Hardware Revolution

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This computer system was updated on September 22nd. You’ll find the updated version here:
Student or on a strict budget? Meet the $400 gaming computer!

Welcome back everyone and hi to the newcomers!

I’m presenting an update on the best gaming computer for 360$ today. It’s a build that I’m really proud about, as it packs ass-wooping performance for a very small price tag: Only 360$. Only a year or two ago, a 360$ gaming computer would just not have been possible, you would have to buy a used computer. If you bought such a system a year or two ago, you know what I’m talking about. Today, such a system can’t even run modern games or when it does, it’s very sloppy, laggy and it’s simply not a nice experience.

So today, I’m offering to you the chance to build a real gaming computer, with great performance, for 360$. I’m not kidding. Competition and advancement in technology have made such a thing possible today. I designed this system for the students and the young folks who are on a tight budget and who likes video games! I’ve been there myself, I have friends who are in school and I know how tough it is to have the money to buy a computer sometimes!

So how does this work? I will suggest to you all the hardware parts required so you can build your own custom build desktop computer. For the time being, I will not recommend a screen, but I will suggest that you either use a CRT type of screen or a 2ms, maximum 5ms LCD screen. Be careful for LCD screen latency, that is the time between when the action happens and when it shows on the screen. As a gamer, you cannot tolerate this and it is not indicated nowhere, so you will have to check out reviews. If you are interested in a particular model, check out the reviews on it before buying it. Feel free to ask my opinion on it as well

As for the keyboard and mouse, that is entirely up to you, as each gamer have his own preferences.

For the Operating system, I still recommend Windows XP Pro, as Vista still has some compatibility issues and it consumes more ressources then XP. The only reason you might want to use Vista is to get DirectX 10 support, but from the websites, blogs and various information that I read, apparently DirectX 10 brings very little improvement over its previous version. Not to mention that there aren’t so many games supporting Direct X 10 yet. So, in my opinion, Direct X 10 is not worth the trouble of using Vista.

I encourage you to comment, ask any question you may have and if you going to buy a new computer soon and are unsure of what kind of computer you require to answer you needs, please contact me, it will be my pleasure to assist you. You can Contact me through this link.

This 360$ Gaming System was designed for a person who uses a computer mainly for gaming (Casually called a “gamer”) and who’s looking for a good gaming computer, with great performance, which fits into a tight budget.  This system will be excellent at running video games and will be great for other uses as well. It is based on a Socket 775 platform, which allows for upgrades in the future. You will be able to swap your cpu, video card, ram for better performing ones if you want to do so in the future.

Here are my recommendations for what hardware to use to build a great gaming desktop computer. These are the parts that I believe that will answer your needs, for a gaming system with outstanding performance that is. For each part of the system, I will tell you my choice, the reason for it and a link to buy the item. Of course, I’m open to suggestions, comments, questions so please post them.

Cpu:At 2.0Ghz, dual-core, 800Mhz fsb and 1MB, the Intel Pentium E2180 is quite a good deal for 69.99$. This Intel cpu will support your video card in games and is a great bang for the buck in my opinion
Click here to buy the Intel Pentium E2180 2.0GHz LGA 775 65W Processor for only 69.99$

Video card: I’ve stopped my choice on a GeForce 8600GTS, which I believe offers the best performance/price ratio in this price range. This is a gaming system and I really focused on putting the best video card possible in this system! For only 64.99$, this card is a powerhouse! It will allow you to play the vast majority of games with medium, high or even max details, with some AA and AF depending on the games
Click here to buy the Foxconn GeForce 8600 GTS 8600GTS-256N Video Card for 64.99$

Motherboard: Exactly what you need and nothing more. Dual channel, PCI-Express, SATA support and most importantly, a low price tag. Click here to buy the GIGABYTE GA-EG31M-S2 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard for only 56.99$

Ram: Two sticks of 1GB of DDR2 800, running in dual channel, for a total of 2GB. Just what you need for a gaming system.
Click here to buy the SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Desktop Memory for only 39.99$

Hard Drive: A Western Digital Hard Drive, with 160GB of space, SATA connections, 7200 rpm and a low price tag. Simple and effective.
Click here to buy the Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for only 43.99$

Dvd Burner: A 20X Samsung DVD Burner. At 22.99$, it’s a great deal!
Click here to buy the SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SH-S202J for only 22.99$

Case: A mid-tower computer case, with a 585W power supply, which is what you need to power up your computer. I like the design of it. It comes with a Air duct to cool down your cpu and one 120mm to keep your system cool!
Click here to buy the Hec 6C28BBX585 Black Computer Case for only 54.99$

Sound Card: Integrated Sound Card with support for 8-channel audio. It would have recommended a dedicated sound card, but the 3 Way SLI setup is taking all the slots available on the motherboard!

Screen: For the time being, I will not recommend a screen, but I will suggest that you either use a LCD screen, with a reaction time up to 5ms or use a CRT screen for the best reaction time. When buying a LCD screen, keep an eye on the delay between with when the action happens and when does it show up on your screen. You’ll have to seach on the web for that, as manufacturers do not speak about this.

Kebyoard and Mouse: That is entirely up to you, as each gamer have his own preferences.

Operating system: For the Operating system, I do recommend Windows XP Pro, as it is way more mature than Vista and has way less compatibilities issues than it. It also uses less ressources. This system is Vista certified however.

Total price: $353.93, with taxs not included, as they vary depending on where you live.

Ratings -On a scale of 10- :
Gaming : 6.5/10 You will be able to play on nearly every game with medium, high or max quality and with some AA and AF depending on the games. You will be able to play on low to medium resolutions without any problem. This system was designed with gaming in mind, this is a gaming computer, after all.
Office : 6/10 This system is based on a dual core processor; it will run most applications quickly, it will run several cpu intensive programs (Image/Video editing, media burning) at once without latency(lag). Quick on multi-threaded optimized applications as well, great at multi-tasking. The speed and the 2 cores will help you a lot.
Overclocking : 0/10 This system was not designed to be overclockable, as we are using stock coolers and the power supply will not have the power to subtain long term and/or very high overclocks. You will be able to overclock of course, but I do not recommend it.
Power consumption : 5/10 With integrated audio, only one hard drive but a powerful video card , power consumption will be average. The video card will be the part which will consume the most energy.
Value for the money: 10/10 This system will offer you outstanding performance for a very low price tag. Being able to fit a Radeon 4850 in a 500$ budget is simply amazing! Gaming FTW!

In conclusion: Is this the perfect 360$ gaming system? It is certainly the best I could design at this given time, given the current promotions and using brand new parts. Can you find better parts or better prices? Probably, promotions ends and starts everyday, prices drops, new products come up, sellers clear their warehouses. You could also buy a used or refurbished product on Ebay, from various websites, friends, a local shop, etc. There’s a reason why this is called a custom computer =)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and if you have any comment or questions, fire them away!
Let me end this article with a question: What would YOU do to improve this system? What would you change?

Cheers, Mathieu.