Building a PC Equal to XBox for the Same Price or Less?

Lonnold asks: "Every time the topic of Linux on the XBox and/or XBox modding comes up, some one always responds, 'I can build a better PC from scratch, why waste time modding a game console?' So that's my challenge, can anyone demonstrate that it is cheaper to build a PC comparable to the XBox specs?"

Comments

Impossible

[GigsVT]

build a PC comparable to the XBox specs

There's no way you could find hardware that will only run signed binaries on the open market. Only an idiot would buy such crippled hardware, and the company that came out with it would go under quickly, unless maybe they were some kind of monopoly or something.

Um, loss leader anyone?

[ByronEllis]

Well, since Microsoft is taking a loss on the XBox hardware so you might not be able to accomplish that. Its pretty standard Gillette-style marketing practice (give the razor away and make a killing on the blades).

Of course the 'killing on the blades' part is proving to be more difficult than they anticipated, but so it goes.

Re:Um, loss leader anyone?

[ivan256]

Of course the 'killing on the blades' part is proving to be more difficult than they anticipated, but so it goes.

Perhaps they overlooked the fact that blades wear out, but game discs don't. You can't trade razor blades with friends or sell them back to "Razor Stop" and replace them with other used blades unless you like pain.

We won't even get into the fact that Gilette using existing patent law to protect their business model and didn't have to lobby congress for new protections that didn't exist to prevent reverse engineering.

Lets see here

[Glonoinha]

CPU : PIII 733MHz w/ 128k cache
RAM : 64M
Video card : GeForce 3ti or maybe even a low end GF4.
Sound card : Regular ol' sound card.
Media : CD/DVD reader.
Hard drive : 8G

$220 without a floppy drive, keyboard, or OS? I think we can probably do that pretty easy, or should I say yes, very easy. Probably do twice as much performance (Celeron 1.4GHz or even higher cpu, twice as much memory, hard drive space) for $250.

Re:Lets see here

[crisco]

pricewatch:

geforce 3ti: $63
celeron 1.3GHz(*): $40
mboard(**): $58
64MB: $9
20GB: $45
Case, power: $11
DVD Drive: $31
controller ??

(*)Much lower than Pentium III in the 733 to 900 range
(**)Probably cheaper motherboads, searched for one that listed the Celeron at 1.3GHz

Total $257

Cheaper buying used stuff, or if you can get everything from one place, but you're going to be hard pressed to get below the xbox price unless you come across some sweet deals. You're right, higher CPU performance is cheaper. The vid chip in the xbox is somewhat geforce3 era but does some stuff that is only now showing up in pc graphics cards.

Including lawyers fees?

[anthony_dipierro]

Is this with or without the cost of defending yourself from a DMCA lawsuit?

Walmart PC

[MBCook]

Easy:

1. Go to walmart.com
2. Get a Microtel SYSMAR550 PC With 1.2 GHz Duron (without OS) for $200
3. Done

This PC has 128mb of ram (vs X-Box's 64), a 1.2 ghz processor (vs X-Box's 700mhz), 20 gig hard drive (vs X-Box's 8 gig).

It's worse than the X-Box because it doesn't include a monitor (where on the X-Box you can use a TV) and it doesn't have the 3D graphics. Also, it lacks the DVD drive.

It's BETTER than the X-Box in most ways, and you could give it a new graphics card and a DVD drive, but you already get a keyboard and mouse (would cost $20 maybe + $20 for a USB->X-Box adaptor) so it's entirely possible. The Microtel also has parallel and serial ports, audio in, speakers, and it has 2 PCI slots (it would take one to upgrade the graphics) so you could still put in a TV tuner or something.

So for $200 you get a VERY nice PC (compared to anything I have, MORE than enough to do anything including games, all you'd need is a better graphics card). Compare that to $178 for an X-Box (according to Walmart.com) and you have your comparision.

You could do much better if you were to go for that MS pays (since they take a hit on every X-Box, as has already been pointed out).

Re:Try this...

[KurdtX]

* MSI motherboard w/ generic "3D" video - $50
* Athlon XP 1700+ CPU - $45
* Kingston 128MB SDRAM - $24
* Seagate Barracuda 30GB 7200RPM drive - $50
* Dynapower METIS ATX Mid-Tower /w 300watt PSU - $22
* NEC 52x CD-ROM drive - $15

Realizing you don't have to make Linux run on something "just 'cause it's there" - $priceless

Pretty darn close.

[zsazsa]

$276 for a system specced out at Newegg.com (yes, there are cheaper places online, but none as reputable). The kicker is video - most of the posts I've seen on this thread have generic onboard video, which is easily outclassed by the Xbox. This system would have been competitive pricewise if it didn't need a GF3/GF4 class video card with TV out.

Here's the specs. Here's a mirrored copy of the cart if you feel like shopping.

Dynapower Model# METIS CS-I3ALB.701 (Light-Blue) ATX MID-TOWER CASE w/ 300W POWER SUPPLY -2 x USB RETAIL : $22.00
Aopen Internal EIDE 16X DVD ROM / 40X Max CD-ROM Drive Beige RETAIL : $28.00
Seagate 30GB 7200rpm EIDE Hard Drive Barracuda V ST330013A - OEM : $50.00
SimpleTech (Simple Technologies) 128MB DDR PC2100 - OEM : $22.00
ECS K7S5A PRO USB 2.0 SiS® 735 SOCKET A MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL Back Plate Included : $47.00
AMD DURON 1.2GHZ Socket A PGA Processor -OEM : $34.00
VGA CHAINTECH A-GX20 TI-4200 64MB 8X VGA & TV-OUT. RETAIL BOX : $95.00

Subtotal : $298.00

It's pretty nice, but nothing beats getting a nice computer in a pretty box and with a fun controller for $179, subsidized by Bill Gates himself.

My attempt.

[MoOsEb0y]

Coming from newegg.com,

METIS CS-I3ALB.701 (Light-Blue) ATX MID-TOWER CASE w/ 300W POWER SUPPLY -2 x USB RETAIL
$22.00

Seagate 30GB 7200rpm EIDE Hard Drive Barracuda V ST330013A - OEM
$50.00

SimpleTech (Simple Technologies) 128MB DDR PC2100 - OEM
$22.00

Shuttle Motherboard for AMD processors Micro ATX, Model MN31N - Retail (nForce2 Chipset with a geforce 4 onboard)
$90.00

AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.1GHz 200MHz Bus Socket A PGA Processor
$35.00

Coolermaster DP5-6I11A HSF
$4

Total:
$223.00

Umm, the Xbox plays games

[zaad]

It seems odd that people are leaving out this very important fact. Sure, you can build faster PC's for just a tad over the price of the Xbox. But what you can't do on your spiffy new PC is to play the console games that you can on your modded Xbox.

So with a modded Xbox, you get a pretty decent gaming console (with a game controller - no one seemed to factor this into their price either), a multimedia system (especially if you buy the remote), or a Linux box (probably for playing MAME games - 64MB of RAM isn't spiff-o-riffic if you plan to run X).

This is not even mentioning the "sticking it to Microsoft" coolness factor too.

Either way, there are reason why you might consider modding a Xbox instead of building a PC.