$500 Gaming PC Day 2 Testing & Analysis
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Anonymous
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Gaming
April 17, 2008 1:01:09 PM
Yesterday we chose our components, today we’ll test them. Does our $500 gamer make the grade?
$500 Gaming PC Day 2 Testing & Analysis : Read more
$500 Gaming PC Day 2 Testing & Analysis : Read more
More about : 500 gaming day testing analysis
radguy
April 17, 2008 1:52:18 PM
Very interesting and thanks for the reveiw. Its nice to know what we can get for 500 but I also think it continues to show the dual vs quad debate. Even in the low end sector this question is poping up. Unless rendering is involved on a budget it makes no real sense to go quad today and besides if your on a budget your likely to upgrade it in a couple years anyway.
I know time is limited but is it really right to compare the stock 8800gs to an oc 3870.
Anyway I think the results show that at 500 bucks you can build a nice gaming pc and thats number has come down quite a bit.
I know time is limited but is it really right to compare the stock 8800gs to an oc 3870.
Anyway I think the results show that at 500 bucks you can build a nice gaming pc and thats number has come down quite a bit.
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spotless
April 17, 2008 2:31:30 PM
Related resources
- Build me a gaming PC (Budget £2,500) - Forum
- Best $500 budget PC gaming build to play GW2 on ultra sets. - Forum
- Gaming PC - +/-$2,500 - Forum
- HELP on $500 gaming pc build mainly for planetside 2 - Forum
- [PC Build Help] Gaming/Workstation @ $2,500 - Forum
p3matty
April 17, 2008 2:45:51 PM
Rip181
April 17, 2008 2:48:27 PM
Rip181
April 17, 2008 2:49:38 PM
MisterChef
April 17, 2008 2:57:28 PM
danatmason
April 17, 2008 3:20:41 PM
I just did a build like this a bit over a month ago. Unfortunately, I went with an Athlon x2 4000+ which, even overclocked, can't come close to the Pentium Dual Core OC'ed. The case and power supply combination presented here is an excellent value - I chose the same power supply with a different case and total cost was 33% more. I had to choose a 8600gt as well because of a lack of material on the 8800gs at the time. The 8800gt fell in price dramatically though so I picked one up and got rid of the other card. That brings me to my point - after rebates, an 8800gt can be had for 150 and a 9600gt can go for 110 - has there ever been a better time to do a budget build?
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romulus47plus1
April 17, 2008 3:38:25 PM
Kaldor
April 17, 2008 4:00:06 PM
I built something similar to this for a friend. I came in at $550, but I have 4 gigs of ram, and a better power supply. I didnt OC at all. I could have reused the old HD and knocked $60 off of it but I wanted to dump all the ATA stuff in the case except the floppy. I also reused the old case, which is how I got a better powersupply. Also used a 9600 GT for a little nicer card. She had a copy of Xp to throw on it.
Quad vs Dual core in a budget machine is really shown here. The quad core just simply isnt worth the money right now. Not enough apps really take advantage of it.
Overall its a smoking little machine. The processor with nothing but a heatsink change will hit 3 ghz + as shown in this article. She games, but is on a 19" LCD, which has a native resolution of 1200X something I think so the 9600 GT is plenty of video card for her.
Overall this is a great article and $500 can easily be adapted to whatever you need give or take $50 depending on what components you salvage off the old PC.
Quad vs Dual core in a budget machine is really shown here. The quad core just simply isnt worth the money right now. Not enough apps really take advantage of it.
Overall its a smoking little machine. The processor with nothing but a heatsink change will hit 3 ghz + as shown in this article. She games, but is on a 19" LCD, which has a native resolution of 1200X something I think so the 9600 GT is plenty of video card for her.
Overall this is a great article and $500 can easily be adapted to whatever you need give or take $50 depending on what components you salvage off the old PC.
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I agree with Kaldor. This was a really good article. You could see in the benchmarks what a better video card could do for you. It would have been interesting to see the results if there had been time to OC the GPU.
