Budget Family Build: $600-800

[JakeDaSnake]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1 Month-2 Months BUDGET RANGE: 600-800 Before or After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Homework/Home Document Use, Internet Use, Moderate Gaming, Light Programming/Designing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard and Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: None, though I'd like it if it weren't from a bunch of different sites. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Full Tower Case, Like a DVD reader with at least a CD writer, preferably DVD writer. Also, a monitor 19" or more. 4 GB of RAM or more.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280 X 1024 mininum

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Ideally it would have a nice sized hard drive, and not get too warm. I'm using this as research, as my mom said figure out a proposal to get a nice computer. We've got a Compaq with 2GB of RAM and a Pentium Dual Core, and I just want something a little more powerful that I can say I built.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Here's a build at the upper end of your budget:

Antec Two Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129070&cm_re=antec_two-_-11-129-070-_-Product $39.95

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688 $58.99

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392&cm_re=gigabyte_770-_-13-128-392-_-Product $79.99 - $10.00 MIR

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016 $59.99 - $20.00 MIR

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275&cm_re=g.skill_ddr3_1333_4gb-_-20-231-275-_-Product $91.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 $54.99

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151192&cm_re=samsung_22x_sata-_-27-151-192-_-Product $26.99

LG W2242T-BF Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 8000:1(700:1) - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005132 $159.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102859

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.297959 $234.98 (OS + GPU combo)

Total - $807.86 - $30.00 MIR's

If you're a university student, you can get Windows 7 for $30 from www.win741.com

 

[JakeDaSnake]

I like that Build. It's similar to something I made up earlier on in my research. Two quick questions. One, does the motherboard have on-board digital audio? And two, Can the monitor screen size be changed as long as I keep to a certain Resolution? (And what would that res be?)

Thanks!

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Yes, the motherboard has an 8-channel Realtek ALC888 audio chip. You can see the optical output on the back panel picture.

You can always change monitor resolutions, but LCD's don't look very good unless they're running at their native resolution. The native resolution of that monitor is 1680 x 1050.

 

[JakeDaSnake]

Alright, Thanks! I'm Still happy to hear lower-end suggestions too if anyone has any.