Whew... need building help!

Hey everyone! Well, my old desktop computer crapped out on me earlier this summer but since I was keeping pretty busy I didn't really feel the drive to replace it. But I think it's about time that I weigh some options if I'm gonna be ready for the Winter boredom (aka. Gaming season).


Anyway, let me get to it...

Basically, I have a meager $500 to spend on this replacement and I wouldn't be sad if I could get away with less. I don't need anything too flashy just good enough to run the basic games (various old games, World of Warcraft, perhaps a new MMO or 2) and I'm not concerned with uber graphics, typically happy to run things on low settings as long as it remains somewhat smooth. Very interested in starting small and upgrading at a later date when the money comes around.

I do already have 2 monitors that I plan to reuse, so I won't need new ones. And I'm probably going to need Windows Vista as well, so that probably takes a chunk out of that $500.


Well, I would be happy with any help anyone could give me!

Just a little above the budget but this is what I'd go with for $500:

Raidmax Smilodon $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811156062
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3L $86
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspe [...] ia=BA24072
E4400 @2.0Ghz $119
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusear [...] ia=BA23789
2GB Super Talent DDR2 800 $94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820609026
EVGA 7600GT $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130062
LG 18X $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136119
200GB WD $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822144416

$547 after $25 in rebates.

Everything is very upgradeable just like you asked, Video card & CPU should be first. Until then, this little system should run everything pretty smoothly, depending on the settings. You can realistically expect WoW to run on High though

Good luck.

If your trying to save some dough, which most of us are, I would recommend the AMD for your setup. I know the C2D's are better, but when budget restrictions are needed, the AMD's right now are it. Here is what I would recommend using.
Case: I know this isn't the best but I've built 2 systems with this and no problems whatsoever. Check out the 25A on the 12V rails for this price
Athenatech A412BB.400 Black / Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 2.01v 400W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811190073
$51!!!!

CD/DVD Burner: Free Shipping!!!
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106070

CPU: Just getting cheapest x2 you can get now and room for upgrade later.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Prod [...] 6819103046
$61.50

Mobo : Combo deal saves you $5 and this board is great, from my experience.
BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Prod [...] 6813138074
$71 with the $5 discounted package w/the CPU.

Memory: 2GB to handle minimal amount needed for VISTA (if you want to use Vista).
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231098
$89 w/free shipping!!

Graphics Card: Good solid and cheap Video card.
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130062
$96 out the door, but has $15 MIR if you so desire to cash in on it!

OS: If your going to use Vista, than this will fit into your budget.
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116202
$111 w/free shipping

TOTAL = $510.07 Shipped to my house and if you cash in on MIR's you get:

$495.07!!!! Now that is streaching the Budget!!!

I personally would get Windows XP Pro/Home if I were buying this system, but that is my opinion.

P.S. My setup HAS the OS built into the price (not that my system is the greatest though), but the previous build had no OS included, which would've added at least $100 more to his setup.

I'm not exactly an expert, but from what I figure... the motherboard seems to be boned. It stopped recognizing both primary and secondary drives (both with a master and slave) and upon switching cables the problem remained the same. I'm going to check the HD and CD Drives out on a friend's computer tomorrow, as it seems unlikely that all 4 would go out at the same time. Of course, it would probably be of note that all of these drives use IDE cables, so I would think that to reuse them on a new system I would have to have an SATA converter?

And the computer is an old Dell 4600, so I'd imagine that I'm stuck getting a new case.

Just be warned that Dell likes to use propriety connections and you might be better off just starting from scratch. If you want to continue to use the AGP card you have (and thus limit further upgrades) go with what AUsch30 says and use what I stated in previous post. I would start from scratch, if I were you and could afford the $500.

if you like u could have an e2160 instead, if your really tight on your budget... just over clock it, you could achieve 3GHz with no sweat... a gigabyte P35 will do the job...

All motherboards have legacy PATA support so no matter if everyone you know is using SATA drives their motherboards still should have at least 1 PATA connector which you can connect 2 devices to so you should be able to at least find out if they work. Here http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/0 [...] _marathon/ is an article tom's did about building a budget system and they did it for $525. This article is 3 months old so prices of the components have dropped and with your copy of XP your optical drive(s) and if your hard drive(s) work you should be well under $500.