$500-$550 gaming pc

If you want to learn how I make systems on paper, look at my sig and peak at the design guide. Using that process, here's what I came up with. All the parts here have free shipping.

GPU: 4850 512mb. This will be more than enough for a 1440x900 monitor.
$95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Combo
CPU: AMD 720 x3. Tri core will last you a long time. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Ram: 4gigs DDR3 OCZ Gold http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$180 = $190 - $10 mir
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Mobo: MSI 770 AM3
$80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HSF: Sunbeam Core contact Freezer. Comes with good goo. You won't need this unless you do overclock.
$25 = $40 - $15mir
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Combo
PSU: OCZ 500w stealthxstream http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
HDD: WD Caviar Black 500 gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$100 = $120 - $20 mir
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Combo
Case: Antec 300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
OS: Win Vista HP w/ Win 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

That brings the total including OS to:
$635 = $680-$45mir DELIVERED

If you want to push all the way to the $700 mark, you can upgrade to an AMD 945 x4 quad CPU.

That's a pretty good build, but I would make these changes:

Gigabyte 770 board with Vista combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Then either a CM 690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Or an Antec illusion
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

For 1440 x 900 this is more than adequate and not too hot to be overspendingon GPU with the HD 5xxx series coming soon so upgrade if you get a higher resolution LCD display  

will the onboard graphics card ati radeon 3300 run team fortress 2? I'm trying to save money and wait for prices of gfx cards to drop

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-785g-chipset,23...
THe 790GX will have the 3300 IGP on it. L4D and TF2 are both source games, so should be playable at low settings.

That 9600 GSO is very capable of giving good performance, and for $35 amir delivered, is really hard to let that go over IGP. Since the mobo covers $20+ of the difference, your getting a lot better performance for $15.

yes it should http://www.yougamers.com/gameometer/10200/?sa=1

can i reuse my old evga8600 gt ssc edition? Idk if its broken or not because my old pc wouldn't turn on and the gfx card would be really loud(not normal) from startup.

The 8600 GT is half way between the 3300 and 9600 GSO on the hierarchy chart. Is it worth trying? I guess it might be. Any idea what toasted the old system? Maybe try your new PSU on the old board first and see if the 8600 works. The PSU will protect itself from a short, so I'd try that before plugging the GPU into your new mobo.

How's this build? I can't decide no what to buy sorry guys.

antec 300 $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

sapphire 4850 HD $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MSI 770-C45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard & OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Amd x3 720 & 2x2gb ocz gold ddr3 $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

hitachi 500gb hdd & windows vista 64 bit $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

My total comes to $624.89+$51.55 tax+$2.99 shipping =Grand Total: $679.43
$680-$30mrb = $650 for this build.

What do you guys think? Also, is everything compatible? thanks

looks fine

I don't trust Hitachi drives. The WD 640GB black drive just went on sale, so you can get it in a combo with Vista for $10 more than the combo you linked above. That's $10 well spent IMO.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

I would also try to find a Gigabyte or Asus motherboard. I haven't had good long-term reliability from MSI, but the price of your combo is very low.

lalala... waiting for more comments to convince me to pull the trigger lol

This only works out to $5 less, but gets you the gigabyte board instead of the MSI. The difference that shortstuff is looking at has something to do the the number of capacitors around the CPU. The MSI has far fewer than the Gigabyte. I counted the other day, but can't remember the exact numbers, but it was around 5 capacitors more on the gigabyte. That makes for cleaner power for the CPU and better OCs.

Same CPU/Ram combo: $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Gigabyte 770 AM3 and vista $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Saphire 4850 $90 w/ promo code:EMCLWMW37
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500gb drive $50 w/ promo: EMCLWMW29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Antec 4480 mid ATX case with Earthwatts 380w PSU (will be enough for this rig) $85 w/ promo EMCLWMW24
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Totals $594 w/ shipping and around $50 tax = $645

whoaa how'd you get the codes

sign up for the newegg emails, they contain lots of lovely discounts

ok thanks, will attaching steel wire to my wrist and then attaching it to a case be enough to ground myself?

Dont forget to wear a tin foil hat too.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/82184/avoid_static_damag...