Decent computer cheaper than "sweet spot"

[Deleted]

For an extra $100 he gets a way better CPU and GPU. .-.

Aye, but hes on a budget right? depends if he wants to go over his budget or not but thats for him to decide

[Priestiality]

I'm just having a hard time justifying spending that much on a computer that's main use will be gaming.

It's sort of a gun/condom/other witty crap comparison, would you rather have it and not need it or need it and not have it? I admit a majority of what my PC is used for could be handled by a ~$700 off the shelf model (gaming WoW/LoL/TF2, either streaming to my PS3 or playing directly on the TV as a second monitor, minor audio production) but it's nice to know that should I ever decide to do any 3D modeling or HD video editing my system is more than capable of handling it. And if you're going to make any significant investment in a machine it doesn't hurt to future-proof or else you just end up kicking yourself a month later when you can build the same machine at half price and only get 1/4 of the utility of current generation technology. My rig isn't exactly top of the line, but it was pretty damn close when I built it. It can handle the first Crysis at 1920x1080 max settings and the only time it drops below 60fps is when there's a ton of stuff going on, and even then it never drops below 30, which is widely considered to be minimum playable fps. Cost at time of build: $1300 including new KB/mouse, speakers, and LCD. Tower alone was about $900, could have been about $150 cheaper if I decided to give up SLi. While the performance boost was nice it would occasionally become unstable leading to crashes. Disabled SLi, performance barely declined, and it's fully stable.

[Fuzzykins]

Aye, but hes on a budget right? depends if he wants to go over his budget or not but thats for him to decide

That's not the point. If someone has a budget of $500, you need to recommend him the best price to performance within a reasonable range. The build I recommended is significantly better and more up to date than the one you recommended, and will actually get him pretty close to ultra outside of raids and heavy populated cities. Not only that, but it will hold it's own in games other than World of Warcraft.

[sirlimpy]

Simple answer, run Linux.

For someone who is admitted computer illiterate, do you really think it is a good idea to get him to jump through driver hoops and all the other fun(crap) with first setting up of a Linux OS?

Also, 32 and 64 bit are the same price...

This I did not know. Still makes his hardware budget $400 not $500.

[Fuzzykins]

Guys, regardless how you want to rationalize it, Piracy is against the forum rules.
If you really need Windows 7, can't get a student discount, or don't have someone willing to pay for yours, I'd consider Ubuntu. It's a great temporary solution until you have enough money for Windows.

[Deleted]

Mod Warning: Once again guys, Piracy is against the forum rules. Do not discuss it here.