Build the Ultimate Gaming Computer for Under $800

This time, we're looking to get a little more juice out of the system. For a little more of a premium, you can basically build a future proof computer that can be easily upgraded over time. The budget has increased to $800, and as you would expect will be put to all the best bang for the buck components out there.

[Pandamobile]

I built a computer for my friend with just about the same specs as this one here (only difference is it has a 4870 instead of a 5770).

Runs every game we can throw at it on the highest detail level.

BFBC2 runs at 50-70 FPS at 1680 x 1050 maxed out (no HBAO/VSync), Crysis on a mix of very high and high between 30 and 50 FPS, etc.

Great machine, great price.

[FantasyStar]

I dunno. While the 5770 is a great buy for what it is. The 128-bit bus will come back to bite it later with more memory-intensive games.

[Sano64]

they need to take the word "Ultimate" out of there because they are way off base

[nnotdead]

could save some money on power supply, and HDD. other than that it looks good.

[vickers500]

*Obligatory comment proclaiming pc as the superior platform and ego filled explanation of why people who play on pc are better people than those who play on consoles*

[evrfighter]

its not obligatory if it's true =). It's more along the lines of pointing out the obvious

[darksied]

It's been a while since I built a gaming PC; I've mainly used laptops for a while. If I was to build this machine, and later decided I wanted to do a crossfire config, does it have to be the EXACT model number of graphics card, or anyone's Radeon 5770 card (i.e. some other manufacturer other than XFX)?

[crck]

It has to be the same line. So you can crossfire any 5800 series with another 5800 series and any 5700 series with another. It is recommended that you crossfire the same model though. Otherwise performance is usually equal to crossfiring the weaker link. For example crossfiring a 5870 and a 5850 has just about the same performance and crossfiring two 5850's. Board brand doesn't matter.

[crck]

That's a pretty crappy system for $800.

[despair]

no monitor, keyboard, mouse or speaker system included so for a new system it doesn't exactly work.

[Chaos Striker]

And we can easily say the same thing for a console. No TV, HDMI cables, etc. etc., it "doesn't exactly work" as you say. Here we are comparing the underlying 'thing' for playing games. Not other necessities. Just the single 'thing' that allows us to play.

[kaveti6616]

You don't have to include components that you already had from you last computer. Or else, a PS3 or 360 actually would cost somewhere between 800 to 2000 dollars depending on the HDTV you have it hooked up to.

[Revvin]

Adding the cost of a TV into the price of a console is a flawed argument. Very few homes would not already have a TV of some kind to connect a console. It could be argued that you could connect a PC to a TV but realistically how many people hook their PC's up to the family TV set? not many. Not everyone reading this article would already have the rest of the bits and pieces that would add considerable cost to that price i.e the OS, keyboard, mouse, speakers etc. These articles are getting sillier as each one is written and only serves to whip up the recent surge of PC fanboy behaviour. I thought as generally more mature users we'd be above this and be quite at ease that a gaming PC is more expensive than a console, by some margin but that doesn't matter because of the other benefits PC ownership brings. I'm a PC gamer and I also have a 360 and PS3 and spend a lot of time gaming on those too. See how many disagree's I get from the mindless fanboys who will read the first few lines and assume I'm a console owner.

[champ21]

I would rather say its a misconception that console gaming is cheap. Its rather the other way around.

Pc is much cheaper then console.

Almost everyone has a PC at home. to beat consoles by a large margin it only needs a 100usd gpu upgrade thats it.

Also if its even made with 800usd budget. in the long run due to prices of games the PC will still be cheaper thats a fact. Provided the Gamer buys 10-15 games each year (which i am sure any game must be). In that case PC would be cheaper by the 2nd year of gaming on it compared to Console.

Lets not forget some consoles like xbox 360 require more then 300usd to get it to game.

you need to pay 50usd per year for live.
Accessories are very expensive.
Dlcs free on PC are charged on the Xbox.

when you add all that up, PC is clearly superior not only from a performance point but even cost.

[evrfighter]

"Very few homes would not already have a TV of some kind to connect a console"

this is where you come off as mis-informed. The 5770 comes with an HDMI port and most older computers have an S-video port while most older tv's have an S-video port.

