HALF LIFE'S AND HALO'S

[Kaizen]

you can get a gaming pc for 500 us .. 400 if you cut it close

[shivadee]

daz a tower only.....wah bout monitor

But if daz tru i go get one. I wanna play this FEAR game, although i can wait for the 360 launch.....

[Kaizen]

monitor 6600gt 512 ram
modest stuff to boot

[Beomagi]

Oh I love challenges
First off, How much of a gaming pc? since a $100 video card can make most games playable, and video adapter options scale all the way up to $1200 there's a huge variation of what people accept.

CRT monitors are cheap - a hugh 21" CRT can be bought off EBAY for under $150 consistently - be aware that the resolution and refreshrate of this beats even HDTV.

Maximumpc is a pc maxazine i got into, the forums are great, lot of guys there know their stuff.
http;//www.maximumpc.com


One of the most often asked questions is "what should i get for a pc? can i make a pc for $400?"

I'm hapy to say that, YES you can.

Firstly anyone with a 2.0GHz (or PR) or faster cpu, and an agp slot can upgrade to 1gb or ram, and a $200 vc to experience mid-high res gaming.

The pc i play guildwars on now atm costs $500 at most. I'm using my pricer pc as a pvr while doing so - a $30 addon to any pc - gotta love versatility!

Now assuming the OP of the thread doesnt have a pc, here's what' i specced out for another forum goer earlier today:

my friend wants to build a computer for as cheap as possible. he already has a FX 5200 AGP and wants a:
Case w/ PSU
Processor
Motherboard
Memory
Hard drive
CD-RW drive

His goal is to keep it under $400. I know this is a tough thing to do, but I need your opinon.
Thanks, Joshua

chaintech vnf3 - $58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152043
Asrock 6100 - $61
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157084
The first mobo, would let you use the 5200 (ick) and is the mobo i use in my current game machine, pushing a 6800gt. It's ok, but not spectacular. The second mobo i based on nvidia's newer chipset, comes with onboard video, and has a pci-e slot so your friend can upgrade to a real video card when he has the money.


Chip - sempron 1.6GHz $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104245
OC this to thy kingdom come!

Ram - 512MB one stick...$35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231029
why - upgrade later to 1GB with another stick

Harddrive - 80GB for $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144102

Optical - combo cdrw dvd drive - $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106995

Case and psu - Coolmax 400Watt - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811212013
Alot of people would jump on me for saying nothing is wrong with psu's that are priced in the value range, but most psu's out there wont kill your pc, and so long as they arn't pushed, they wont give bad voltage drops or suffer any serious failure. That said, Coolmax gets good reviews (not newegg reviews) and the 2 psu's i use in my pc's are a coolmax 450watt in my main game machine, and a rosewill 400watt.


total assuming the asrock mobo (a better choice imo) - $286

possible upgrades -
1. switch to 939 using an asrock mobo(+9 mobo, +50 for vid) and cpu(+$70 more) this would bring you to the $400 mark - a 6200TC, asrock uli 939, and 3000+ 939.
2. 1GB ram - more ram, the more you can run
3. xp home/pro - costs money

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was a direct quote - on looking back, the +50 for switching to upgradeable 939 ins't needed since the OP to that thread had a 5200fx - a solid card for DX8, pathetic in DX9. Forcing DX8 lets this $50 card given away as hand me downs now play games like half life 2, and doom3.

How to make it game worthy? $130 on a 128MB 12 pipe x800 is an amazing deal ignoring the ability to upgrade to dual core that is, and sticking to 754 to keep the cost under $400.

UT runs well on pentium IIIs, if it's running slow, you prolly have to check for spyware or fine tune that game. The pc environment lets you do more - and that includes messing up your pc. It's going to take more time tweaking it.

the personal computer isn't limited to console only tasks. Lets take up the challenge of that 1.7GHz pc you have there.
Given that you gave a frequency, i can surmize you're running a pentium4 williamette core. Possibly RD ram. If you want to run that pc cleanly at all, you're talking windows 2000, not xp. It's possibly upgradeable through agp - for that, the cheapest way to go for unreal tourney is a 4 year old ti4200. yes that old pos card can run that pc well. I used a 1700+ with that till i ran it into the ground. Saying after 3 years a pc can't play the latest isn't accurate since you can lower the visual quality, of future pc games. there isn't an option however for future console games. One of the most important aspects to configuring the pc for gaming is understanding where the bottlenecks are. Got a Video card with low memory? lower the texture quality. Low core speed and pipes? lower the poly count, geometry, and force dx8 (*cough* FX series) Low speed memory? drop the res. Low speed cpu - drop shadows, geometry, particle effects.

