$500 upgradable gamer

hello I need a computer for games for around $500
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: a few weeks
BUDGET RANGE: $500 or less

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: games, videos, music, documents, internet.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: mouse and keyboard, monitor, speakers
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com or tigerdirect
PARTS PREFERENCES: i want a quad core and then possibly overclock it amd or intel doesn't matter

OVERCLOCKING: maybe
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024 non widescreen lcd
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I know this is a low price point for what I'm wanting, but i could get essential stuff now and upgrade to better stuff later on if needed...I'd really like a mobo that supports up to 8gigs of memory for the future. I don't have an OS to use for this (i want 64 bit)

you're asking way too much of your budget, you might get a P2 720 X3 with mobo, 4770, antec 300, a corsair 650TX and 2GB of ram with a DVD-ROM, that would come out to $490 if it was a combo deal with a 790GX motherboard.

you can geta decent mobo with newegg email promo's gotta signup for it just give them your email address 70.00 bucks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-13131381

leaves a case, videocard, memory

Do you need everything for $500 besides the peripherals?

hey that sounds pretty good...how does the Phenom II 810 x4 stack up against the Phenom II 920 and 940? it must be a new chip b/c I can't find any benchmarks on it. thanks.
Oh and about the Windows 7 download...is it a stable OS right now? on the microsoft site it says don't use it on your home pc does that matter? When it expires in June 2009 can do you just need to buy an upgrade OS or would you have to reformat harddrives and install full OS? thanks.

If you pay $20 more dollars though you get the PII 940, which is a much better processor, I wouldn't recommend the 810.

Look at this combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.190732
$270

VS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103650
$170
+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128382
$90
= $260. For $10 more you get WAY more for your money with a much better motherboard and much better processor.

toyeboy i was in a hurry and left out a couple of parts so here is a revised list

motherboard gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128382

memory Geil black dragon pc6400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820144073

cpu p2 810
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103650

Case+powersupply combo antec 900+tp 550

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.188810

dvdr/w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151171

harddrive WD320

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136074

puts the total at $585

if you go with this cpu for now Kuma 7850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103678
your total will be $485

insisting on a quadcore cpu is killing your budget and most games can't take advantage of more than 2 cores right now

He was ready to pay $260 for it, so he might as well get the better deal. A Graphics card is one of the easiest upgrades so you could go with the 790gx biostar combo and just use onboard until he gets the money for a 4770. Going with a lesser CPU now and then just tossing it later seems like a waste of money to me. The Antec 900 is just as out of place in a $500 build as a quad core cpu is.

yeah good point the kid...the antec 900 is like top of line with that PSU was $200...I can this Raidmax case with 500w PSU for $90 ($60-rebate) then I could afford a better CPU huh?

Other PSU options:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817194038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817256037
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341022
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817702008
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817163109 <==spendy but good rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005 <==Best one here, but $70 after the rebate, $100 up front. Good deal for the price but probably out of range on your budget

Those are all excellent PSU's, they are in ascending order of power output (and for the most part quality as well). They are what I would look at on your budget, some of them require you to wait a few weeks for the rebate for them to be affordable. I think the 550w OCZ or 500w OCZ are your best bets most likely.

The Second one on down will all support 2 4770's in crossfire if you decide to get a crossfire board, so keep that in mind when making your selection.

oh okay, glad i know that about raidmax...so if i use blacklyte's setup with your case/psu recommendation I could get the hd 4770 with everything on his list for around $600...until windows 7 expires in march....probably no way around that right it'd be another $100 for the OS next year...I think I could manage that though....but just a little unclear on how you would install a new OS ontop of windows 7 beta verison? I wouldn't have to reformat everything would I? thanks for the help!!

So I know you are really wanting a quad core toyeboy, but honestly on your budget, I would be building much differently. If it were me, the build would look like this:

E5200 (OC'd to 3.5ghz or higher, it overclocks like mad and performs quite well, much better than the AMD dual cores)
GA-EP43-UD3L (can be combo'd with the E5200 for $10 off)
That Rosewill case I showed you
The OCZ 500w StealthXStream
4770
Cheap CPU cooler, like Xigmatek HDT-SD964 with the ACKI7753 retention bracket
4gb DDR2-800 ram
WD3200AAKS

you will have to do a complete reinstall acording to microsoft