High end PC gaming, super power for less than you think.

Labor? The ability to walk into any big box retailer and get a working machine? If something's not working, who can help me? There a convenience and standardization that's not factored in here.

Labor? The ability to walk into any big box retailer and get a working machine? If something's not working, who can help me? There a convenience and standardization that's not factored in here.

VoodooHak

[QUOTE="skrat_01"][QUOTE="Filthybastrd"]

Where's the mouse, keyboard, screen and OS?

Even if you're using your old parts (not an option for some of us) you're going to need a 64 bit OS.

Filthybastrd

32 bit windows only supports up to 3 gigs of ram.

On a side note: Is it worth it to pay a little extra for a logitech G11 gamin keyboard and a logitech MX518 optical gaming mouse?

Need a keyboard due to owning a laptop and my current mouse is beat enough to warrant buying a new one anyway...

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

GreyFoXX4

I bet you love how X360 owner don't include the Xbox live cost.... There's just so many wrong in your post...

[QUOTE="GreyFoXX4"]

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

Bebi_vegeta

I bet you love how X360 owner don't include the Xbox live cost.... There's just so many wrong in your post...

I know and it drives me nuts just how many times the price of a monitor is included by consolites. Like I've said and many others before me...anything you can plug a console into, you can plug a pc into.

Setup console...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup PC...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup console...plug into VGA port in tv

Setup PC...plug into VGA port in tv

consolites, see where I'm going with this? ;)

Also I love how you're all throwing convinience, required knowledge and the kitchen sink into this argument when the TC is simply saying you 'can' build a kick ass PC for this price. It's possible, it can be done /thread

[QUOTE="BoloTheGreat"][QUOTE="Filthybastrd"]

Where's the mouse, keyboard, screen and OS?

sikanderahmed

everyone who buys a console probably has a tv. if a bought a pc, i would get a monitor, KB/M and OS (and also ofcourse teh anti-virus as well) with it, add in those prices as well and you are looking at something well over £600

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

[QUOTE="GreyFoXX4"]

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

I bet you love how X360 owner don't include the Xbox live cost.... There's just so many wrong in your post...

[QUOTE="Bebi_vegeta"]

[QUOTE="GreyFoXX4"]

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

GreyFoXX4

I bet you love how X360 owner don't include the Xbox live cost.... There's just so many wrong in your post...

No one is putting a tv into the same category as a gpu, we're putting them into the same category as a monitor. With either a PC or console you need a display to play them on. Monitors and TVs are practically the same now, do you plug your console into a vga port on a monitor or hdmi port? maybe you plug your console into a tv vga port or hdmi? Maybe you have both pc and console hooked up to your tv or both hooked up to a montior? Maybe you have them seperate?

The point is, it doesnt matter what 'your' current setup at home is, the point is they are all interchangeable and what ever you connect your console to, you 'can' plug your pc up to. Both need a 'display' of some kind and thus if you include the price for one, you have to include it for the other.

[QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

Labor? The ability to walk into any big box retailer and get a working machine? If something's not working, who can help me? There a convenience and standardization that's not factored in here.

psychobrew

Dude, that used to be my hobby. I've been building PCs since the early 90's. My time is now finite. Any spare time I have, I'd rather be playing a game rather than tinkering. Whether you spend the money to buy a retail PC or spend the effort to build and tinker, you're still spending. Time, money, effort... it's all the same thing. It's very apparent that the TC isn't acknowledging this. Even at 800USD, it really doesn't matter if hotrodding a PC doens't fit my lifestyle. There's a time and a place for PC gaming. For me, that time has passed.

The appeal of console gaming isn't the price, it's the convenience and the ease of setup and maintenance.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

I know and it drives me nuts just how many times the price of a monitor is included by consolites. Like I've said and many others before me...anything you can plug a console into, you can plug a pc into.

Setup console...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup PC...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup console...plug into VGA port in tv

Setup PC...plug into VGA port in tv

consolites, see where I'm going with this? ;)

Also I love how you're all throwing convinience, required knowledge and the kitchen sink into this argument when the TC is simply saying you 'can' build a kick ass PC for this price. It's possible, it can be done /thread

DAZZER7

You're so ready to forget all the steps involved with PC setup. Research the parts. Build PC. Or, you can cop-out and lump it all into a single step. But don't totally dismiss the step.