I fully understand that this scares off a lot of console followers, but it gets pretty logical after a while, only requiring a basic understanding of the architecture.

When you start playing with hardware there's also a certain amount of tweaking that you get into. After the first xbox debut, the geforce 4 came out. the ti4200 was superior to the geforce3.5 in the xbox, but memory was a tad slower - the fix? overclocking
For the cost of the videocard, i moved my pc from being a plain workbased machine, to a good gaming box - for $200.

the above system - how would i go about tweaking it? that 1.6 GHz sempron would easily gain 500MHz more,an x800GT - can possibly be unlocked to 16 pipes delievering the performance of cards a hundred bucks more.

[shivadee]

PROJECT!!!!

[TrinireturnofGamez]

I know PC gaming rampant in Trini. people love they "computah games". I used to be ALL gung ho PC. i drop 20 grand on a gaming PC about 3-4 years ago. You know what? When 2 years pased that was when i realized that UT not running well on a 1.7GHXz PC with 512DDR ram, which was pretty good 3 years ago. Man PC hardware can get as cheap as it wants.....but a gaming PC never gonna cost 4 bill US, 5 bill US or even 6 Bill US.....deffinitely not anytime soon.

    i played unreal 2003 and unreal 2 happily on my 800mhz PIII with  a radeon 8500 128mb and 386mb PC133  back in the day ,  i upgraded from a TNT2 32mb and 256 mb ram.. which would run it but at lowest settings ,  that 800mhz system lasted till 2004 before i  wanted a new one .
    What most people don't  understand  is that even if you spend  50 grand on a  system it will still be outdated and slow in 2 years , its better to get a medium end system and upgrade as you need it . Look at my brother's pc for an example of longevity   , He built it in 2001 and with 2 upgrades it still plays games to this day
  In 2001 he bought : P4 1.8ghz , 512 DDR ,  integrated Sis graphics. around 4000tt
     2002 he upgraded to a 2.4ghz p4  and a radeon 8500 128mb  , another 2000tt .
    in 2005 he's still playing BF2 and FEAR , albeit at lowest settings , its still better than low end systems of today ,  he spent 6000tt over 4 years and has a decent rig today ...  if he spends another 1200tt on a new card eg 9800 pro and more ram the PC will last ANOTHER year....   
   Also some people don't need to upgrade their pcs at all , they don't buy new games eg. Quake 4 and half life  2 , they just play old ones eg.  counterstrike , Quake 3,  and old RPGs and MMORPGS  till their pc breaks . One strength of the PC is backward compatability and emulation , i'm sure 5 years from now i'll still find myself running through Snes and PSx rpgs .

     I'd say the pc has come a long way and continues to improve , though companies like Intel and Dell seriously hamper gaming with their sh!t systems and lack of upgradability , but its significantly better than 10 or 15 years ago .
   Yes  many PC games can be optimized for a console's controls but i'd rather keyboard and mouse any day , but   A KEYBOARD  AND MOUSE IS BETTER ! Even for fighting games , Especially for FPS and RPG's ....
   
   
   
   

[shivadee]

hol up.....you gonna beat a man in SF2 with a keyboard? look i know you like your PC an ting more than console.....and i would say that is some serious sh!t you shoveling there.....but instead ill say that that just doesnt make sense and leave it at that.

PLaying a game at those low setting doh make NO SENSE. because for a PC game to look better than a console game NOW it needs to be optimised or at LEAST be running on high settings.....pointless. If you talking about upgrading over time to have a PC running graphically better than a console .......which mind you is ONLY reason gaming PC is worth anything.....then i can understand. Emulation is very healthy on the consoles mind you. You can play up to PSONE games on your XBOX if you screw around with it just right.

but if Kaizen and co is right i will SURELY revise my opinon of the price of gaming PC's. But i have to see the graphical difference for my own self to be certain. My opinon of PC vs Console in profits and domination still stands though.