Whatever you can hook up your console to. You can hookup your pc to.

add to the fact that console games are expensive. PC gaming is cheaper for people who like to buy games. Not to mention it does 100x more than a console.

[Revvin]

The article is about the initial outlay on the machine not the long term costs but that can be expensive on a PC too if you want the right kit, I've got well over a grands worth of gaming related peripherals sat on my desk right now for my PC. Its certainly not the case that almost everyone has a PC in their home. Rather than try and hoodwink people and try to hide the real cost of a decent gaming PC compared to a console why not just list the other advantages having a powerful PC in the home brings? it just comes across as a bit of a fanboy slanted article.

evrfighter just proves my point though:

"this is where you come off as mis-informed. The 5770 comes with an HDMI port and most older computers have an S-video port while most older tv's have an S-video port. Whatever you can hook up your console to. You can hookup your pc to."

He didn't even make it past the second sentence of my reply else he would have seen the following sentence in which I clearly stated:

"It could be argued that you could connect a PC to a TV"

[champ21]

In todays day and age a PC is just required at home, just as much as your television or freezer. Just cant do without having one at home.

Cant say the same for a console.

I travel alot. Nevermind developed countries like the USA. Even in developing nations almost everyone has a PC at home these days its just a requirement.

Hence from a cost perspective if anyone has a recent PC like 2-3yrs old. Its always much much more cost effective to just add a gpu to the PC then to get a console itself.

Of course later on we know the games on PC are cheaper anyways so thats another huge added advantage.

[steve30x]

Not everybody wants well over a grand's worth of gaming peripherals. The only gaming Peripheral I have is a logitech G25. Unless you want to call my cheap Keyboard , Logitech X540 5.1 speakers and Logitech Nano mouse as gaming Peripherals then the total cost of my gaming peripherals is aproximately 400 euro , My G25 being 300 euro of that 400 euro.

I do play games a lot but I also do a bit of video editing and video conversion so I need a fairly decent rig but im not going to spend stupid ammounts of money on gaming peripherals thats not realy needed.

[DrDreadlox]

I have to applaud the pc fanboys for all their great arguments as to why pc is superior to consoles for gaming. But come on we are gamers and you all forgot the most important thing; the FREAKING GAMES.

Seriously what's the point if I cannot play Gran Turismo, Killzone, God of War, Final Fantasy, MAG, Heavy Rain and many more. If you game for fun like most people do, then consoles are where it's at. Friends over? No worries, just play a few rounds of Tekken, FIFA or some Rock Band instead of looking like a complete d!ck on a pc by yourself.

[Revvin]

"In todays day and age a PC is just required at home, just as much as your television or freezer. Just cant do without having one at home."

A PC is not required in the home at all and "Even in developing nations almost everyone has a PC at home" is not true either. PC ownership has increased a lot over the last decade but that statement is still not true.

Steve> I agree not everyone wants that but when you buy a console it comes with a controller so you have everything right there in the box and all games are created to use that standard controller so there is no need to buy anything after that. You could argue that the hardware I have sitting on my desk is a testament to the PC's versatility and range of choice but the article is not about that its another feeding frenzy for the PC fanboys.

[mushroomwig]

Perhaps the title could be something like;

'Build the ultimate gaming conputer for under $800 which will last you 2-3 years before requiring another update.'

I'm not flaming PC users whatsoever but that's my major problem with PC gaming, I can't justify the cost of upgrading every 2-3 years when I can just play either a PS3 or a 360 that guarantees a fully working game.

[Chaos Striker]

That depends really. Are you looking to play at 1920x1200 (or any higher resolution) and looking to play the very few games that push the capabilities of a system until they cry? Or are you looking to play a wide range of games that don't necessarily push systems to the breaking point, and are still fun?

What I am saying is that you won't need to upgrade your PC every 2-3 years if you are looking to play conventional games that aren't meant to kick your PC in the crotch. i.e. Assassin's Creed 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Bioshock 2, or any of those games.

On the other hand, if you are looking to play games that really punishes your system like Crysis or Metro 2033, then yes, you are going to need to upgrade. BUT, games like those only come out infrequently, so it's not really a necessity to upgrade very 2-3 years like you suggest.

