Cheapest games PC

[Daysleeper]

Dyed in the wool MAC user here. However a couple of games have come out recently that I wouldn't mind having a bash of. So what is the cheapest way to get a wintel PC that matches these specs

2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent,

512 MB System RAM (required for 8-player multiplayer games).

nVidia GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon 8500 or equivalent with 64 MB of Video RAM.


basically its Half Life 2, Whammer Dawn of War and Bf1942 (though i can get that on mac now)

Build your own is cool or one of the big online people like tiny.com?

I'd like to spend less than £500UK actually less than that if I can.
Already got a 21" CRT can use my MAC laptop for everything else so just an expensive games console really.

Open for suggestions.:8

[Evo]

I looked at building a £500 games box before Christmas, and if you have a monitor and are happy to build yourself then it is certainly possible to make up a very respectable games PC (of course, in the states it was around $750... :{ ).

ISTR I was looking at something like an Athlon 64 3000+, Radeon 9800Pro and a Gig of ram for that money, nothing cutting edge but still not bad and should do fine for what you want. You can spend twice the money on the latest kit, but I reckon it's not buying you much in real performance and personally I'd rather turn the graphics down a notch than spend a grand to get full speed on Far Cry. ;)

Building your own is very simple. It can be a bit more hassle if anything goes wrong, although if you get all the bits from the same place then they should help. Buying the parts from multiple places can turn it into a nightmare of suppliers passing the buck (been there, got the T-shirt...) so don't do that!

edit: 30 seconds searching found a Athlon64 3200+, 512Mb RAM and motherboard bundle for £230 incl. VAT and a 9800Pro for £127, a case for £20 and a 40gig hard disk for £30, that looks good for £400 incl., have I forgotten anything...?