Hey folks,
I know there's a lot of these kind of posts, but I am in urgent need of ya'lls help to spec out a budget system.  The system is for a friend and his wife who'd Dell Dimension 2400 just went out on them.
 
We will be scavenging as much as we possibly can from the dell system:  monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, etc...
 
would need:
case, MB, ram, vid card, power supply, cd burner, CPU, *whatever else I can't think of, like thermal compound*  
 
Computer will be used for:  simple internet surfing, digital camera photos, emailing.... Budget:  eh, $500 or less (if possible)
 
thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply, it is greatly appreciated.

CPU: Intel E2160: $70
 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L : $85
 
RAM: 2GB DDR2 800 Crucial Ballastix : $30
 
GPU: 8600 GTS: $90
 
DVD RW: SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD burner: $30
 
PSU: Corsair 550vx : $65
 
[b]Case[b]: Antec/Coolermaster: $55
 
Total: $425
 
That would serve you very well. And you'd save $75 from the budget.
 
This case comes with a 380W power supply... you'd save more $$ that way.  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129032

GPU: get the ASUS EN8600GT SILENT, no fan, I'm sure she will appreciate it.

There's no need to spend $90 on a video card, I'm guessing there will be very little to no gaming done. A motherboard with AMD's new 780G chipset should be more than sufficient (integrated 8 channel audio + radeon HD 3200 with DX10 support)
 
I'd recommend the following parts:
 
Case: COOLER MASTER Elite RC-330-KKR1 55 + 350W PSU $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119118
 
 
MB: GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+ $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128090
 
 
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition $88
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103194
 
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR 800 $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146565

Media: Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827129018
 
 
Total: $298
 
Talk about bang for the buck    
 
Good luck.