How to Build a $500 Gaming Machine

bacterial_pus writes "Tom's Hardware has a very interesting article on how to build a $500 gaming rig. 'Instead of the newest killer rig from Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Voodoo, etc... how about a system for the rest of us with a realistic budget starting from scratch? We set out to build a reasonable gaming system that will get you through today's game titles without breaking the bank for around $500.'"

Comments

the punchline

[randyest]

Couldn't find a printable link, so to save you from 8 clicks on "next->" and more ads than I could count (they went over budget by $16.49):

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $146
Motherboard: ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 $69
Memory: Corsair Value Select 512 MB (2x 256 MB) $52
VGA: eVGA 256-A8-N340-TX Geforce 6600 256 MB $113
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80 GB $57.50
Optical Drive LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM $19.99
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12-330 ATX12V 330W $59.00
Total: $516.49

Re:Pirates!

[Praxx]

Students at my university (who are also more likely to appreciate a $500 gaming rig) can get a Windows XP license for $6.

Ars Technica

[Kesh]

I'd rather use the Ars Technica System Guides. They tend to be a bit more realistic and don't hype up a specific price point. Plus, they get all the components in. ;)

Their Budget Box is comparable to the one Tom's built, and actually includes all the necessary parts in the price.

3 gamer computer guides for 3 budgets

[g_adams27]

Sharky Extreme does this kind of thing on a regular basis, usually every month.

Value Gaming System Buyer's Guide ($1000 budget)

High-end System Buyer's Guide ($2,500 budget)

Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide ($4,000 budget)