Sure it can be done. But there's more effort involved with PC gaming. Effort. Cost. Same thing.

[QUOTE="DAZZER7"]

I know and it drives me nuts just how many times the price of a monitor is included by consolites. Like I've said and many others before me...anything you can plug a console into, you can plug a pc into.

Setup console...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup PC...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup console...plug into VGA port in tv

Setup PC...plug into VGA port in tv

consolites, see where I'm going with this? ;)

Also I love how you're all throwing convinience, required knowledge and the kitchen sink into this argument when the TC is simply saying you 'can' build a kick ass PC for this price. It's possible, it can be done /thread

VoodooHak

You're so ready to forget all the steps involved with PC setup. Research the parts. Build PC. Or, you can cop-out and lump it all into a single step. But don't totally dismiss the step.

Sure it can be done. But there's more effort involved with PC gaming. Effort. Cost. Same thing.

I'm talking about something very specific! What you plug your console or TV into! Right, do you understand that part?

They're the same right?? HDMI, VGA etc anything a console can be plugged into a PC can aswell right?

So in considering that now tell me where I was discussing how complex the process is?? Show me how that is part of the discussion when we're talking about price. It's not, I'm trying to dismiss something very very specific with my post and that is very simple, its the price of a display and how it is equally irrelevant for both console and PC lol.

Why are you introducing 'effort' :lol: into the discussion when we're not talking about effort but 'price?

[QUOTE="Bebi_vegeta"]

[QUOTE="GreyFoXX4"]

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

GreyFoXX4

I bet you love how X360 owner don't include the Xbox live cost.... There's just so many wrong in your post...

I have no answers for a 200$ Os because i've been using the same one for the past years while upgrading my PC parts. And there's plenty of PC games worth buying in the last 6 months... it all depends what type of games you like.

It's been said... you can use your TV has a monitor.

You can build a PC for the family if you wished to be used for more then one person... PC is open platforme to anything you want.

[QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

[QUOTE="DAZZER7"]

I know and it drives me nuts just how many times the price of a monitor is included by consolites. Like I've said and many others before me...anything you can plug a console into, you can plug a pc into.

Setup console...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup PC...plug into hdmi port in tv

Setup console...plug into VGA port in tv

Setup PC...plug into VGA port in tv

consolites, see where I'm going with this? ;)

Also I love how you're all throwing convinience, required knowledge and the kitchen sink into this argument when the TC is simply saying you 'can' build a kick ass PC for this price. It's possible, it can be done /thread

You're so ready to forget all the steps involved with PC setup. Research the parts. Build PC. Or, you can cop-out and lump it all into a single step. But don't totally dismiss the step.

Sure it can be done. But there's more effort involved with PC gaming. Effort. Cost. Same thing.

I'm talking about something very specific! What you plug your console or TV into! Right, do you understand that part?

They're the same right?? HDMI, VGA etc anything a console can be plugged into a PC can aswell right?

So in considering that now tell me where I was discussing how complex the process is?? Show me how that is part of the discussion when we're talking about price. It's not, I'm trying to dismiss something very very specific with my post and that is very simple, its the price of a display and how it is equally irrelevant for both console and PC lol.

Why are you introducing 'effort' :lol: into the discussion when we're not talking about effort but 'price?

[QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

You're so ready to forget all the steps involved with PC setup. Research the parts. Build PC. Or, you can cop-out and lump it all into a single step. But don't totally dismiss the step.

Sure it can be done. But there's more effort involved with PC gaming. Effort. Cost. Same thing.

I'm talking about something very specific! What you plug your console or TV into! Right, do you understand that part?

They're the same right?? HDMI, VGA etc anything a console can be plugged into a PC can aswell right?

So in considering that now tell me where I was discussing how complex the process is?? Show me how that is part of the discussion when we're talking about price. It's not, I'm trying to dismiss something very very specific with my post and that is very simple, its the price of a display and how it is equally irrelevant for both console and PC lol.

