Affordable Gaming Desktop PC's and Laptops For Sale

 Last week I compared a top end desktop PC's hardware with one of Falcon Northwests best gaming laptops for sale.  I was surprised by how insanely powerful the hardware in top end computers has become, and how most of it is simply not needed in the current PC gaming market. There is no need (at least for PC gaming) for 24 GB of ram, or 12GB of 1600MHz speed ram, as offered in the Alienware ALX X58. Alienwares gaming desktop PC's default graphics cards are a set of Nvidia GTX 295 which have 2 GPU's and support quad SLI.

The hardware configuration of the computers displayed in my previous hubmake for two of the most staggeringly powerful computers available. While these hardware numbers are nice for the ego, and great to throw around, I wanted to compare two gaming computers that are much more practical, and sufficient for current PC gaming.

The qualifications needed for a computer to fall into this category is value and gaming ability.  This means the computer notebooks or desktop PC's hardware must be able to meet the minimum requirements of the most resource intensive games on the market today; while maintaining a reasonable price (around 900-1200 USD).  

It is usually not too difficult to find decent gaming desktop PCs that meet this standard to some degree.  However finding cheap gaming laptops for sale is much harder, especially if you want the new "slim" or light laptops.  The most common hardware that is skimped on when computer manufacturers are trying to save money are the graphics card and amount/quality of RAM.  If you are comparing cheap gaming computers you need to pay special attention to this.  Many will offer a high memory graphics card, but it is not a true 3d card nor does it support any of the advanced features in DirectX 10.  These cards will normally be labeled "integrated graphics card" or "on board video"; you do not want those.

Starting at a price of just $1019 as configured below, the CyberPower desktop PC's value is quite impressive. This price will get you 3GB of DDR3 Ram, a solid ATI 4850 graphics card with 1GB of video memory, and the i7 quad core processor with an 8mb memory cache. In this gamers opinion this is one of the best gaming computers you will find at this price range. Further adding to the Gamer Infinity HD's appeal, is that the desktop PC's default factory build needs little if any customization, and would be a great gaming computer right out of the box. However, there are plenty of customization options available through the CyberPower website if you prefer to mold the Gamer Infinity HD 4850 desktop PC's hardware to fit your preferences.

• CPU: Intel Core i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 - Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium
• MOTHERBOARD: Asus P6T SE Intel X58 - Chipset Triple-Channel - DDR3/1600 SATA RAID
  
• MEMORY: 3GB (1GBx3) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory
• Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-E 16X Video Card
• HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
• DVD Drive: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive
  
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
• POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies (SLI Ready Power Supply)
• Includes Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System

Because of the size and weight restrictions of computer notebooks and laptops, it is generally much more difficult to find affordable gaming laptops. MSI is a computer manufacturer based out of Taiwan, who has just recently gotten the attention of western computer markets. Despite being relatively unknown in the US, MSI was founded in the mid 1980's and have years of experience building quality computers. If you are reluctant to try a new company who isn't widely marketed in the US, you may feel encouraged to read more about MSI when you look over the quality and appealing thin design of the MSI x600 notebook.

• Processor & Cache: Intel Centrino 2 1.6 GHz dual-core with 3MB cache - Windows Vista
  
• Chipset: Intel GS45 + ICH9M-SFF
• System Memory: DDR2 667/800 4GB
• LCD Display: 15.6" LCD Display
• Graphics Card: ATI HD4330 512MB
• Audio: 4 speakers
• HDD: 2.5" 250GB/320GB/500GB SATA
• Webcam: Built-in 1.3M camera
• Communication Ports: Gigabit Ethernet LAN - 802.11b/g/n WLAN Card, Bluetooth is optional

Considering the incredibly slim case, this is a great deal for a laptop that supports DX10 and will meet the minimum requirements of current generation PC games. The hardware is by no means great, and I personally would prefer a slightly more powerful desktop for the same price. However if you prefer the convenience and mobility offered by computer notebooks, and want to be able to play modern PC games on the go, the MSI X600 is certainly a tempting bargain. The dual core processor, Video card with DX10 support, and sufficient laptop memory is all present. Resulting in the MSI X600 being one of the most affordable basic gaming laptops for sale.

Please visit my computer gaming blog for more computer and hardware reviews, as well as PC game guides: Gaming Desktop PC's/Laptops for Sale, and PC Game Reviews