| greenmedic88 said: There was a $500 budget gamer build on Tom's Hardware (April 2008), but in was by no means a PC that plays Crysis on High settings. It also didn't include networking capabilities, any input devices (mouse/keyboard), or an OS. The video card was only a 384MB 8800GS, but for about the same price today, you could pick up a 9600GT. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-graphic-game,1810.html Realistically speaking, $700 would be a more comfortable budget that would actually provide a complete working PC without cannibalizing components or an OS from an older one. Knocking a $100 of the build due to "re-using" a copy of an OS is not a legal solution assuming you're planning on running more than one PC on the same license, which many do anyway. |
"Budget" is right. Integrated audio and only 2GB RAM? That's skimping quite a bit.
Realistically, you'd need a better processor (the Pentium E2160 is meh), more RAM, a dedicated sound card, and probably something better than the 8800GS. That, combined with the cost of a new copy of Vista, a decent wireless kb/mouse, ethernet card, and - since we're assuming that this is Baby's First Gaming PC - a good monitor, you're looking at a LOT of money. I'd say closer to $1000.
"'Casual games' are something the 'Game Industry' invented to explain away the Wii success instead of actually listening or looking at what Nintendo did. There is no 'casual strategy' from Nintendo. 'Accessible strategy', yes, but ‘casual gamers’ is just the 'Game Industry''s polite way of saying what they feel: 'retarded gamers'."
-Sean Malstrom
