Absolutely. I have a first gen Phenom X3 @ 2.3GHz and a GTS 450 and my rig can still run most new games on high settings with AA at 768p.
 A Phenom II X4/Core 2 Quad combined with a 5850 GPU would probably run every game released these days, except Planetside 2 which is very CPU-intensive, at maximum settings AND at 1080p.

Yeah the Japanese are starting to get on board.  Dark Souls on PC shows us they are figuring this out, though maybe it's just From Software is the only company that 100% cares...

The one thing the Japanese get is amazing low profile cards.  They have low profile 7850's that you can fit in a PS3-sized case.  God I wish we had that option here...

You are just buying PC parts that are meant to work together well, that's all a console is. Also, people keep mentioning that a PC isn't purpose built for games. This is an advantage. Now I can host a server, type up a document, edit videos and photos, tons of things. The average person needs a PC these days. If you are going to be spenfing $300 for the PC and another $100 on word, why not spend an extra $220 to make a system far stronger than a Ps3, and about as strong as a ps4? The reason many people do not include OS in the price, is it seems a lot of people have a random copy of windows laying around. You say that an average person couldn't build a PC. Why not? There are tons of resources online to help you do it. That doesn't mean they have to. So you are correct that the average console gamer doesn't build a PC, that isn't the point of this thread though. It is to show that it is an affordable and viable option. You also keep saying these components are crap, even though I would recomend these to someone that I know personally. You have not once mentioned why these components are bad, nor have you brought a specific one into question. You also state that the average person can not afford a PC. How can a 17 year old in high school with no job be able to afford one? 

I'm not really sure if you just arguing for the sake of arguing or what...i mean you not an established member so I can't be sure of your intensions. But thats ok Il take the bait this time.

1. Technically you are right. At its core a console is a PC with a different form factor. But that wasnt my point, i very clearly said "There are other factors that come into play when you buy a console". I think i need to expand on this since you dont seem to think there are any differences apart from hardware. When you buy a console you buy into a ubiquitous platform. Basically the fact that developers can rely on knowing that every single person who bought that console has exactly the same configuration. I would say this is the main differentiator between PC's and consoles. This allows developers to build a game and know exactly what the user end experience will be. This includes knowing the control input, the performance, the graphical fidelity, the requirements, the audience, just about everything you need to know to gaurentee your experience to your entire user base. I was actually going to list more differences but this is the main one and it kinda covers everything.

2. I never used this as a negative for PC's or a positive for consoles etc. I said "Consoles are built for the main purpose of gaming and should not be directly compared to PC's". People are doing direct comparisons. Whether this was the intension of the thread or not this is what i was speaking against. The comparison itself, not the outcome of the comparison.

3. Ofcourse its an advantage. I never said anything about this. So not sure why you brought this up?

4. You know what you can even take that thought further and say most people have a spare hardrive, some RAM and an old case that works. The problem i have with this and what other people in this thread had with the wavering of additional costs is that there will be cases where people don't have those things then what? Then what happens to your super cheap build to that person reading? It becomes more expensive. This is why i pointed out that the builds were misleading. This is especially true since aparently this thread was meant for people who dont know PC's. Many reasonable posters in this thread said that the price of important accessories and windows needs to be included. Which i think is fair. I would say keep a controller out of it as its not necessary. Although someone said the controller must be included since they wont game on mouse and keyboard....If you want i can quote those people for you if you dont believe me. But they are there just read the thread. In my view the cost to assemble should also be included. As we have already established that the average console gamer, even though they can, will not build build their own PC. This joins up with point no.5

5. No. I said the average person will not build their own PC. Theres a difference. By assuming that people will build their own PC's and pick the parts for it...you are assuming too much. Again the build cost and ease of assembly becomes misleading.

6. It kinda is though. If the OP really had good intentions theres no way he would create hes OP as it is now. Directly speaking about consoles and comparisons etc. He even used the wiiU in hes example. I dont see a need to bring consoles in this thread at all. Also if there was good intention the information given in here would be more wholesome and clear. Not just a random list of shitty parts to prove a point. This is where i had a lot of issues with the OP and  Captain_Tom...he constantly bashed anyone disagreeing with him and went way overboard to prove a point using numbers, links and list that in reality dont make much sense.