Why are you introducing 'effort' :lol: into the discussion when we're not talking about effort but 'price?

[QUOTE="GreyFoXX4"]

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

psychobrew

Yeah, that really annoys me as well, I have a 32'' CRT TV I bought in 2004 and I have no intention of replacing it anytime soon. Consolites usually dismiss the cost of a HDTV when comparing console to PC costs, however when buying a gaming PC you HAVE to include the cost of the monitor, k/m, OS, everything, even if you already have some parts available from a previous build. I mean, anyone that's typing in this forum already has a k/m, for crying out loud!

You can easily get Windows for free (100% legal) when you buy your computer parts.

Stop being so ignorant if you're going to accuse us of lying. Besides, who the hell doesn't have at least Windows XP anyways?

I'll agree that we should include the OS price of about ~100$ for an upgrade edition when the consoleboys include the price of an HDTV. I say HDTV because a cheap monitor looks about as good as an HDTV but much smaller while an SDTV looks like crap and even worse because of its size.

Love hermits throwing in the price of a tv into the situation lol. You do know that people have tv's to watch tv right and are used on a daily basis in normal house holds. But a top end graphics card isn't needed or used everyday in normal house holds.

And with the prices of tv's today, most people are either already upgraded to a hd tv, or within 6months to a year the other majority will be making the switch. And believe it or not they buy them to replace old crt sets and to actually watch tv on them lol. They will just get the extra enjoyment of hooking up a ps3 to it to finalize their home theater setup after going hd.

And also love how hermits just have $200 OS's laying around and never include its price when making these rigs to gloat about how cheap it is to play pc games.

Pluse I just got a new rig about 2 months ago and the only game I've bought for my pc since that time has been Crysis and really nothing in the future of pc gaming makes me think my purchase was worth it lol. Minus HL3, and maybe Huxley. And not Doom 4 casue its to linear lol, thats my shot at all those people that love to use that word "linear" to make a game seem crappy lol.

Don't know about others here but my time is money. And I don't know about others but what setup do people use to use a keyboard/mouse while sitting on a couch? I've used it for UTIII for my ps3 by using the arm cushion of the couch, but I hope this isn't how you pc gamers try to jusitfy using a pc with your tv. Well it has to be how yall do it, cause if your using a gamepad then you might as well had gotten a console lol.GreyFoXX4

Playing on couch = casual gameplay.

[QUOTE="psychobrew"][QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

Labor? The ability to walk into any big box retailer and get a working machine? If something's not working, who can help me? There a convenience and standardization that's not factored in here.

Dude, that used to be my hobby. I've been building PCs since the early 90's. My time is now finite. Any spare time I have, I'd rather be playing a game rather than tinkering. Whether you spend the money to buy a retail PC or spend the effort to build and tinker, you're still spending. Time, money, effort... it's all the same thing. It's very apparent that the TC isn't acknowledging this. Even at 800USD, it really doesn't matter if hotrodding a PC doens't fit my lifestyle. There's a time and a place for PC gaming. For me, that time has passed.

The appeal of console gaming isn't the price, it's the convenience and the ease of setup and maintenance.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

[QUOTE="Filthybastrd"]

[QUOTE="BoloTheGreat"] I am a student (m,y dad wanted the vista TBH) i have XP media centre addition disk too, i have a partitioned hard drive with XP/Vista/Ubuntu. I can install any of the 3 without cost on my new PC ,why do the un-informed act like it's such a HUGE expense? :?BoloTheGreat

I'm a guy with a laptop. So I have to buy all the peripherals along with a new OS since I'll get more than 3 gigs of ram. Some of the "uninformed" are in fact just people who don't have old stuff to carry over to the new pc.

[QUOTE="BoloTheGreat"][QUOTE="Filthybastrd"]

I'm a guy with a laptop. So I have to buy all the peripherals along with a new OS since I'll get more than 3 gigs of ram. Some of the "uninformed" are in fact just people who don't have old stuff to carry over to the new pc.

out0v0rder

still more than a ps3 with a wii tossed in if you remember mouse keyboard and OS, assuming your buying vista (LOL)

still more than a ps3 with a wii tossed in if you remember mouse keyboard and OS, assuming your buying vista (LOL)

12345678ew

So here you go SW, PC gaming is more expensive but for high end parts even in the EU it will cost less than you think, it also has the most games to play on this beast and hey, once you factor in the noraml price of a PC, say £300, you begin to see how much of a good deal it can be. Rember folks this is meant to be a beast, most people playing at normal resolutions woun't need this much power to get a decent experice out of it.