[Kaizen]

well in mind ..
amd 64 3200 <pin 939>
512 ddr ram ...1 gig prefered
nvidia xfx 6200 or 6600
120 gig or 80 gig hdd
and a monitor ..
should be less than 600 "runs to new egg"
and my current system plays everythin on high specs ..not ful HIGH  so fiuh for allyuh men that think u need juice to see beauty

[Kaizen]

ok sorry for the double posting but  i did a NEW EGG
a lets do the math
250 gig 7200 rpm seagate barracuda sata ..$98
Msi Neo 4 Socket 939 - $89
XFX 6600gt - $150 - 6200s ..are like 80 bucks and less  pci xpress btw
Amd 64 3000 venice ...$140
1 gig of corsair xms ram $130

hmm this is more than what i was looking for but you can work around it so many ways this is the mark 610 it worked up to be you can minuse the hardrive get a 120 gig or less ...get a vanilla 6600 for 120 ....and DITTO u have a good budget system

and uh my current rig is the first post ..
but my new rig
amd 64 3200<939>
7800 gt xfx
1 gig xms corsair ..jus the upgrade there ..

Yet again another EDIT this time the sempron system
AMD sempron 64 3300 $114
AMD sempron 64 3100 $100
MotherBoard
MSI K8N Neo 3 socket 754 ..pci xpress...$70
MSI RS482M4 can handle more ram up to 4 gigs -$80
Memory Ram
Corsair xms ..512 x 2 ddr400 ...$118
Graphics Card
PNY 6800 128mb pci express $170
XFX 6600 128mb pci express $120
eVGA 6200tc 256mb pci express$70
Hardrive
Seagate Baracudda 7200rpm Sata $110
the 250 gig from above >_>
Case
anything will do at least if you think it is stilyish
...um burner etc u work on that around 60us XD

[TrinireturnofGamez]

  you may not believe it but actually i get my @ss handed to me  in every fighting game on keyboard.. Marvel Vs Capcom ,  Street fighter , Smash brothers ,all emulated .  Anytime my clan limes outside the mall/ internet cafe  we get a few USB gamepads and keyboards and play each other in console / arcade games , and you know what?  Everyone fights over the keyboard ! Gamepads no matter how ergonomic  can't match the button mashability of a keyboard .
   We call it ''ghetto gaming''  ,  every time we have a free we sneak into the computer lab and do it , though we get a good few gamepads siezed its easier than trying to sneak in a PS2 and TV .  Though we always make plans to put up money for a gamecube etc ( smash bros melee! mario party ) .   it never comes off ... we just continue to game on our PCS .


  True console gaming on the whole makes more money than pc gaming , but it comes at great investment by the manufacturer ,  Microsoft looses billions each year pumping out Xbox 's , with the 360 i'd suspect they'll loose even more , check the thread below . 
    Notice also nintendo makes bigger profits after it stopped producing gamecubes .... Producing consoles is costly , and unless you can defeat piracy and sell dozens of games  to your average user a year , profits are non existant .
http://gatt.carigamers.com/index.php?topic=6841.msg115390#msg115390 
     

[TriniXaeno]

Trini has a point.

People often forget how much fun you can have on a typical PC.

You don't need an ultra uber rig.

Sure your games won't look as fantastic as they should but that won't keep you from having a damn good time.

Remembering my rig over the years, it never was the best of the best.

Never.

Still, it gave some of the most cherished gaming moments ever.

Starcraft alone was like a 30% chunk of my gaming life and that could run on a 486 computer. lol

And as for the keyboard, we had tournaments where men actually came with their keyboards and pwned. It is a very accurate and almost advantageous fighting game controller.

[shivadee]

you STILL with this "MS looses billions a year with the XBOX"......update your info. As of lastyear MS was breaking even with the XBOX console and in the latter part of last year they were making PROFITS.....all NOW they making profits........so wait you thought they was gonna make the 360 on a LOSS?

MS plan is to take over the gaming industry in 8 years. Thats the goal.......they doing a pretty damn good job so far fighting SONY. If after 8 years they are not in command....they dropping out.

and i am not wasting my time playing SF on a keyboard.....doh tell me alyuh does use a Macro to do shoryuken an ting.....na na.....that is nonsense....and too uncomfortable. U can use it....ok cool...i not...i tried using that with my MAME and i dont like it atall atall. Them Comodore 64 days over.