I think the dual vs. quad debate is more relevant when multitasking is involved. Certainly in a budget build a dual is the right choice.
I think the dual vs. quad debate is more relevant when multitasking is involved. Certainly in a budget build a dual is the right choice.
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lowguppy
April 17, 2008 4:47:26 PM
itdoesntmatter
April 17, 2008 4:57:45 PM
Mach5Motorsport
April 17, 2008 5:16:50 PM
joetheone
April 17, 2008 5:34:26 PM
Great Article. But has anyone else noticed that the Antec NSK4480B is no longer available at newegg? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... I was looking to pick one up but not the cheapest i can find them is around $100.
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Apodo
April 17, 2008 5:37:21 PM
it is a good start to talk about low-budget pc for gamers. The majority of pc users around the world are poor (the same goes for general populace), most of us in Sudamerica we can only dream of game rigs or such. If you add the problematic off the "technology delay" (in Argentina a 780G board is unavailable, and 700 chipset is worth here a U$S 415.00)we can denied a serious problematic.
I hope to see a Spider platform in the same bugdet or on lower one, and thus, compare.
I hope to see a Spider platform in the same bugdet or on lower one, and thus, compare.
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nihility
April 17, 2008 6:09:18 PM
cah027
April 17, 2008 6:35:17 PM
I think I would rather have this case and psu combo for $89 after rebait
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024
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zenmaster
April 17, 2008 6:35:41 PM
joetheone said:
Great Article. But has anyone else noticed that the Antec NSK4480B is no longer available at newegg? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... I was looking to pick one up but not the cheapest i can find them is around $100.Antec is likely going through a product refresh.
Example - The Antec 900 is being replaced by the Antec 1200.
Expect to see a similar Product out soon in the same price range.
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zenmaster
April 17, 2008 6:37:55 PM
Mach5Motorsport said:
Any reviews of a Phenom 8400 system? They're selling for about $500. How would that fare?Likely not very well.
Very few retails systems have anything above very basic graphic cards.
Even the High-End Quad Core sytems lack decent graphics.
Add to that, the E8400 has one less core and is clocked slower than the previous $1000 build.
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Would've been nice to have a 3870 GPU like the so called "budget" build that was built in March, but this shows that you can still have a decent gaming rig for about $500. I would've bought CAS 4 DDR2 800mHz over the CAS5 stuff they used. After MIR it would've been cheaper and faster, but the initial price would've pushed the budget over the $500 limit. I'm betting if the $50-75 more for the 3870 in the April build, would've towered over the March build. It definately would've been nice to use the same memory/GPU/HDD on all of the builds and just vary the CPU to see what "really" matters in games, which we all know is the GPU (in general).
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zenmaster
April 17, 2008 6:50:59 PM
cah027 said:
I think I would rather have this case and psu combo for $89 after rebaithttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024
Yes, that is nicer, but you would then need to cut $25 out of the system someplace.
When on sale, that is a really great Case/PSU combo.
But, they were not counting rebates in their cost analysis.
The counted the Full $130 for the video card, not the $100 AR price.
Prices are always dropping and you may always find an amazing deal.
Example - I bought their Case/CPU combo for $35 from New Egg a few months ago.
An 80+ Certified 380w PSU is more than enough for most sytems.
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animehair
April 17, 2008 7:05:52 PM
fatty35
April 17, 2008 8:02:21 PM
zenmaster
April 17, 2008 8:26:28 PM
Probably NewEgg or someplace else.
Maybe even a little comparison shopping.
I can buy the CPU on line for about $20 less than they have listed right now. (Buy.Com and Google Checkout.....)
The RAM, I can get that for about $10-$15 less.
I bought the exact case for $30 less a few months ago.
If they wanted to count rebates, the GPU was really only $100 not $130.
So all in all, it's a fairly honest shot at a $500.
Of course prices change from day to day.
The best thing is that all of the parts are QUALITY.
The PSU is 80+ Certified and Top Notch.
Superbly rated Mobo for the price.
Double LifeTime Warranty on the GPU.
PMR Recording on the HDD for good performance.
