$500~550 Software development/light gaming pc

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next month (around mid june 2010)

BUDGET RANGE: $500-550 including $2.5-3/lb shipping that my courrier charges(might be able to stretch it to a little bit over $600 if needed, rebates don't apply as I don't live in the US)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: software development (dreamweaver, photoshop, visual studio, sql server, virtual machines running linux and apache/php/mysql), gaming (not too fancy, will ocassionaly play games like gta iv, flight sim x etc)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, case, speakers, monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Since I live outside of the US, I can't buy from newegg. But will use that site as reference anyways, if possible, I would like some recommendations about which sites have the best prices for the parts i will list (I use a courrier service that's located in florida so the packages can be delievered there and then they forward them to my country, sadly, newegg refuses to support this ).

PARTS PREFERENCES: I would like the build to be AMD based.

OVERCLOCKING: Not really

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I will list a video card but it won't be included in my initial purchase cause i can't afford it right now but will want to buy it later for gaming.

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This are the parts I have chosen so far. I'm aware newegg is the cheapest around but need some references to other sites for the reasons listed above.

PARTS:

AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

For the near future, not included in the parts i'm buying next month:
XFX HD-577A-ZNDC Radeon HD 5770 XXX Edition 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

You did not list what parts are NOT to be included ... very important, with such a small budget.

Everything looks pretty good ... The Ripjaws 1600 CAS7 would be a better choice ...

You may also wish to look at the 435/440 proc range. (Athlon-II x3 core @~2.9GHz.)

... Case ? ... DVDR ?? ... OS ?

My bad, these are the parts I already have:

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

OS: Windows 7 Pro x64

Samsung cd/dvd writer, forgot the model

Generic mouse/keyboard

tiger.com

... all that is lookin' purdy good, thus far ... just some balancing adjustments and cost/performance "trade-offs" to consider, at this point.

... At SOME point (maybe not right at first) consider the HYPER 212+ cooler ....

... SOME folks would rather order an OEM CPU (does not come with factory cooler) which can save up to $10 ... and that $10 savings can be applied to a $30 Hyper 212+, after-market cooler (which will allow better OC overhead).

... Since budget is tight ... May just want to go with stock cooler, but still spend the $10, on faster 1600c7 ram, just so you can OC, at some point.

= Alvin =

Just FYI ... You are really lucky that particular cat just showed up ...

... I'm just sayin' ... that cat knows it's mackerel from it's herring.

= Al =