7. True i havent given examples i figured if you a PC builder that you would go through the builds posted and find the same problems i did as well as find issues with some of the numbers. I really didnt feel like doing this as well for obvious reasons But lets take a closer look shall we? Along with the proposed claims:

Build 1 (by APM)  - A decent build, i have no issues with it. But this is a tad pricey. He also only focused on core components. And he misunderstood the thread so lets move on.

Build 2 (by Captain_Tom) - An ok build for ~$500. Personally i would not go for that psu paired with that GPU. The 7850 will probably do fine with that PSU, but its a low watt PSU and its also not the best brand. At least its a name brand though. So lets be generous and leave it as is. Even though it has no cd/dvd drive but thats ok everybody has steam...Now we add the additional costs windows from the same store ~$99, mouse and keyboard, lets say ~$20 for the most cheap parts. Cost to assemble i have no idea, but lets make that ~$50 and now we sitting at ~$670. Still pretty cheap to me. But really thats not the build i would suggest to a gamer. Oh and keep in mind this PC does not have bluetooth or even wifi you would need to buy add ons for that. Problem here is that ~$150 of the price was hidden.

Build 3(by Superchunk) - Me and Superchunk have gotten into some arguments before but oh well....Most of the initial parts used are fine. However i take a big issue when you recommend people a generic PSU. It will fail. It will be intolerably loud. Its shit. If you gonna be gaming you need to buy better you simply must. Again also add the missing ~$150. And that system costs almost ~$600. I absolutely would not pay that money for that system. Especially if its for gaming. Surely you agree? Whats worse is that he then state this can be brought down to ~$300. I assume by using a lower gpu? Adding a lower specced GPU will NOT allow you to play games confortably. Going any lower that a 7750 and you are entering really low end almost borderline multimedia cards. The wiiU gets a mention here. Again i dont see this build as a replacement to the WiiU. Do you? Please tell me your opinion here. Captain_TOm comes along and says he can shave off 20 of the buld and would rather get a 7770. I agree here. BUt then comments about the Next xbox which no1 has any real info on. And comments about how close it will be to PS4 levels. Seriously go through that build and tell me if you think its a decent replacement for a ps4. Now remember who this thread was targeted at and tell how this is not misleading and complete bullshit?

Build 4 (by trunkin) - decent build more of a personal build. No problems here.

Build 5 (by dahuman) - A proper low end gaming build for about ~550 total cost. Now this build actually made sense to me parts wise. Didnt cheap out on important parts and didnt make any silly claims or do any comparisons with consoles.

Keep in mind that a lot of the parts in these builds are the cheapest parts. For a gamer i would never recommend buying so cheap, because gamers actually stress out there PC. Normal users don't. For a gamer you really should try and target  ~$800 for a decent gaming build. Building a really low end PC limits you game wise. The alternative to hit such a low price point is to cheap out on other important parts and cause possible issues down the line. I really wouldnt suggest either.

And now when you look at it PC gaming is still affordable but really not as cheap as they made it seem.

8. I did not say that. You are mistaken.

I hope you understand better where im coming from. I also did not like the way Captain_Tom went about this thread. A real missed oppportuniy. Some people came in here and made wrong statements about CPU and PC's and got attacked by tom just because they didnt know better. And yet in the opening post he clearly states" this thread is for people who know little about PC's etc." Such a disgrace. People even got called fanboys which is a bannable offence. And i do plan to report him for that. Instead this thread could have really helped people build affordable and realiable gaming machines. Theres no need to hide costs and compete with consoles. PC's are awesome on their own.

HYPOTHETICAL CHALLENGE

A rig that will run the first game that uses the Unreal 4 Engine.

I know its needs a minimum of a GTX 680, but I'm curious to see what people think the memory and proc demands will be of a game that will use this engine.

Aparently its a very scalable engine. So i dont think a gtx680 is needed.

To run a AAA unreal engine 4 game though at decent settings, resolution and performance you will probably need a decent mid ranged gaming PC.

A 680 is needed, and that is what Epic said/demo'd

http://kotaku.com/5916859/how-unreal-engine-4-will-change-the-next-games-you-play

(Well, that is to run a game like the demo which is what I was looking for from graphics)

Yeah the demo was done using a gtx680 but the engine can scale to other configs.

But then it defeats the point of using U4 and begs the question of why not use U3? It will be cheaper to buy so.....:s