Well Reviewed CPU Cooler.
RAM that was well tested in the past by them.
Good Name DVD-RW.
Maybe even a little comparison shopping.
I can buy the CPU on line for about $20 less than they have listed right now. (Buy.Com and Google Checkout.....)
The RAM, I can get that for about $10-$15 less.
I bought the exact case for $30 less a few months ago.
If they wanted to count rebates, the GPU was really only $100 not $130.
So all in all, it's a fairly honest shot at a $500.
Of course prices change from day to day.
The best thing is that all of the parts are QUALITY.
The PSU is 80+ Certified and Top Notch.
Superbly rated Mobo for the price.
Double LifeTime Warranty on the GPU.
PMR Recording on the HDD for good performance.
Well Reviewed CPU Cooler.
RAM that was well tested in the past by them.
Good Name DVD-RW.
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Crashman
April 17, 2008 9:15:24 PM
joetheone said:
Great Article. But has anyone else noticed that the Antec NSK4480B is no longer available at newegg? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... I was looking to pick one up but not the cheapest i can find them is around $100.Try using price engines like Pricegrabber and Froogle. I had the same concern until I found a popular vender selling them for $65 through "google product search"
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jamesl
April 17, 2008 9:20:32 PM
joetheoneGreat Article. But has anyone else noticed that the Antec NSK4480B is no longer available at newegg? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129032 I was looking to pick one up but not the cheapest i can find them is around $100.
go to http://www.froogle.com and search for Antec NSK4480B
you get
http://www.google.com/products?q=Antec+NSK4480B+
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jamesl
April 17, 2008 9:24:58 PM
cah027I think I would rather have this case and psu combo for $89 after rebaithttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129024
well, it wouldn't have been a $500 build then would it?
you can always say, $20 more for ram, or $25 more for a better GPU, but the point is not to do that, but keep it at $500
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maxpowertuc
April 17, 2008 9:40:29 PM
I must say that this $500 build is about a 9/10 for price. You can get better prices on some days and maybe a bit higher on others, so their attempt to keep under $500 is quite good. This build is probably the smartest build to date that TH has done in quite some time. Way to go guys/gals!!!! All of the parts used are of good quality and there really isn't much wasted on the budget here. The NZXT case/PSU combo last month wasn't needed. You could've use the case/PSU combo in this build to run it, which would've saved $60-70. They could've even gone with a 5000+ BE w/a $25 CPU HSF and would've saved about $100 over the Phenom used. That would've made more sense in a budget orientated mindset. Then the total build price would've been around $600, which makes more sense to me for a budget gaming build. But I'm not going to harp too much, since this April build makes more sense than what they have built to date.
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porksmuggler
April 18, 2008 1:05:21 AM
I agree smartest build to date from TH, but they still crippled it with the E2160 and 8800GS. I posted this on part I.
my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?
Intel E4500 $125
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88
Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36
ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125
Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53
RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40
Samsung SH-S203N $33
my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?
Intel E4500 $125
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88
Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36
ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125
Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53
RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40
Samsung SH-S203N $33
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Southsidequis
April 18, 2008 2:07:44 AM
elpresidente2075
April 18, 2008 2:16:29 AM
Thus proving that for most people (even most casual gamers!), a relatively cheap PC will do the trick.
'Course for "normals" you'd have to figure in OS, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, and the normal suite of software that is necessary for day to day use. That can add another $200-$300 if you're not careful.
'Course for "normals" you'd have to figure in OS, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, and the normal suite of software that is necessary for day to day use. That can add another $200-$300 if you're not careful.
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bluekoala
April 18, 2008 5:07:06 AM
You can have a similar config with AMD. Athlon x2 5000 BE with the same video card, same case and ECS mobo would provide roughly the same value as the whatever CPU they're using. A big plus would be scalability. I recommended a build to a fellow tech I work with, 100$ asus am2+ board, 2 gbs value ram 70$, x2 5000BE ~ 110$, HD3650 DDR2 ~95$.
