Around $500(U.S) Advice

[Regent91]

Approximate Purchase Date: 1-3 Weeks

Budget Range: $500 Dollars. Give or take $50.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: General use(internet, streaming), light gaming(older games, and maybe some newer on lower setting)

Parts Not Required: mouse, keyboard, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, or wherever the deals are.

Country of Origin: U.S.A

Parts Preferences: Most likely AMD considering the budget...

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024, 1440x900,

Additional Comments: Mainly looking for advice on what to get with this budget. The light gaming could be sufficient with a 5770(if it can fit within the budget). I'm aware of Sandy Bridge, but not sure how that will affect things.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

$500 is a budget that doesn't need something so crappy as a 5770.

Athlon II X3 450: $79.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886

AS Rock 880 Mobo: $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157199

Silverstone 400W 80+ PSU: $48.99 w/ $10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256060

G.Skill 4 GB DDR3-1333: $41.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396

EVGA GTX 460 SE 1 GB video card: $159.99 w/ $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591
not as strong as the regular 460s, but stronger than a 5770.

Seagate 7200.12 500GB drive: $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
after shipping, this is cheaper than 320GB Drives

Samsung 22x DVD Burner: $15.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151192

total: $506.92 w/ $30 in rebates (so $476.92 after rebate)

 

[Guest]

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198 Crossfire Capable x8/x8

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 Faster Memory

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152244

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908 Better Gpu

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061 Spacious

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033 80 Plus Bronze Certified

Total:528$ After 30$ in Rebates

Optional Upgrades:

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334
22$

XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506
+35$

With Upgrades 585$ AR

 

[Regent91]

The only reason I mentioned the 5770 or something around that is on the part that I most likely have to buy Win 7 along with this. But given I will make the purchases in about 1-2 weeks I'll have some extra $$$ hopefully. Best to say I'm not worried about playing games on highest or near high detail. If it runs on medium settings I'll be a happy camper.

Gonna see if anyone else has more advice or build suggestions.

 

[zooted]

Screwy's is a very nice build,as is sr26. The only problem I see in sr26's build is the psu, considering the mobo is cf capable and the 6850 scales really well in cf. For just a single card solution the psu is great.

If you want to keep the settings down low and squeeze win7 in there, the 5770 is still a relatively decent perfomer. If you can afford the extra cash definitely go for the gtx460 or 6850

 

[milkshake]

I would note that screwy lists the GTX 460 SE....not the regular 460. SR26 has a great system with a tremendous GPU configuration. However, I don't know what the story is with a 380W power supply for those components.

I only bring this up because I opened a 13 year old rig about a month ago, and it had a 300W power supply for a whole bunch of manufacturer / stock components with an onboard GPU.

Aside from that, both builds look awesome in the price range. I could be overly worried too.

 

[Regent91]

Best answer selected by Regent91.