Our current Dell computer is dying (I think it's the PSU. It shuts off randomly, has a "fuzzy" screen, won't start up sometimes est.)  Anyways my dad wants to buy a Dell or HP, one of the $500 "value" systems. It has a AMD sempron, 256 RAM, integrated video card aka all crap. So here is my build. Any suggestions (I need to keep it under $700 including shipping). I have a mouse, speakers, sound card, monitor, so all I need is the tower.
 
(Price not including shipping)
 
Linkworld 3210-04-C2628 Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6811164040
 
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $142.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813128012
 
POWERCOLOR X800GTO256MBDDR3 Radeon X800GTO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $87.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6814131007
 
Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail - $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6817153023
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - $183.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6819115005
 
CORSAIR XMS2 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Desktop Memory - Retail - $78.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820145538
 
 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160811AS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $56.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6822148149
 
 SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM - $28.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6827151133
 
Total without shipping $671.93
 
 
I really want the Core 2 Duo and plan on overclocking it. I'm going to buy another stick of memory at a later time when we have more money.
 
How much faster will this system be than our old Dell? (1.6 GHZ P4, 512 MB ram) It got around 2:45 on 1 million for Super Pi. And how fast will this be compared to the Dell or HP "value system" he wants to buy?
 
He plans on ordering what ever we get tomorrow night so I need a quick response please.
 
Thank you all very much.

It looks pretty good and would probably smoke the Dell system, run with it for now and upgrade later.

Looks good, although I would go with a Geforce 7600 series (due to Pixel Shader 3.0), cost permitting, but either way, you'll smoke the Dell.

An AMD Sempron 3000+ should get around 64sec SuperPi1M and the E6300 should run around 30sec.
 
Your list looks very good.  Quality parts at good prices.  Should overclock easily to E6600 and should even make E6700 speed without major strain (380FSB overclock for 2.66Ghz).  
The GA-965P-DS3 is a great choice since it will take the C2Q quad CPU for a future upgrade with just a BIOS update. The RAM you picked is also a good choice being 1.8v and 4-4-4-12 CL.  
The X800 GTO is a good value at that price.  It requires a 420W PSU so you have that covered as well.  You probably already know that the X800 GTO will be the weak link for the most demanding current and future games.

DON'T GET THE DELL.  
 
Man, that new system you spec'd won't smoke your old system, it'll make it cry just thinking about it!!!  Like putting a Chevy up against a dragster.
 
You get 2:45 Super pi??  A stock 6300 C2D does 1 million at 29 seconds.  Overclocked on that mobo to 3.0 ghz will do it in under 20 seconds.
 
Wow, you just proved your own point without knowing it.  Tell your Dad to flush his money down the toilet if he doesn't get what you spec'd......he'll be kicking himself with the Dell.  Kinda like slashing the tires on his own car.....it's still driveable, right?    
 
Skip the Dell.  Show him this topic, hopefully he'll thank you

You are missing WinXP in your build list.  I think you'll need to add that in.
 
If you can't convince him to go the home build route see if you can't talk him into the Dell E520 with C2D.  If you choose the No Monitor option you'll get a price close to your build list but without a gaming video card.  It won't be an overclocking system but with an upgraded video card it should be a capable game machine and a kick-ass home office PC.

I down know that super pi is but in response to your how much faster will this be than the dell..... The answer is a lot....
 
Well in realism your old system could accomplish around no framerates at all on doom three and this system might accomplish smooth gameplay at 1600x1200 easily (that is with the addition of the second ram stick)
 
you would definitly see at least 1.5 to 2 times the loading speeds due to the extreme increase in ram speed and system bus efficiency via the new chipsets and processor architechture. (dont expect super gold on games or intense applications until you get the full gig of ram)
 
But down to what matters the parts of the beast. I Ended up with a system that will probably double the framerates of the build you had up (no offense) but i did keep a few parts mainly the cpu,cd,hard drive, and case.
 