Basically that's a decent upgrade from a barton 2500, 1gb ram and r9600pro agp for 375$ +tax. Plus he's got great CPU and video scalability. Next year he will be able to easily double or even triple his performance by buying a better video card and CPU for less than 500$
Basically that's a decent upgrade from a barton 2500, 1gb ram and r9600pro agp for 375$ +tax. Plus he's got great CPU and video scalability. Next year he will be able to easily double or even triple his performance by buying a better video card and CPU for less than 500$
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wild9
April 18, 2008 5:09:12 PM
zenmaster
April 18, 2008 5:15:27 PM
PorksmugglerI agree smartest build to date from TH, but they still crippled it with the E2160 and 8800GS. I posted this on part I.my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?Intel E4500 $125Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40Samsung SH-S203N $33
The one THG Built.
#1) Stock Cooler will not allow for a Good OC.
#2) SubStand Case & PSU. This is not about the cheapest parts you can find. It's about making a quality build.
#3) It's an Invalid Price on the 9600GT. MWAVE.COM is lowest price on Froogle unless you count Ebay Results. They were not Counting Rebates if that is what you are trying to count.
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Crashman
April 18, 2008 5:16:29 PM
wild9Are the colors on the graphs the right way round?
The charts are orgnanized by "overall performance leader", so the order changes depends on which system finished first. Check the color keys to make sure the color per configuration is consistent and let everyone know if you find a chart that isn't. Score
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wild9
April 18, 2008 5:21:20 PM
I think you can still acheieve good performance with an older system..there's a lot of S939 boards available, able to take dual-core processors. You could for instance, overclock a S939 3800+ X2 and get some fast RAM, as well as use say, an 8800GT or 9600GT. I'd like to see the actual performance difference between such a system and these latest builds. However, the almost non-existent nature of S939 processors and their resulting high cost would be prohibitive, so the test would be one of interest rather than practicality.
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wild9
April 18, 2008 5:22:42 PM
CrashmanThe charts are orgnanized by "overall performance leader", so the order changes depends on which system finished first. Check the color keys to make sure the color per configuration is consistent and let everyone know if you find a chart that isn't.
Thanks for your reply. I always associated green with AMD and blue for Intel.
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wild9
April 18, 2008 5:29:14 PM
http://media.bestofmicro.com/V/X/98349/original/500gami...
Seems they've used blue for AMD, and green for Intel.
Seems they've used blue for AMD, and green for Intel.
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Crashman
April 18, 2008 5:36:08 PM
wild9http://media.bestofmicro.com/V/X/9 [...] 3dsmax.pngSeems they've used blue for AMD, and green for Intel.
LOL, well it's a little late to change ALL the charts now isn't it?
Duly noted.
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cisco
April 18, 2008 5:45:11 PM
I just built a system for a friend using some his old case and OS which helped.
E8200- = 164.00 25.00 instant rebate free ship
Gigabyte- P35-DS3L = 76.99 25.00 instant free ship
Corsair 2x1gb 6400C4 = 29.00 40.00 MIR free ship
BFG 650 PSU = 49.00 45 inst 25 MIR 10.00 ship
My old 8800GTS 640mb = 150.00
Seagate 80GB 7200.10 = 44.00 6.00 ship
his old case, OS, dvdrw = 0.00
total = 528.99 with shipping
Obviously not quite the same scenario but it is pretty amazing by adding a little over 500.00 to his current system he went from a:
2.66ghz Celeron
Crap board
DVDrw
1gig ddr 333mhz
9600xt
40gig crap HD
Crap PSU
to
e8200
gigabyte P35 DS3L
2GB Corsair 6400C4
XFX 8800GTS 640MB
BFG 650w PSU
Seagate 80GB 7200.10
dvdrw
It's pretty amazing what you can build today with 500.00, hell I think I paid that just for my card last year.
