I wouldn't disagree with anything you said. My personal experience has been that the extra reliability of having at least 50% extra capaciy is worth the few dollars. I know others that just add up the power reqirements of each component and buy just enough of a power supply to cover them. Aparently their experience has been different.

I cannot help that the test results are for older games. The AMD 64x2 series came out a few years ago and of course reviews and technical reports are done on products when they are first released.

I also posted results reported by a gamer playing more recent games although I have no way of knowing if his testing was as rigerous as the laboratory bench test.

For my next PC I have already bought an Enermax Pandora case, a Cooler Master 400W PSU with a big silent fan, silent fans for the case and dust filters, I'll make all the fans excepted the PSU's one blow air inside, while all the air will go out through the PSU. Now I want low power consumption components, so a mobo with onboard AMD 780G graphics, fast enough for most games older than 1.5 yrs and so good for all my games till next year, as I'm far behind playing all the games I would like, with it I'll be OK for enough time to wait for a much faster, but economic, silent and low power GPU to be released when I'll want or need to upgrade it. Regarding the CPU, an Athlon 64 X2 4850e should be fast and cool enough, I'll consider a quad core for upgrade when they'll be cheaper and will offer at least 2.6GHz for low end models, so that worst case performances with SW unable to use more than one core won't be slower than those with a current mid range dual core (that's still the best for most unoptimized SW).

Taking into account the components I've already bought I should stay within 400€ (~$620), so even after a graphics card upgrade (next year medium-low end should be faster, cheaper and cooler than current medium-high end) I should stay comfortably within 500€ (~$780).

I'm sorry, I am working on a book and need to put my time towards that. I will be very happy to answer any technical QUESTIONS.

I expect and respect the fact that there are other OPINIONS about computers and components. If you have a different take on things then please post your alternative along with a source and current prices and readers can choose for themselves.

I just don't have time to debate the merits of each and every component. I've given my OPINION backed with what test results that were available. Please share your ideas.

difference between a quality 50 and 100 dollar mobo for most users is minimal at best

the 100 dollar one will have more features that a power user will tend to use.

my current rig is using a 45 dollar mobo- typically i used an asus mobo that was ~100 but i wanted to see if i could get reliable use with less money.

IF you have a good case with a power supply that has all the latest connectors a "brand new" computer can and will cost under 300 dollars.

as for ram unless you are using a 64bit linux/xp64/vista64 anything over 3.5 gig of ram is pretty much useless- you can install it fine, but usually with a latest gpu you can use just under 3.5gig..if you have sli even less..2 512meg 8800gts's in sli= 3gig max system memory you can use.

WHY?

because 32bit os's can use 4gig max... and your gpu/bios ram is included in that total.


a QUALITY build that will run crysis at max will run you no more than 600 dollars-if you choose wisely and recycle older parts that are still good and do not need replacing.

as for ram, just pick the least expensive name brand with a lifetime warranty,. its about 65-80bucks for 4gig or under 40 for 2gig. the Difference between the basic ram and the high end overclocked expensive stuff has been tested to mean a difference of less than 4%..

The base system probably wouldn't draw more than 120watts at full load anyway. So the PSU would be extremely reliable in that environment. Without a professional oems experience it pays to err on the safe side. Unless you understand what you're doing you wont know if you're overloading one of your rails. The only thing I could expect is that the machine is capable of supporting a 75watt or less GPU that doesn't require extra power. The specifications demand this, but they don't demand much more.

My personal experience when I thought I knew more than I do now. I had 4 HDDs, 2 Optical drives, multiple usb devices and I decided to add just one more Optical drive to my unknowingly critically overloaded cheap PSU. It blew up straight away and took my motherboard with it. I still don't understand WHY, or which rail I blew but I know that it was my fault for having the cheap PSU and it was also my fault for assuming that I can just add things Willy Nilly. That was only a year and a half ago and I learnt so much from those two acts of stupidity.

Overcompensation is an excellent supstitution for stupidity and ignorance. Hence the reason why everyone gets a PSU thats wayyy bigger than they need. Its simply safer. Taking a bad bet and winning is not a good reason to go ahead and take another bad bet. God I wish more people would understand that fact.  

In summary, keep it in the motherboard spec - no extra power connectors and you're fine. Move away from spec and start adding HDD's/Optical drives etc, upgrade to something decent. Not all manufacturers are kind enough to tell you the maximum power on each rail.

Nah, I actually would probably build something like this myself. Its a good recipe for a great gaming pc. Normally for gaming I build something along the "high low end" and try to keep it under 700$. Really just a cheap PC with a kick ass gpu. The last time I built one was for Half Life 2, back in 2005. Im probably going to build a new gaming rig in the near future and it will probably end up very similiar to the build you posted The only thing I didnt agree with was the fact that it could run Crysis well. I dont think anyone plays PC games at 800x600 anymore, much less 640x480. Well...not alot of people. Id consider 1024x768 the base resolution nowadays. But thats just me.

One question, since a lower cost motherboard tends to have cheaper components and simpler heat sinks, am I correct in saying that a cheaper motherboard has less tolerance for being dicked around on? I.E Overclocking or case temperatures that are too high. I spose hence the reason for the quality case/PSU because with them the temperatures are lower. Maybe its best to say spend on a solid case/psu to lay the foundation so you don't have to compensate with an expensive motherboard.

My computer im building cost me $300 and thats with a copy of Vista and a new case, motherboard and CPU, simply because I got cheap deals and I reused old parts.

This article is a good example of why I like many aspects of console gaming better.

Yea, from a purist point of view, PC gaming is better. From a "my dick is bigger then your dick" point of view, I will stick with Consoles.

I should have checked this out earlier but I went to Tom’s hardware and found that they had already tested the GeForce 8800GT on Crysis and the results are actually better than my estimates.