Do-It-Yourself PC Builder’s How Cheap Is Too Cheap?

We asked Maximum PC's Will Smith to describe the cheapest PC you can build, and he said he'd do it, if only to talk you out of spending so little. Here's what you gain, and lose, by going ultra cheap. Over at Maximum PC, we just posted a guide that show's you everything you need to know to build the cheapest PC I'd recommend to anyone for use as his or her main PC. It's a surprisingly beefy machine, capable of playing games, ripping DVDs, editing video and photos, and playing 1080p video with nary a dropped frame. For a mere $647, we managed to pack a quad-core CPU, a great video card, 4GB of memory, and Windows 7 Home Premium into a surprisingly fashionable mid-tower. However, if you don't need as well-rounded a general purpose PC, you can go cheaper, especially if you're willing to make some sacrifices. Let's take a look at the parts we used, and then we'll start making cuts.

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