E8200- = 164.00 25.00 instant rebate free ship
Gigabyte- P35-DS3L = 76.99 25.00 instant free ship
Corsair 2x1gb 6400C4 = 29.00 40.00 MIR free ship
BFG 650 PSU = 49.00 45 inst 25 MIR 10.00 ship
My old 8800GTS 640mb = 150.00
Seagate 80GB 7200.10 = 44.00 6.00 ship
his old case, OS, dvdrw = 0.00
total = 528.99 with shipping
Obviously not quite the same scenario but it is pretty amazing by adding a little over 500.00 to his current system he went from a:
2.66ghz Celeron
Crap board
DVDrw
1gig ddr 333mhz
9600xt
40gig crap HD
Crap PSU
to
e8200
gigabyte P35 DS3L
2GB Corsair 6400C4
XFX 8800GTS 640MB
BFG 650w PSU
Seagate 80GB 7200.10
dvdrw
It's pretty amazing what you can build today with 500.00, hell I think I paid that just for my card last year.
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wild9
April 18, 2008 5:59:57 PM
CrashmanLOL, well it's a little late to change ALL the charts now isn't it?Duly noted.
Thanks. I do appreciate the work that goes into these articles, and I don't want it to look like I am nit-picking
Perhaps a little re-touching with Photoshop could help? I'm so used to seeing green for AMD and blue for Intel lol. Score
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porksmuggler
April 19, 2008 4:47:54 AM
zenmasterThe one THG Built.#1) Stock Cooler will not allow for a Good OC.#2) SubStand Case & PSU. This is not about the cheapest parts you can find. It's about making a quality build.#3) It's an Invalid Price on the 9600GT. MWAVE.COM is lowest price on Froogle unless you count Ebay Results. They were not Counting Rebates if that is what you are trying to count.
you again, and your still wrong.
1) have you ever actually overclocked a E4500 on stock, obviously not.
2) not nearly the cheapest, and more than comparable to THG's pick.
3) not an invalid price, google is apparently not your friend.
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riff_1-1
April 19, 2008 6:32:56 AM
stunny
April 19, 2008 10:48:53 AM
Dual vs Quad, 8600, 9800, 1.55V... overclocking numbers, numbers...
I do remember the green, monochrome CGA monitor, the most old DOS commands, the old Quantum Bigfoot hard disks and the 5" FDD, the cool 'Turbo' option on the old 286 machines giving you 12 instead of 8 MHz... Consider me an oldtimer. My friend bought the first Pentium 166 in our town. It cost him a fortune, and few years later it was just a pile of useless junk. The 'new hope' that came with K6, burst in fireworks in the revolution Athlon caused...
But hey... Where all that goes? Numbers, numbers, numbers. At one time, I cought myself in 'following numbers'. Wasting money fot the new hi-tech, just for knowing that i have better numbers on paper. Then i said STOP!! I do not follow the market anymore. I do follow my real needs of hardware potential, and believe me, i am low below the 500$ (yet i did play Crysis). Some preffer FPS (ironically, it fits for both First Person Shooter = Frames Per Second) and games Doom-like, other like me preffer games like Planescape:Torment, or NOX.
I do remember the first years of Tom's hardware guide, with its simple, but easy to find design, when even Tom Pabst used to write articles. Now it became a large portal, where oldtimers like me feel completely lost. Well, maybe this is just a nostalgy.
Go, runners, go, go, go... Read articles for the newest hi-tech, spend your money for the components in such an articles, feed the industry with your money wasted for nothing. In few years later, your computer will be just a pile of useless junk, coz our favorite Windoze will have new version, requiring new hardware support.
I work as tech support in computer shop. Every day i see bad assembled computer machines. It cost a treasure 2 years ago. Today its far behind the wave with its DDR memory and IDE drives. Client comes and want to buy 8800GTS for webdesign with Photoshop, another one comes and wants to buy a mainboard for his old computer with Cyrics 200MHz.
"Money for Nothing" - an old song of Dire Straits
I do remember the green, monochrome CGA monitor, the most old DOS commands, the old Quantum Bigfoot hard disks and the 5" FDD, the cool 'Turbo' option on the old 286 machines giving you 12 instead of 8 MHz... Consider me an oldtimer. My friend bought the first Pentium 166 in our town. It cost him a fortune, and few years later it was just a pile of useless junk. The 'new hope' that came with K6, burst in fireworks in the revolution Athlon caused...
