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Why not just buy a box system for $299? Save your pennies, and maybe even get a monitor. If you have no intention of slowly upgrading to a dual core proc, SLI graphics, RAID and or other specialized HW, just buy a cheap computer. Beyond all of the costs of the components don't forget about time and effort putting it together. If you want a computer to get on the internet, do homework, use some office programs, and play some older games you'll never build it as cheap as you can buy it. And, you can have it home, on your desk and running in 45 minutes, depending on traffic.
 
"Why not just buy a box system for $299? Save your pennies, and maybe even get a monitor. If you have no intention of slowly upgrading to a dual core proc, SLI graphics, RAID and or other specialized HW, just buy a cheap computer. Beyond all of the costs of the components don't forget about time and effort putting it together. If you want a computer to get on the internet, do homework, use some office programs, and play some older games you'll never build it as cheap as you can buy it. And, you can have it home, on your desk and running in 45 minutes, depending on traffic."
I guess you missed the part where I said that I do plan on upgrading it to a top-end graphics card and quite possibly a dual core proc. And that while I can get some 'older' games (like HL2 and Area51) from a friend for free because he's besotted with FEAR, I also plan on buying brand new games to play on it as well over the next few years.
 
I did miss that part of your post.

But again I say, if your mods are not extreme they'll work in a cheap whitebox machine. Many of the cheapest machines still have PCI-e slots. Now, upgrading to a dual core chip would probably be out of the question, but won't help on most games for the next few years. You still might want compare prices of a really cheap box with a $150 video card and an extra gig or two of RAM. You will lose overclocking and maybe tight RAM timings, but you'll have a cheaper system quicker.
 
Well, I ordered the parts on Saturday morning. Because NewEgg was out of stock on the mobo I wanted, I ended up splitting my order between NewEgg and ZipZoomFly, which saved me enough to get the DVD burner on top of the GF6150 mobo.

To give yet another idea of how different NE is from ZZF, over the WEEKEND I kept getting emails from NE about how my order has been recieved, processed, etc. On SUNDAY I got an email with my tracking number. So far all that I've gotten from ZZF is an automated order confirmation. Now, I didn't EXPECT anyone to start processing my order until today (Monday) because I sent it over the weekend. But NE processed my order over the weekend. ZZF didn't.

Anyway, I payed three bucks for 2 day FedEx shipping from ZZF for my parts. Where as NE is something like 5-7 day ground UPS. So now to see who's boxes get here first. Hopefully all parts will come in tact and I can build my system sometime this week! I'm psyched.

Again though, anyone have any experience with those widescreen LCD HD TVs with DVI inputs to serve as a computer monitor as well as a TV? Because it sounds so cool. So if there are no bad reasons other than the limited screen resolution then I'd love to upgrade to that some day.
 
I guess you missed the part where I said that I do plan on upgrading it to a top-end graphics card and quite possibly a dual core proc. And that while I can get some 'older' games (like HL2 and Area51) from a friend for free because he's besotted with FEAR, I also plan on buying brand new games to play on it as well over the next few years.
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Um, then why are you wasting your money now? It doesn't make any sense, unless you don't have a computer. A top-end gfx card is going to run you $600+, which is larger than your entire budget for your new box. WHy not just wait 6 months and get the whole rig at once, instead of wasting $$$$ on parts you're going to just dispose of later?

Honestly the whole notion of a gaming rig at $500 is a bit ludicrous. Don't waste your cash. Save up at LEAST another $300 and get something decent. I don't understand why you're obsessing over hardware you're going to replace: it's just throwing away cash. If cash flow is an issue you shouldn't be buying useless hardware @ $100 when you can get something decent for $150. You can get a REAL decent rig @ $1200, especially if you wait 6 months.

I understand you have a budget, but you need to be realistic in your expectations for $500...
 
"Um, then why are you wasting your money now? It doesn't make any sense, unless you don't have a computer."
And I guess YOU missed the part where my 300MHz Celeron box is DYING on me and I'm pretty desperate to get something that works again. As well as the part where I specifically said I was designing a box that would be stable and have a good deal of room to grow for years to come.

"I understand you have a budget, but you need to be realistic in your expectations for $500..."
And it would seem that you need to learn how to read.

Sheesh!

Honestly.
 
Yes! vrec is right... go back and read the rest of this thread... this has all been covered... and he has made the decision based on alot of good advice.
 
And it would seem that you need to learn how to read.
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Thanks. There are 5 pages in this thread and I've been keeping up with it. I was writing my post at the same time as vrec, so there was no mention of him placing his order when I posted.

I'm just saying that maybe you should consider waiting so that you don't have to waster your cash disposable parts. If you're moving up from a 300 MHz celeron, then I doubt you'd be missing much if you hold off on a new computer for a couple more months. I guess it's too late now. Good luck with your system.

As for wide-screen LCD's, DVI is digital and VGA and composite are analog. It's really more marketing than anything, though. Coming from a computer you're not going to see a difference at all. DVI is better than composite, s-video, and RCA, for different reasons, but I suspect the move to HDMI is really just to reduce the number of different transmission methods, and to move to pure digital for better quality.

You'll see most TV's with HDMI, though, which is really just DVI with sound. DVI is good because LCD's are digital, and tubes are analog. Coming from the computer, if the signal is VGA (Analog), the monitor has to convert the signal to digital. DVI to LCD, there's no conversion and hence no potential for quality loss during conversion. There was question as to the feasability for 1080p and higher with composite video, so HDMI is definately the best solution. HDMI has a 5Gb max throughput, and I beileve 1080i only uses 1/2 of that.

Latency for LCD TV's are uaully a lot slower than LCD's for computers, so I would say do your research first. Most LCD's (and especially plasmas) aren't good AT ALL if you console-game, due to high-latency and burn-in. Waiting for nano-tech LCD's would be your best bet unless you have the cash. CRT's are awesome (I have a samsung HD slim-fit tube that looks amazing, at < 1/2 the cost of an LCD). Tubes are brighter, too.
 
vrec, just one more thing: I was just sharing my opinion, so I didn't mean to come off as rude. The notion of a high-end gfx card after a long discussion about a $500 gaming PC struck me awry.

I'm glad you found a good solution that fit your needs.
 
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