Best PC builds for $300, $600, and $1200

1534 Views 19 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Kagami, Jan 23, 2014

79

Discussion Starter · Jan 21, 2014

The Best PCs You Can Build for $300, $600, and $1200

It's pretty amazing what you can build for less than $300 these days. The $300 box in particular would make a fantastic XBMC box, provided the PS is relatively quiet.

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Soopahmahn

· #2 · Jan 21, 2014

Jesus. :lol:

SharkyExtreme used to do these "Budget, Mid-Level, Extreme Budget Gaming Rig" rundowns back in the day. I remember when the 2.53GHz P4 was the newest thing. Chip was like $800.

Awesome progress. If my PS3 ever takes a shit I'll probably just build a $300 home media server.

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Seanbabs

· #3 · Jan 21, 2014

Yeah, I just rebuilt my computer for $500 last year, and it is remarkably better than it was. You can get so much now, it's really dumb not to build your own desktops.

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79

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 21, 2014

Soopahmahn said:
Jesus. :lol:

SharkyExtreme used to do these "Budget, Mid-Level, Extreme Budget Gaming Rig" rundowns back in the day. I remember when the 2.53GHz P4 was the newest thing. Chip was like $800.

Awesome progress. If my PS3 ever takes a shit I'll probably just build a $300 home media server.

Yeah, I used to be on SharkyExtreme all the time. Their build guides were pretty cool. Ah yes, the 2.53Ghz P4. I remember those. Prescott, was it?

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Soopahmahn

· #5 · Jan 21, 2014

In all fairness, for consumer machines, there isn't as much economic advantage today as there was 10 or 20 years ago to build vs. buy. I've noticed that you can get a pretty decent Dell desktop for $400-500. I'd still prefer to build but then again, so much has changed since I last built that I bet I would have to read up for a few weeks to make sure I bought compatible hardware and installed it all correctly.

10 years ago, you could built a $1000 machine that blew any pre-built offering away for three times the price. 20 years ago you could hack together a 486 for a few hundred dollars that would rape you in a catalog. I think the builders have just gotten more competitive on their margins.

Jeff said:
Yeah, I used to be on SharkyExtreme all the time. Their build guides were pretty cool. Ah yes, the 2.53Ghz P4. I remember those. Prescott, was it?

Sounds right.

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79

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 21, 2014

Soopahmahn said:
In all fairness, for consumer machines, there isn't as much economic advantage today as there was 10 or 20 years ago to build vs. buy. I've noticed that you can get a pretty decent Dell desktop for $400-500. I'd still prefer to build but then again, so much has changed since I last built that I bet I would have to read up for a few weeks to make sure I bought compatible hardware and installed it all correctly.

10 years ago, you could built a $1000 machine that blew any pre-built offering away for three times the price. 20 years ago you could hack together a 486 for a few hundred dollars that would rape you in a catalog. I think the builders have just gotten more competitive on their margins.

Probably true. The thing I like about building is that when you install the OS, it doesn't come with the OEM's stupid preloaded butt crumbs. It's a completely fresh install. It's got that new OS smell to it.

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Joshua

· #7 · Jan 21, 2014

Wow, that $600 build sounds nice. It's got me thinking about selling my own (I saved up for this and bought it for the same price, man store bought PCs suck balls), thanks for the info Jeff! :yesway:

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jaxadam

· #8 · Jan 21, 2014

I keep saying this, but I'm going to do it. And you can bet your ass it's not getting Windows 8.2 or whatever the shit's going to be by the time I get around to it.

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Joshua

· #9 · Jan 21, 2014

jaxadam said:
And you can bet your ass it's not getting Windows 8.2 or whatever the shit's going to be by the time I get around to it.

:fawk:

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79

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 21, 2014

jaxadam said:
I keep saying this, but I'm going to do it. And you can bet your ass it's not getting Windows 8.2 or whatever the shit's going to be by the time I get around to it.

Why? Windows 8.1 is fine. I've got it on three PC's at home, and I've had no problems with it. :yesway:

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jaxadam

· #11 · Jan 21, 2014

Jeff said:
Why? Windows 8.1 is fine. I've got it on three PC's at home, and I've had no problems with it. :yesway:

IT AINT GOT A START BUTTON, JACK!

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Joshua

· #12 · Jan 21, 2014 (Edited)

jaxadam said:
IT AINT GOT A START BUTTON, JACK!

On Windows 8.1 it does, go to desk top look in the bottom left corner press the scroll over the tile and press the right mouse button. Windows 8.1 is a pussy drownin' OS. :lol:

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jaxadam

· #13 · Jan 21, 2014

Joshua said:
Windows 8.1 is a pussy drownin' OS. :lol:

You win at life.

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Joshua

· #14 · Jan 21, 2014

jaxadam said:
You win at life.

I learned from one of the greats.

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Kagami

· #15 · Jan 22, 2014

I always lol when people say processor prices are crazy now. I'm like you must have not been around when the Pentium 2s came out.

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Angrychair

· #16 · Jan 22, 2014

8.1 is great, as a power user it's the best windows os I've ever used. It's really easy to get to all the tucked away features, runs great and looks nice. Also, boots FAST.

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AngstRiddenDreams

· #17 · Jan 22, 2014

Yeah my new Toshiba has windows 8 and it seriously boots up in less than ten seconds.

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jaxadam

· #18 · Jan 22, 2014

AngstRiddenDreams said:
Yeah my new Toshiba has windows 8 and it seriously boots up in less than ten seconds.

Mine boots in about 12 seconds, and it's pretty amazing.

For the most part, I like it, I just should have to right click on a program and select "Run as Administrator" just to get it to write certain files in a location.

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