But hey... Where all that goes? Numbers, numbers, numbers. At one time, I cought myself in 'following numbers'. Wasting money fot the new hi-tech, just for knowing that i have better numbers on paper. Then i said STOP!! I do not follow the market anymore. I do follow my real needs of hardware potential, and believe me, i am low below the 500$ (yet i did play Crysis). Some preffer FPS (ironically, it fits for both First Person Shooter = Frames Per Second) and games Doom-like, other like me preffer games like Planescape:Torment, or NOX.
I do remember the first years of Tom's hardware guide, with its simple, but easy to find design, when even Tom Pabst used to write articles. Now it became a large portal, where oldtimers like me feel completely lost. Well, maybe this is just a nostalgy.
Go, runners, go, go, go... Read articles for the newest hi-tech, spend your money for the components in such an articles, feed the industry with your money wasted for nothing. In few years later, your computer will be just a pile of useless junk, coz our favorite Windoze will have new version, requiring new hardware support.
I work as tech support in computer shop. Every day i see bad assembled computer machines. It cost a treasure 2 years ago. Today its far behind the wave with its DDR memory and IDE drives. Client comes and want to buy 8800GTS for webdesign with Photoshop, another one comes and wants to buy a mainboard for his old computer with Cyrics 200MHz.
"Money for Nothing" - an old song of Dire Straits
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stunny
April 19, 2008 2:11:09 PM
Dual vs Quad, 8600, 9800, 1.55V... overclocking numbers, numbers...
I do remember the green, monochrome CGA monitor, the most old DOS commands, the old Quantum Bigfoot hard disks and the 5" FDD, the cool 'Turbo' option on the old 286 machines giving you 12 instead of 8 MHz... Consider me an oldtimer. My friend bought the first Pentium 166 in our town. It cost him a fortune, and few years later it was just a pile of useless junk. The 'new hope' that came with K6, burst in fireworks in the revolution Athlon caused...
But hey... Where all that goes? Numbers, numbers, numbers. At one time, I cought myself in 'following numbers'. Wasting money fot the new hi-tech, just for knowing that i have better numbers on paper. Then i said STOP!! I do not follow the market anymore. I do follow my real needs of hardware potential, and believe me, i am low below the 500$ (yet i did play Crysis). Some preffer FPS (ironically, it fits for both First Person Shooter = Frames Per Second) and games Doom-like, other like me preffer games like Planescape:Torment, or NOX.
I do remember the first years of Tom's hardware guide, with its simple, but easy to find design, when even Tom Pabst used to write articles. Now it became a large portal, where oldtimers like me feel completely lost. Well, maybe this is just a nostalgy.
Go, runners, go, go, go... Read articles for the newest hi-tech, spend your money for the components in such an articles, feed the industry with your money wasted for nothing. In few years later, your computer will be just a pile of useless junk, coz our favorite Windoze will have new version, requiring new hardware support.
I work as tech support in computer shop. Every day i see bad assembled computer machines. It cost a treasure 2 years ago. Today its far behind the wave with its DDR memory and IDE drives. Client comes and want to buy 8800GTS for webdesign with Photoshop, another one comes and wants to buy a mainboard for his old computer with Cyrics 200MHz.
"Money for Nothing" - Dire Straits
I do remember the green, monochrome CGA monitor, the most old DOS commands, the old Quantum Bigfoot hard disks and the 5" FDD, the cool 'Turbo' option on the old 286 machines giving you 12 instead of 8 MHz... Consider me an oldtimer. My friend bought the first Pentium 166 in our town. It cost him a fortune, and few years later it was just a pile of useless junk. The 'new hope' that came with K6, burst in fireworks in the revolution Athlon caused...