[rb]

macro for a shoryuken oui , shiv i could understand that you don't use the keyboard for fighting games but that macro for shoryuken comment is ridiculous.

baego is right the keyboard is very advantageous in the right hands to me its even better than a controller in some ways. 

[shivadee]

yuh DAMN right it is ridiculous.....i see absolutely NO advantages whatsoever for using a kb to play SF. Unless you el cheapo and cant buy a gamepad.

but kb and mouse for FPS is the best bet and for hack and slash games like Diablo....especially when using ranged attacks. RTS too....kb and mouse is the ONLY way. For RPG's though....na...gamepad. Doh tell me you use a kb to play Colin McRae and ting.

[Kaizen]

O_O so no one like my system make up "runs and cries" never never never again my advice ! XD
WHO STILL PLAYIN STARCRAFT ONLINE??? OUI!

[Beomagi]

the real question is, how many people really care to go through all of that just to play a few games and then have to do it again? definitely not a majority. and the developers and publishers want to sell to a majority.

well of course?
Now if i ask how many of you have pc's rated over say 1500MHz, by actual or pr what would your answer be? make sure you got 512 to 1GB ram, chuck in a card, and you're set for pc gaming.

keyboard advantage is as shivadee said - essentially anygame where you want a ton of control - though they get pwned by (flight) joysticks at times

keyboards are sometimes VERY VERY BAD FOR MULTIPLE BUTTONS AT THE SAME TIME. Come on, as pc gamers, this shold be known and at least mentioned!
Cheap keyboards are wired sometimes such that they can't send more than 2 keys (excluding shift, alt and ctrl) at the same time - a PRIME example of this is laptop keys. The first time i ran into this problem was with chronotrigger, then for some pc games on my laptop - hint: dont be overcheap with the keyboard btw - whenever i go hom, my bro and i compete - table tennis, quake 3, and a ton of roms. He's my bitch in quake 3, but on the console games - mostly kof98, imo, the best of the kof series, he's a fricking monster on the keyboard compared to the gamepad. per game basis. great for some sucks for others we all SHOULD realize this.


I would not call it billions a year, especially for the first xbox (the geforce 4 sells for $50 - i doubt the gf3 core is pushing 20) But with all the problems ati has been having getting units out on time - i have a feeling their unreported loss is worse than MS for the new console.
The core system for the xbox is $299 us, estimated cost to make is $375
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/06/news_6127039.html
estimated loss form first xbox - about $4 billion
http://www.xb360info.com/xbox/news/123
For what it's worth i'm tired of cost complaints - can we leave it at - yes, pc gaming is smaller than console gaming, but unlikely to die out anytime soon?. EVERY time there's debate of A vs B - Intel vs AMD, ATI vs NVIDIA - the bloodiest of ALL!! SNES vs Genesis! Someone always brings up cost it doesnt make one item better, it's not usually the cause of demise of another item it's just something best left to people invested in the companies and my stock holder.

PS : i STILL love starcraft, and it's one of my all time favs period. there's a lot of other RTS games out there, but few can approach the balance of SC without having sprite swapped clones on the enemy unit.

PLaying a game at those low setting doh make NO SENSE. because for a PC game to look better than a console game NOW it needs to be optimised or at LEAST be running on high settings.....pointless. If you talking about upgrading over time to have a PC running graphically better than a console .......which mind you is ONLY reason gaming PC is worth anything.....then i can understand.

How low is low?
When connecting a pc to a TV, you can lower resolution to a sickening 512x384 before noticing blockiness, and that's absolutely disgusting for any pcgame in the last 5 years.
NOW? NOW you say? the most powerful console out NOW is the xbox. I hold this stame stance with pc hardware arguments. It's it's not available to the public, it's not out. The xbox is scheduled for this month, and godwilling it would arrive.  Wanna guess the quality of the xbox?

processor:
cell - almost all initial games would make use of a single thread. One of the most talked about games is oblivion which is suppossed to take advantage of multiple threads, but to what extent is unknown. Game developers have stated this, even the notable Carmack that the cell was a bad choice. Result? Expect a reduction in geometry, shadows, and particle effects.

