re: Release of Steam Machines/boxes?

are pre-owned parts from this list legit?

For example, the CPU is listed at 119 on Amazon in Very Good condition. Any clue how that would effect performance vs a brand new one?

What's a better value the 8320 for $119 or the 8350 for $175?

What he said. They are the same CPU, made with the same specifications, but with semiconductor fabrication, there is always a margin of error. You can't guarantee that every chip will run at the same clock speed at the same voltage, so the CPUs that come off the line that don't clock as high as others might be "binned" as 8320s. But it's not always that cut and dry -- they have to respond to the market, so if there's a higher quota that needs to be fulfilled for 8320s, they aren't necessarily being picky about which chips get the lower bin. That can also apply to the 8350s, in that there might be some 8350s that don't overclock that well. It's really luck of the draw, but the bottom line is that I'm sure we'll be able to overclock that 8320 to match the 8350's speed, easily.

Nope, all you need is Windows.

The motherboard doesn't have wi-fi. I should've thought of that/mentioned it since this is a living room PC. If running an ethernet cable to your router isn't possible due to positioning, $20 will get you a 300mbps PCIe wifi adapter: LINK

nope, no particularly awesome deals at the moment. Just let me know when you are ready to order the rest so i can make sure there aren't any other better prices of the moment. In particular, RAM prices change with the wind, as well as video card brands.

When do you think you'll be ready to do the full order?

quote:

---

would it be safe to go ahead and order most of the smaller stuff?

---

It's not really about what's "safe" to order, but rather which brand/model you should order at any particular moment. For example, I picked that ASUS GTX 760 because it was the cheapest 760 at the moment that uses an aftermarket cooler. That's still the case at the moment, but I have no way of knowing if (a) Another model of the 760 will go down in price and beat the ASUS, (b) the ASUS model will go down, (c) the ASUS model will go up but still be the cheapest of the bunch, etc.

This goes for most of the parts. For example, this RAM is faster and cheaper than the RAM I put in the initial part list: LINK

but tomorrow it might be a different kit that's cheaper. RAM is like a commodity. I remember paying less than $40 a year ago for the same kits that are now $80. Just how it goes.

The parts that are less likely to shift in price significantly enough to warrant a brand change include: Motherboard, Hyper 212 EVO cooler, Case, and hard drive (that hard drive has been $60 for ages. Also, if you wanted more storage space, another $28 will get you a 2TB Seagate: LINK )

going to order the RAM today unless there's something better available LINK

Likely to order the cooler and case today. the case is no longer available cheaper than $49.99 though. Is this still the best deal?

LINK

LINK