But hey... Where all that goes? Numbers, numbers, numbers. At one time, I cought myself in 'following numbers'. Wasting money fot the new hi-tech, just for knowing that i have better numbers on paper. Then i said STOP!! I do not follow the market anymore. I do follow my real needs of hardware potential, and believe me, i am low below the 500$ (yet i did play Crysis). Some preffer FPS (ironically, it fits for both First Person Shooter = Frames Per Second) and games Doom-like, other like me preffer games like Planescape:Torment, or NOX.
I do remember the first years of Tom's hardware guide, with its simple, but easy to find design, when even Tom Pabst used to write articles. Now it became a large portal, where oldtimers like me feel completely lost. Well, maybe this is just a nostalgy.
Go, runners, go, go, go... Read articles for the newest hi-tech, spend your money for the components in such an articles, feed the industry with your money wasted for nothing. In few years later, your computer will be just a pile of useless junk, coz our favorite Windoze will have new version, requiring new hardware support.
I work as tech support in computer shop. Every day i see bad assembled computer machines. It cost a treasure 2 years ago. Today its far behind the wave with its DDR memory and IDE drives. Client comes and want to buy 8800GTS for webdesign with Photoshop, another one comes and wants to buy a mainboard for his old computer with Cyrics 200MHz.
"Money for Nothing" - Dire Straits
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marvelous211
April 20, 2008 5:39:59 PM
scryer_360
April 20, 2008 10:33:43 PM
The 1-2 years the processor will last is plenty. By then I can imagine even a $500 user will have enough spare change to be able to at least purchase a comparable processor of the same socket. For years whenever my Pentium 3 went bust, I just bought whatever that would fit the socket. Last one I ever purchased cost me $34.
Then no one supported the socket, so I bought a new LGA775 motherboard and I will probably do the same thing until all else goes south.
Then no one supported the socket, so I bought a new LGA775 motherboard and I will probably do the same thing until all else goes south.
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scryer_360
April 20, 2008 10:41:04 PM
And to stunny: it all depends. In your case you aren't following the hardware now because you don't use it.
I have a Apple G3. Yep. That pile. I have several computers. The G3 is still in use today: it just does email, IE7 and flash. I sometimes make stuff on it.
If all someone needs is to do simple tasks, then you really never do need to upgrade. Again, my G3 still does everything it did brilliantly. But this is about games. And games require hardware. And people keep wanting more and more stunning looking games, which means we need more powerful hardware.
A Pentium 4 machine of mine will actually run Crysis. So will the G3. They just play incredibly slow and if I want to play the game for its real use, to be visually awed, I throw it in my QX6850, 8800 Ultra in Tri-SLI rig. A rig that has been good since Tri-SLI landed and will probably be good until 2009 at least.
This post has been all over the place, but the point is that if you don't want to play the most visually stunning games, you don't need to spend money on hardware like those of us who do. To this day World of Warcraft has never been on my Tri-SLI rig. I still play it on my four year old HP Laptop. Probably will until the hard-drive goes bad. At which point I'll probably just by another laptop, because buying the harddrive will probably cost as much as buying an (used) laptop that will also play WoW and do Office 2007 and XP.
I have a Apple G3. Yep. That pile. I have several computers. The G3 is still in use today: it just does email, IE7 and flash. I sometimes make stuff on it.
If all someone needs is to do simple tasks, then you really never do need to upgrade. Again, my G3 still does everything it did brilliantly. But this is about games. And games require hardware. And people keep wanting more and more stunning looking games, which means we need more powerful hardware.
A Pentium 4 machine of mine will actually run Crysis. So will the G3. They just play incredibly slow and if I want to play the game for its real use, to be visually awed, I throw it in my QX6850, 8800 Ultra in Tri-SLI rig. A rig that has been good since Tri-SLI landed and will probably be good until 2009 at least.
This post has been all over the place, but the point is that if you don't want to play the most visually stunning games, you don't need to spend money on hardware like those of us who do. To this day World of Warcraft has never been on my Tri-SLI rig. I still play it on my four year old HP Laptop. Probably will until the hard-drive goes bad. At which point I'll probably just by another laptop, because buying the harddrive will probably cost as much as buying an (used) laptop that will also play WoW and do Office 2007 and XP.
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