generic-user-1 said:
greenmedic88 said:
$500-700 is considered budget level PC gaming.
No one builds a gaming PC with anything approaching a 10 year life expectancy, even for actual top of the line systems that run in excess of several thousand dollars.
This is very realistically what a $700 budget buys for a build it yourself gaming PC:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-budget-gaming-pc,4065.html
Current Budget Gaming PC Components
CPU Intel Core i3-4150 (Haswell) $120
CPU Cooler Intel Boxed Heat Sink and Fan $0
Motherboard ASRock H81M-HDS, LGA 1150, Intel H81 Express $57
RAM G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL $64
Graphics Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 280 100373L $180
Hard Drive Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB $55
Power EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W $43
Performance Platform Cost $519
Storage Drive None $0
Case NZXT Source 210 Elite Black $50
Optical Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK SATA 24x DVD Burner $20
Total Hardware Cost
$589
OS Windows 8.1 X64 OEM $100
Complete System Price
$689
As anyone familiar with PC components will recognize (anyone familiar will already have a good idea of what $700 in hardware will buy anyway) this is a competent but modest 1920x1080 gaming PC.
I suggest reading builder articles from Tomshardware.com to better educate yourself on what various budgets will currently buy and the tested performance numbers said builds will yield.
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i3 is realy weak for gaming... and wo the hell buys fullprice windows?
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Balance still matters in PC builds. The i3 pairs well with any video card under the R9 290/390 or GTX 970 when working within budgetary constraints. Generally speaking, spending an extra $100 on an i5 would be better spent on a $300 card rather than a $200 one for a gaming PC.
As for the Windows license, it's generally fallen out of favor to cut costs like the price of a license out of a build. Yes, everyone knows how to illegally pirate software, just as anyone can salvage/steal/canibalize components; this doen't count when it comes to pricing the cost of a PC. Anyone can see where this is going: if you can score a $300 CPU for free you have a $1200 build for $900 and while you're at it, if you can get all components for free or a fraction of the current market prices, you can get a $1500 build for a few bills.
