$500 gaming rig

So you mean have a cheap gaming rig article more often?

Agreed. This would be a good idea.

*sigh* another one misses the point.

And you obviously don't have enough courage or maturity to explain it It's about ROI. In this case there isn't any.

Mike.

And you obviously don't have enough courage or maturity to explain it It's about ROI. In this case there isn't any.

Mike.

ROI??

I'm planning a budget build next month once the GeForce 8600 cards come out. I don't think I'll be at $500, but I'm evaluating every piece to see what the benefit is, such as spending an extra $20 to go from a 160 Gb HDD to a 250 Gb HDD isn't really necessary for a gaming rig, but the $20 to go from a 40 Gb to a 160 Gb is worth it IMHO.

I think that w/o Vista, monitor, or case, I'll be about $600.

Also, it's all from one vendor (Newegg). While I don't think you guys need to endorse them, maybe pick one retailer so all the parts can be ordered at once and you can save on shipping and the hassles of ordering every piece of hardware from somewhere different.

That fellow also hasn't hit the "target" labeled "10% useful post rating" either. In fact I can't say I've seen a single useful post...

Oh, that's too bad...

I don't know precisely what you mean by 'courage' or 'maturity' but I'll try to keep my point as simple and monosyllabic as possible.

The kiddies with Mommy&Daddy's credit cards are the ones who often have carte blanche to spend what they will (if an upper limit is set, 9/10 times it's highly unrealistic) on what they will. I used to work in a PC shop as a technician and a lot of the kids who could not possibly afford a 7600 (for example) or an E6600 (e.g.) would anyway buy one - and a very harassed-looking adult hovering in the background would sign the slip with nothing more than a pained expression. Next thing we know, said 7600 or E6600 is brought back in, blown to oblivion through careless overclocking or something equally stupid and warranty-voiding. So they can't get it swapped out, oh well, let's just get mommy and/or daddy to sign another credit card slip - and this time the kid's thrown so much technical mumbo-jumbo at the parent that it's now the X6800 that's bought and paid for.

It is depressing, sad, and some of these poor bloody parents just don't know what to do anymore, the rate at which they're spending money on their brat's PC - and the kicker is that the mother/father cannot understand why their own PC just keeps on working... and working... and working... and 5 years later is still working... but the child's PC dies within 2 weeks each time. Now I - the technician - have to explain to a harassed and (often) irate parent why their brat's PC has died - again - and often I'm the one who bears the brunt of the assault because 'after all I was the one who fixed it the last time, do I work that badly, am I that useless, am I even qualified for this work' blah blah fu[b][/b]cking blah. (That last is usually why I used to take all the certificates I possess to work with me - just to see the person's face when they see a master's and a bachelor's degree, four diplomas and God-alone-knows-how-many certificates - mostly in the field of engineering (industrial and electronic), with a few computer networking/hardware certificates thrown in for good measure.)

The point here is - if you work for something (even if it's mowing/raking the bloody lawn for your parents on a Saturday instead of sitting inside glued to the [whatever] or making a nuisance of yourself) you tend to take care of it, value it, and not ____ it up within 2 weeks. If it just gets given to you... familiar with the concept of 'easy come, easy go'? Quite.

The only reason I took that job, BTW, is due to work shortage at the time.

Your turn. 'Courage' and 'maturity' - WTF? Courage implies willingness to do brave/stupid things to prove a point, and maturity implies being old enough to think/talk/act intelligently and in an adult fashion, and/or being in control of one's emotion. By that token, I am reasonably mature, but seeing as I am very cautious and careful in nature, plus I won't do something dangerous without very good reason to be doing so, I'm not terribly courageous. I'll climb a mountain (and do every 2nd weekend on average) but I won't hunt a lion the way it should be done - Masai-style.

Context, boyo, context.

The only advantage to Dell Hell is their entry-level PC's. It's very difficult to build an entry level PC and compete with their prices, especially if you want to make some money in the deal, and especially if you have to buy an OS.

So how about a basic Dell system w/ the recommended upgrades (usually just upgrading RAM from 512 to 1Gb) and building a comperable system from scratch and comparing those prices / performance.

Meh, I just thought you were one of the assholes that use forums to boost their ego.