This is going to be my final post in this joke thread because I am tired of reiterating myself to a hundered different people
I am goin by standards in this final assessment because I think that once you start talking about using old pc parts and linux then you aren't really talking about a pc anymore you're talking about a frankenstein slapped together.
Also, because this OP doesn't ever mention any PS3 price comparison, I will leave it to you to understand that tax and shipping will be included as we are not comparing the price to the ps3 but rather we are comparing it to the original deal of 350$.
Yes we can argue all day about where to trim costs, but we need to at least set some kind of standard. I will allow 50$ of reused parts:
Rig-50$ 300$
At least 2 case fans 10$
At least a legitimate copy of xp (we will use the ebay one, as a concession to you) 0$
At least a cable to go to the tv 5$
Shipping 30$
Tax @ an average of 7% 22$
total cost: 367
If we do not make the concessions of a resold windows and used parts then we are looking at a price more in the range of:
rig 350
plus fans and cable 15$
plus actual windows (+20$ or so on top of the ebay price)
shipping 30$
tax 27$
rig=442
Yes he beat 500$ in both scenarios, but did not beat 350$.