BoloTheGreat

That is simply not true. Even that low end Core 2 quad with 2 of those outdatedcards in an SLI configuration would not be able to play Crysis at asteady framerate on Ultra at 1280 x 1024 resolution, let alone 1440 x 900.

[QUOTE="BoloTheGreat"]

So here you go SW, PC gaming is more expensive but for high end parts even in the EU it will cost less than you think, it also has the most games to play on this beast and hey, once you factor in the noraml price of a PC, say £300, you begin to see how much of a good deal it can be. Rember folks this is meant to be a beast, most people playing at normal resolutions woun't need this much power to get a decent experice out of it.

Johnny-n-Roger

That is simply not true. Even that low end Core 2 quad with 2 of those outdatedcards in an SLI configuration would not be able to play Crysis at asteady framerate on Ultra at 1280 x 1024 resolution, let alone 1440 x 900.

I presume we are talking about the TC's posted specs, when I say this:

2 4850's in Crossfire could run that game quite well.

My 4870/e8400@3.6/4gb can run Very High/1920x1200/2xaa @ 25FPS.

[QUOTE="Johnny-n-Roger"]

[QUOTE="BoloTheGreat"]

So here you go SW, PC gaming is more expensive but for high end parts even in the EU it will cost less than you think, it also has the most games to play on this beast and hey, once you factor in the noraml price of a PC, say £300, you begin to see how much of a good deal it can be. Rember folks this is meant to be a beast, most people playing at normal resolutions woun't need this much power to get a decent experice out of it.

-Traveller-

That is simply not true. Even that low end Core 2 quad with 2 of those outdatedcards in an SLI configuration would not be able to play Crysis at asteady framerate on Ultra at 1280 x 1024 resolution, let alone 1440 x 900.

I presume we are talking about the TC's posted specs, when I say this:

2 4850's in Crossfire could run that game quite well.

My 4870/e8400@3.6/4gb can run Very High/1920x1200/2xaa @ 25FPS.

Those benchmarks are likely not using the Q6700 CPU, whichcould lower these scores dramatically.

I would hardly consider my Q8200 (8gig DDR2) with a 280 GTX a beast. I definatly wouldn't consider this less powerfulset-up a beast either. At 1440 x 900 on Ultra settings, Crysis is nearly unplayable with 2-4xAA enabled

So you get 25fps with your setup, which is unnacceptable in my opinion and much lower than any console games are running.

We're also not taking into consideration that the price the TC listed is lacking *required* components

1. A 64 bit OS
2. A PSU capable of powering the machine
3. A SLI enabled motherboard.

We're talking over $300 US(to be generous) of additional components here.

His components were terrible but the point still remains. You can get a 400$ PC that pwns the PS3 in multiplat games.

[QUOTE="-Traveller-"]

[QUOTE="Johnny-n-Roger"]

That is simply not true. Even that low end Core 2 quad with 2 of those outdatedcards in an SLI configuration would not be able to play Crysis at asteady framerate on Ultra at 1280 x 1024 resolution, let alone 1440 x 900.

Johnny-n-Roger

I presume we are talking about the TC's posted specs, when I say this:

2 4850's in Crossfire could run that game quite well.

My 4870/e8400@3.6/4gb can run Very High/1920x1200/2xaa @ 25FPS.

I would hardly consider my Q8200 (8gig DDR2) with a 280 GTX a beast. I definatly wouldn't consider this less powerfulset-up a beast either. At 1440 x 900 on Ultra settings, Crysis is nearly unplayable with 2-4xAA enabled

So you get 25fps with your setup, which is unnacceptable in my opinion and much lower than any console games are running.

We're also not taking into consideration that the price the TC listed is lacking *required* components

1. A 64 bit OS
2. A PSU capable of powering the machine
3. A SLI enabled motherboard.

We're talking over $300 US(to be generous) of additional components here.