My 2 cents in the jar.

[kaveti6616]

A PC rig my friend built himself 4 years ago maxes out every game today on high settings. There has so far been no game that has been released that has required a PC upgrade, and if there has been a game that cannot be played on max settings, it still will play at mostly high settings at 60 frames per second. Can't say the same thing about consoles. They were outdated at launch and can't play a single game that is released today at max settings (speaking of course of multiplats). Consoles run everything at medium settings at around 30 frames per second.

[mushroomwig]

@Chaos

I would love to play every single game at maximum resolution and specs but to me it doesn't justify spending that extra money just to see subtle differences in the quality and framerate.

It's the core gameplay and store that really matters to me, as long as I personally think it looks good (example: Uncharted 2) and it has a great story (Example: Metal Gear Solid 4)then I'm happy.

Maybe 2-3 years was the wrong thing to say, it may even be 4-5 years, but when the consoles have a 10 year cycle I'll always know I can play a game for that system without worrying.

[Chaos Striker]

I agree. I believe there are certain unquantifiable reasons for picking console gaming over PC gaming, which can ultimately affect a person's decision. I myself am a console/PC gamer, split 50/50. There are some aspects that are offered exclusively to both types of experiences.

I am certainly not detracting from your mindset. I just wanted to show some people's rationale for why they pick PC gaming over console gaming. But again, it comes down to the intangible aspects that each experience offers.

Gaming in general ftw! :)

[champ21]

@mushoomwig

Had you made the comment about upgrades back in 2002 i would have agreed with you. Since in that time graphics were progressing on a yearly basis.

That is no longer he case. There are minor improvements now, which dont really demand more graphics horse power. This is the reason why a 8800gtx from 3 years back still plays all the games in 1080p

Also one thing in your arguement i dont understand, if you are fine with consoles running at low/med res textures after 3-4 years into its life. Why must you demand the PC to keep running games at maximum settings once its 3-4 years into its life?

Also another point that most consoles although designed to last years generation do fail. Most of them probably will require a replacement after 4 years of gaming(more in case of the Xbox).

Also do not forget in the long run PC will always be cheaper due to prices of games and the fact that once the generation is over.. no one will be pulling the plug on the PC. The games will keep running be it the multiplayer games or single player. On console no one is going to gaurantee you further BC or the existance of a network to play MP games. So games wise its a total loss on consoles later on.

[Christopher]

To build the ultimate gaming computer, you don't cut back on your materials and use 'good enough' products. The ultimate gaming machine would be running the latest games at barely 30fps at the highest resolutions.

Now, for some common sense, this won't run everything out there at the max and at 1920x1200 resolution and 30+ fps. It'll do really well at 1440x900, but it's just not the ultimate gaming machine. Far from.

Is it a good gaming machine? It's okay, especially for the price listed. But it's not good or great.

[XtreemGamer]

This is the ultimate rig? Well,i plan to buy a Radeon 5870 with a i7 930 cpu and Geil black Dragon 3x2gb 1600 ram. What is that then? i will have an "ultimate best ultimate maximum ultimate" gaming rig? :D

[striped94]

Yes, you will.
I must admit that the title was "ultimate" in order to be more attractive. But it does perform well for the price. I guess it's the ultimate of $800 pc's :p

[5tgyw3ty34]

One could always build a decent gaming rig for around 800 or less. If you are clever you even can build a faster pc as described. No big deal and this is hardly news, but ultimate?

ul·ti·mate [ últimət ] Definition:

1. final: coming or attained at the end of a series of stages, and often constituting the culmination of something
our ultimate destination
Their ultimate aim is to introduce a new system of government.

2. greatest: greatest, most nearly perfect, or highest in quality
the ultimate home entertainment system

3. fundamental: existing as an underlying reality, when all other things are disregarded
the ultimate truth

4. farthest away: outermost or most remote

[Xfanboy]

phenom ii x4 965 black edition with 2 ASUS ati 5850s in crossfire!!!
Should hold up for awhile!!

[Xfanboy]

I plan to do eyefinity with 3 1600x1200p monitors!! or does it make sense to get 3 1920x1200 monitors?? does anyone think it would be a major difference??