Video
core - impressive - high 500MHz clock, and very parallel - difficult to believe that ati actually managed this considering they disappointed the world by bringing out a 16 pipe card as their flagshit. The problem is how much can they make up for with shader effects? An overuse of shaders is going to look tacky and can take away from the game.
ram - 512MB total(game AND card!) - if a game needs a lot of memory, texture memory is going to be sickeningly low - even then, you're not talking about a lot of memory to stressful gaming.
ram speed - 700MHz 22GBps throughput - strictly mid range.
The x800 for $118US matches the xbox in memory speed - that rules out high res gaming on hdtv and monitors. 128MB for memory on that card is sufficient for second tier textures in todays biggest games.

so, how low do you think you're going to have to cut it? with only the shader power to top a low end pc, you're not talking about cutting out much.

[shivadee]

you see that processor talk.....i HATE that processor talk with console vs PC *doh worry i eh vex, i love dis talk, i just stressing on it*. it is the one and ONLY thing PC has going for it. As for control pads and keyboards you guys calling a handfull of people that own on a kb, how many can whoop @ss on a control pad.

And i am NOT hooking up my PC with SV cable an ting to a TV and sitting on a couch with a KB and mouse to play a game after setting up. The time to do that ALONE (albeit 5 minutes) will make me not do it. Console, put the game in the tray (you put the LIME in the COCO nut...ok sory sorry) and you good to go. Even the configuration for online gaming easier on the XBOX.

And you see this loss in cost for the XBOX.....you know that this is only for about 6 months. After that time the cost of the hardware will no doubt drop, as everyone seems to be stressing on PC. Making cutting edge tech today not gonna be as expensive in 6 months.

And you kinda behind on Carmack talk......quote for quote from last months game informer with Carmac and you KNOW he not talking aesthetics

" The Microsoft dev kits for the XBOX 360 are much nicer. I'll say that. We do intend that on our next project, we are intentionally targeting all three platforms - PC, PS3 and XBOX 360. I've actually just this last week or two started moving my development focus from the PC to the XBOX 360. Microsoft has done a spectacular job of making this an easy move. You get to use the same tools, the same environment, the debugging is great, an the performance analysis tools are great"

then talking about the PS3 dev kits against the PS2

"From a hardware standpoint, the PS3 is a lot nicer, because it essentially has a PC graphics accelerator in it and it has ample memory. i think Microsoft made a better choice with the processor technology than SONY did."

and on the potential of the consoles

"I dont like how the hype is always so ridiculous at new console launches. Because the truth is, by the time any of these things ship, you will be able to buy a higher end PC. It wont have better cost performance - the value wont be as good......"

Notice that i have NEVER argued that 360 or PS3 is gonna pwn everything when it comes out. Its all hype. and we all know when a new processor of gfx card for the PC comes out it doesnt generate NEARLY as much hype. You dont see people lined up outside a store all night saying "MAN the RADEON FXTUHGNE 98 BILLION is comming out today......wooooooooooooo!!!!!!' you dont hear that. Its sales alone show this. Im not talking about power vs power because the PC is always upgrading. I am talking ONLY about sales.....and with that PC's gonna get their @ss handed to them for gaming for a LONGGGGGGG time.

Its not economical or cost effective, its not as easy to setup and use, the interface is more difficult. In other words when the average gamer (who exceeds the 1337 gamer in numbers by FAR) wants to play a game they quicker go out and get a PS2 than a gaming PC, and you KNOW this. THEY are the people that bring the MONEY to the industry. THAT is the target.

a 1337 gamer is worthless to the industry as far as profits go. They will lockdown on UT or WoW and not bother with anything else....how that gona generate ANY money. Now compare an average gamer, the one who follows games and plays everything. They buy the latest games that are good, some are not in tuned to the industry and buy the hype with the game (which is stupid, but it happens otherwise hype wont exist)

If you want to argue that PC is more powerful and has more capabilities then yes, it does. If you want to argue that the PC industry is going to flourish to that level that is equivalent to or beyond that of the Console industry in profits.....no way padnah. Not anytime soon. You can love PC games, your FRIEDNS can love PC games, you firends and they grandmother father-in-law brother sister can love PC games, and it STILL not gonna make profits like the console industry.

OF course, no scene. THat doesnt mean the PC industry will dissipate or get stagnant. Its still making money and such. Still comming out with games for the PC gamer, who i think is much more restricted genre wise for games, despite availability on the system. (kb and gamepad argument again).

Beomagi you have done what few can, which is actually make me CONSIDER buying a gaming PC. ACtually i always wanted to play another MMORPG. Consider that a herculean achievement. Because on your best day, with fire and brimstone comming from the earth and angels playing trumpets from the heavens you or anyone STILL cannot convince me that the console is going down or that it is inferior because "PC have dat too". Its not being adamant, its just being statistically correct.

