Retail (Best Buy) VS Custom

For a gaming machine, 9600GT paired with a decent processor and RAM is... meeeh...

Custom is better if you really care about the parts in your machine. If you're looking for a cheap htpc that you don't require much from, go with what's on sale.

At the low end, it's hard to out price the large chains....whether the the 9600 GT will be acceptable depends on your resolution .... the 9600 GT provides "Exceptional 1680x1050 performance in most games, 1920x1200 in most games with lowered detail" according to THG.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,24...

You can build a Athlon II Quad Core / 9600GT / 8GB RAM / 320GB HD / Quality PSU for under $650 on newegg for everything (shipped). Minus the OS I guess though.

Going for something custom is much better, I remember my aunt buying a PC from best buy that came with the weakest mobo and PSU ever. Had to replace both at different times, a month, and 6 months after her 1 year 'warranty' was up.

You can pick out parts that make more sense too. Such as... wasting $80 on 8GB when 4GB works just as good. Also a quad core CPU is also a waste of money when paired with a 9600GT. You could get even a 5870 to run fine with a dual core.

So yeah I agree.  

PS: My 4870 was even feeling the hurt (at max settings) from a few games when I had 1680x1050, I feel that THG comment about the 9600GT is a bit dated, like the 9600GT.

companies like hp and dell have everything good EXEPT video card, they give you some crap like onboard or 4650

^ Don't forget their BIOS is locked (in most models, IIRC XPS has an unlocked BIOS, but still nowhere close to a ASUS/Gigabyte/DFI BIOS)

i agree to all of u.........

ONE WIERD THING
200 ppl read this forum and only 5 replied.......LIKE WHAT IS THE RATIO HERE?

Your point?

Most people don't want to repeat what others have said.

Oh yes, an Asus

if you can find an Asus CG5290 CG5270 etc, theyre about $1200 with an i7, rampage 2 gene (or p6tv2) with either a HD4870/GTX260
its a good deal, and everything if possile is asus (including the PSU, sometimes its delta)

for sure if you go retail its not crappy OEM stuff.

But i would go with custom anyways, just cheaper.