 Best Free Games of 2004:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3137482

101 Best Free Games of 2006:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3148013

101 Best Free Games of 2007:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.off ... Id=3156339

101 Best Free Games of 2008:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3165201

101 best free games of 2009:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.off ... Id=3174065

[lordofduct]

Yeah my buddy works in the computer, videogame field so parts will be very cheap for me. He said he could build me a top knotch system for around $400. At $700 I would probably steer clear of the PC platform, but $400 makes it all the more tempting. Thanks for your input Ryan.

400$ for a topline gaming pc is FAR from reality...top line gaming means 400-550$ in JUST a video card.

Honestly I love pc games but only for the fact of getting to build a new computer every few years, on avg I will spend about 900-1500$ to do it depending if I do watercooling or buy a new case, and thats FAR from "top line" in my opinion anyway. Also just like you said...almost EVERY game that comes out on PC that is worth playing goes to a console now...except diablo 3

Well... I first don't think he meant 'top of the line' as in uber maxed out to the brim. But even with that said, GTX series Nvidia cards start at 150 dollar range and are extremely competent cards. I use a 9800 which I bought when 9 series was the top Nvidia card, and it didn't cost that much.

I feel I put together a very very nice machine for a reasonable price with the i7 chip and 12 gigs of RAM.


But yes... 400 dollars is a bit low. I can see pulling off a relatively ok computer, but that's if you already have quite a few hold over parts to get you there. Though things like hard drives and dvdroms are cheap, they quickly add to the price if you are putting yourself on a 400 dollar budget.

I'd of course assume you're going AMD if you want affordability, they're notoriousily cheaper then intel.

But with all that... a competent machine, if including all parts... will fetch a pretty penny.

Let's think...

processor - 100 -> 180 dollars
ram - 75 -> 100 dollars
motherboard - 80+ dollars (for anything worth owning)
video card - 150 dollars (for anything worth owning as a gaming card)

we've already surpassed your 400 mark... and that's not top of the line, that's just pretty spanking good with some logevity. Consider probably another 200 dollars for some drives and a case if you don't have them laying around. And a PSU to power it. Tack on whatever for a monitor if you don't have that. And you are eaily in the 700 range.

It will certainly blow a Dell out of the water though.

Now this doesn't mean you can't build a machine for 400 bucks. I could do that with my eyes closed (minus a monitor though). But I wouldn't barely call it top of the line gaming machine. I would call it low to mid range gaming machine. Certainly powerful enough to play any current game, most likely with low settings on some of the more intense games... but definitely a competent and valid machine.

Don't let your friend sell you on the idea that the machine will be the dog's ballocks. Cause it won't... I don't care what "insider scene" he may be in. It just ain't going to be the super fandango.

But in the same respect, don't let pc-philes sell you on the idea you need a 1200+ USD machine. It's really not all that necessary. My machine is a morphing PC that I upgrade this or that every year. Some parts were expensive along the lines (my monitor was rather pricey as it's a 30 inch screen).

But if you plan your machine out properly, it can remain an affordable piece of equipment that evolves with your needs.

Personally I start out on an intel base (they tend to be pricier, but also pump out great power across several applications). And an Nvidia card. I get a nicely size case that can support evolution in devices. Then just move along with the pace of the product out there. Stay informed of what is coming in the future. If you see a new socket or ram specification that is going to become standard... work with that... make sure you don't by new equipment that will out date with that coming architecture.

You don't want to build, evolve, and then find yourself with 3 or 4 bits of hardware that you have to drop not because they suck now, but because some new hardware won't support it. This is why I avoid cheap motherboards, or risky RAM types (oh don't get me started on RAMBUS, very outdated in todays standards, but it was the first majour financial burn I took with PCs... and the last).

But yeah, my last machine was reaching a point where it couldn't keep up with my needs today with virtualization and everything. So I upgraded to this current machine progressively. It didn't cost me much out of pocket money to get to this architecture... and was well freakin' worth it! Right now I'm running 7 pro, virtualizing my Linux install off a raw disk (usually is my main OS, but I'm deving in DirectX right now), virtualizing XP in virtualbox, deving in Visual Studio, and having some media at my finger tips (games, music, movies, Media Center TV... I get bored). And it runs smooth.

[Dakinggamer87]

Once I get my gaming PC at end of the month finished Steam is first thing I am setting up!!

[GSZX1337]

Dude, those PSU ratings for graphics cards are more of a suggestion than a necessity.

True, the requirements do mainly apply for lower ended PSUs and a better brand of PSU can get away with lower wattage. Still, this is a Dell PSU we're talking about, at 375W no less.

[corn619]

Yeah my buddy works in the computer, videogame field so parts will be very cheap for me. He said he could build me a top knotch system for around $400. At $700 I would probably steer clear of the PC platform, but $400 makes it all the more tempting. Thanks for your input Ryan.

400$ for a topline gaming pc is FAR from reality...top line gaming means 400-550$ in JUST a video card.

Honestly I love pc games but only for the fact of getting to build a new computer every few years, on avg I will spend about 900-1500$ to do it depending if I do watercooling or buy a new case, and thats FAR from "top line" in my opinion anyway. Also just like you said...almost EVERY game that comes out on PC that is worth playing goes to a console now...except diablo 3

When parts are pennies on the dollar it is reality. He has most of the parts lying around and would sell them very cheap. I'm not looking to break any records, I just want a PC that runs games at high settings.

[corn619]

Anyways back to the subject, any games you could recommend for the PC? Even if its on a console if the PC is the better version I'd rather play that.