[TriniXaeno]

I think it is great how the statements are being put into context.

Console Gaming = large sales, large number of casual gamers.

High Level PC Gaming = small demogaphic, better graphics, elite gamers, low sales

Low level PC Gaming = large number of casual gamers

Also, the elite gaming scene is used as a flagship to promote the industry. Just as the top sports men aren't spending money on sportwear, they get it all sponsored. You won't say they aren't important to profit as they can influence the market in a significant way.

Good point with the keyboard and it's buffering problems. Luckily, most games don't run into that problem. It only really manifests itself when two people try to use the same keyboard at the same time. Then you tend to run into the problem quite frequently.

We have had to use dual USB keyboards or a PS2 and a USB keyboard to overcome this limitation in the past.

Very messy stuff I readily agree.

usb peripherals side step the problem but they are far from standard. The one thing about the console scene is the relative consistency of it's peripherals.

Anywhere in the world you go, the Nintendo / PS2 / Xbox controller is pretty much the same. On the other hand, keyboards, mice and usb game pads in the PC world are as varied as they are abundant.

[Beomagi]

Because on your best day, with fire and brimstone comming from the earth and angels playing trumpets from the heavens you or anyone STILL cannot convince me that the console is going down or that it is inferior because "PC have dat too". Its not being adamant, its just being statistically correct.

Whoa!! Great departure from my intention! I wasn't in any way trying to say it was inferior. I believe in versatility, and believe there's more to hardware than sheer power - exhibit A - i believe the Nintendo DS makes a better machine than the PSP.

My statements were to show that great pc gaming is possible with minimum investment. It was my intention to show, that even with lower end hardware and game settings, you can still enjoy high quality gaming. In fact, thanks to the fact my TV card is in my more expensive system, it's being used less for gaming than this older system.
my statements were to dispute this:

PLaying a game at those low setting doh make NO SENSE. because for a PC game to look better than a console game NOW it needs to be optimised or at LEAST be running on high settings.....pointless.

I HAD to bring up arcitechture to get past that point, sorry man

Here's some pics from current games, running on my older athlon xp system.
http://img306.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom3b4sa.jpg
http://img306.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom30ch.jpg
http://img306.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gw0023iy.jpg
http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=641total5py.jpg
BTW - that last pic is just me showing off doing damage as a ranger...
Beautiful eh High res gaming for the cheap!

Now this system would prolly sell for at most $500.
I has a $70 processor, $60 mobo, a graphics card like the x800 is slightly more powerful and a bit cheaper today - $118.

Time to connect your console to your tv is about equal to the time taken to connect your pc to the tv. The difference is your console is already there, so you're not considering that.

Baego - you CAN buy special peripherals for consoles - steering wheels, even a keyboard. I'll always be a fan to the dreamcast because of that.

[Beomagi]

2) is still to much headache to play PC games, every year you going to have to upgrade the frakking thing.
that alone is an issue for so many people.

Sure it is an issue, but anyone can figure it out if they take a little time to do so. If you're capable of figuring out how to keep your computer up to date, or just for this day and age, use your computer on a regular basis, you can figure out
1. what card presents a good "bang for buck" ratio
2. how to set up your game so that it plays on an old card.
I spend more then the average gamer on my PC easily - It's what i work in, it's my entire entertainment center, and it's something i know, yet i upgrade my card every 3 years only. You dont have to buy a new card each year, read some of the previous posts, this was repeated over and over. you dont have to buy the most expensive either. I went from a GF2MX400, to a GF4ti4200 to a 6800 (can't say 6800GT since that pc is mostly being used atm for pvr...) 
How's this for headache? I remove one card, stick the other in, run the new detonater install...
I'm not talking about what people think with this response, i'm not concerning myself with sales or other stats, I'm just saying that it's easier than you think. The 1700+ that i had when i was running my gf2, would still be capable of running most games today - albeit with a bit lower shadow, decal, geometry, and possible particle  effects, but i'd benefit from the fillrate, and clocks the new cards offer - higher res, AA, dx9 effects, polygon pushing etc. That ti4200 - still plays games today - Half life 2, doom3 - they all work under the dx8 path, and without looking completely crappy either.