PROCESSOR
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail - 183.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115005
 
MOTHERBOARD
ABIT AB9 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 128.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127005
 
RAM
OCZ Gold 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G800512 - Retail - 67.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227125
 
VIDEO CARD
SAPPHIRE 100106L Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - 120.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102688
 
POWER SUPPLY
Rosewill RE502-BLK ATX12V V1.3 500W Aluminum Power Supply - Retail  
   - 47.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817182002
 
HARD DRIVE
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160811AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 56.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148149
 
CASE
Linkworld 3210-04-C2628 Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - 24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811164040
 
OPTICAL DRIVE
SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model SH-S182D - OEM - 28.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151133
 
 
The total system price comes to 659.93 without tax.
 
The overall performance with this machine with the enhanced video card, power supply, and memory module will probably be nearly be in tens of framerates when it comes to gaming and probably even more with the newer games. For instance games like doom 3, prey, half life 2, and battlefield 2 will be playable at higher settings with the x850xt but impossible to play at higher settings mainly resolutions above 1280x1024 nay say above 1024 x 768 Heck this newer game called titan quest would only be playable on the x850xt and thats with settings in mid range on 1024x768. I get all my benchmarks from the one and only tomshardware. check the x800gto to the x850xt and see what im talking about.
 
Basically all in all skyguy said and i quote "Man, that new system you spec'd won't smoke your old system, it'll make it cry just thinking about it!!! Like putting a Chevy up against a dragster."
(With this build it would change the chevy into a weed wacker)
 
I believe in keeping with your price range this is the best option.
 
If however you can  spare about 30 bucks above your original design i would recommend you push your processor a bit higher and go with this model.
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail - $220.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115004
(this model would net about a 5-12% increase in system intense applications like compressions or multitasking)

Look in Abit AB9 series just to give you some choices. Great OCers as the DS3.
 
For better OCing get DDR2 800 with 4-4-4-12 timings. The cheapest one will do.
 
Barracuda 7200.10
 
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro if you can spare on it.
 
Quick enough? hehe

Thanks for all the help. We went with the custom computer and I made a few changes. Here's what we ended up with:
 
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119077
 
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $142.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813128012
 
POWERCOLOR X800GTO256MBDDR3 Radeon X800GTO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $87.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6814131007
 
Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail - $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6817153023
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - $183.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6819115005
 
OCZ Gold 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G800512 - Retail - 67.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227125  
 
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM  - $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148144
 
SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM - $28.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6827151133  
 
Total was a little more that 700 but I think it will be worth it.
 
Do you think getting a tube of AS5 would be worth it since I want to overclock?
 
 
Thanks for all the help guys. This is my first computer that I'm building so can someone point me towards a guide in putting it all together? Also any tips or tricks that I should know? And any guides to overclocking the E6300? I have never overclocked before. I want to overclock it to around E6600 speeds if possible.

Artic Silver Ceramique actually is better for this type of CPUs. Google come benchmarks and youll see.
Since you'd be ordering again I strongly suggest the HSF for cool temps while OCing. You should be hitting 2.8Ghz without much hassle.
 
Wusys C2D OCing guide in the CPU overclocking forums. Follow it like the gospel.

 
Couldn't he get a WinXP disc and use the key on the back of the Dell?  They paid for XP when they bought that pc and if it's not going to be used...
 
Maybe I just think unethically...but maybe it's not really unethical, since they did purchase it...

Im sorry but i really think you made a bad choice not going with a cheaper mobo and the better x850 video card you really kinda got screwed there.

 
I was going to try that first then buy a copy if it doesn't work. You are correct, we are NOT going to be using this computer again, I'm having a hard enought time getting on here to even respond to you and backing up all my data. It's going to the recycling center.
 

I'm probably going to just upgrade the video card in the future so why spend almost $50 more on a video card now that's going to be upgraded anyway but I'm keeping the mobo. Keep in mind this isn't going to be used for heavy gaming, just battlefield 2 and a couple other games and I don't need them to be on 1600 X 1200  at max settings or what ever.

He does want to OC and hell swap cards for DX10.

You can use w/e CD you find and then simply not register. Thats what ive done and im even getting updates.