Nom, it's certainly not a "beast", but I guess that is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't find 25FPS unplayable at all, and it's usually up around 35, unless in tons of action. If I lower the rez to 1680x1050, I get a nice jump in performance.

1. There are a few ways of accessing free copies of a Windows OS. Such as through schools, if you are a student. Subrosian knows quite a few ways of doing so. If not, you are right, it'll run $90-$100 for an OEM version.

64-bit isn't hugely necessary, but will lower the RAM usage to around 3gb depending on the combined vid memory on the GPU's. Either way, they are the same price.

2. Unfortunately I haven't checked the amperage on the 12v rail for that PSU, so I couldn't say if it would power it or not. A Corsair/PC Power & Cooling in the same wattage should do just fine. That'll bump the price, probably $20-$30 though.

3. Crossfire enabled motherboards will run you around $130. Especially with full 16X/16X. This ASUS is a very capable board and goes for $130.

Like I said though. With 2 4850's in crossfire, and a reasonable quad/duo, you could get a pretty reasonable performance at 1680x1050.

[QUOTE="Johnny-n-Roger"]

[QUOTE="-Traveller-"]

I presume we are talking about the TC's posted specs, when I say this:

2 4850's in Crossfire could run that game quite well.

My 4870/e8400@3.6/4gb can run Very High/1920x1200/2xaa @ 25FPS.

I would hardly consider my Q8200 (8gig DDR2) with a 280 GTX a beast. I definatly wouldn't consider this less powerfulset-up a beast either. At 1440 x 900 on Ultra settings, Crysis is nearly unplayable with 2-4xAA enabled

So you get 25fps with your setup, which is unnacceptable in my opinion and much lower than any console games are running.

We're also not taking into consideration that the price the TC listed is lacking *required* components

1. A 64 bit OS
2. A PSU capable of powering the machine
3. A SLI enabled motherboard.

We're talking over $300 US(to be generous) of additional components here.

Nom, it's certainly not a "beast", but I guess that is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't find 25FPS unplayable at all, and it's usually up around 35, unless in tons of action. If I lower the rez to 1680x1050, I get a nice jump in performance.

1. There are a few ways of accessing free copies of a Windows OS. Such as through schools, if you are a student. Subrosian knows quite a few ways of doing so. If not, you are right, it'll run $90-$100 for an OEM version.

64-bit isn't hugely necessary, but will lower the RAM usage to around 3gb depending on the combined vid memory on the GPU's. Either way, they are the same price.

2. Unfortunately I haven't checked the amperage on the 12v rail for that PSU, so I couldn't say if it would power it or not. A Corsair/PC Power & Cooling in the same wattage should do just fine. That'll bump the price, probably $20-$30 though.

3. Crossfire enabled motherboards will run you around $130. Especially with full 16X/16X. This ASUS is a very capable board and goes for $130.

Like I said though. With 2 4850's in crossfire, and a reasonable quad/duo, you could get a pretty reasonable performance at 1680x1050.

no just no, pc gameing will alsways be the most expensive. when i can drive to a store, buy a $300 pc, go home, plug it in and start playing, then it will be cheaper. Is it more bang for your buck? yes. cheaper no. And for someone like me that only has a laptop it gets expensive. OS + monitor aren't cheap, OEM licenses can't legally be moved to another computer either so if you ever change the mobo/case technicly you need another OS. Then after deciding on all the parts, the system still has to be built, problems with it can be a total pain especially if you can't identifiy the problem. Console doesn't work i bring it back and exchange it. And after everything is up and running if there are any more problems, with drivers, stability, you have to figure those out two. And eventually perfomance tweaking so you get the best perf/eyecandy as possible.

Regardless of how you put it, someone mentioned pc games are cheaper they are not. To get a decent rig that can play everything that comes out isn't going to cost you 300, its more then that. They are better bang for the buck though, once you hit that sweet spot of pricing ranges its very nice =D and considering games can't keep up with todays hardware really save for crysis It will definitly come closer to price range. But pc gamings bring other costs , time/work which will likely never really change.