Budget build

[Iron_Cross]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor
ECS GF8200A (V1.0) AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W ATX Power Supply
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD502lJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3 for System Builders - OEM
LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-08 - Retail

[Fulmar]

Are you gaming with this?  Because that onboard 8200 chipset isn't going to 'game' very well.  You could skimp on a cheaper case and skip the Zalman cooler.  Use those savings on an actual video card.  But on the 'real' cheap, AMD is gonna give you the best bang.

[BaldEagl]

Yep, get a real video card.  The PSU you picked will power a 9600 or something in that range.  You can save a little on the case and maybe the motherboard without the on-board video and the PSU will come with a fan that's adequate unless you plan on doing some major overclocking.

[Iron_Cross]

What if I swich the MOBO to this:
ASUS M3A78 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Add this video card;
SPARKLE SFPX94GT512U2 GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Oops! I always forget the sound card.
StarTech PCISOUND4CH 4 Channels 16-bit 48KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

This cheep case, instead:
Rosewill R222-P-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

[BaldEagl]

What if I swich the MOBO to this:
ASUS M3A78 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Add this video card;
SPARKLE SFPX94GT512U2 GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Oops! I always forget the sound card.
StarTech PCISOUND4CH 4 Channels 16-bit 48KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

This cheep case, instead:
Rosewill R222-P-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I wouldn't expect a lot out of a 9400 but it will be a lot better than on-board video.  You may have to turn down the graphic settings but it should be quite playable.  This one would be better for the same price: 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130378
or this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102805

I'm not sure I'd bother with the $10 sound card.  Try on-board sound and if you don't like it then you can add the sound card later.

[Fulmar]

The Radeon 4650 would be a better choice than the 9500GT, performance wise.  Also, don't bother with that StarTech sound card.

[drdeathx]

The Radeon 4650 would be a better choice than the 9500GT, performance wise.  Also, don't bother with that StarTech sound card.

^5 Fulmar. ATI 4650's are around $50 which is nicely priced and will handle AH no problemo! Just remember this, for a few hundred more you can make a much  better system. Your AMD 5000 is priced at $54. The Intel E8400 is $165  but the mobo will cost a bit more. Something to toss around. You have nowhere to go with the AMD with games and Technology getting more CPU intensive and movies and much more. The system you have is ok for today and today only. It will be a dog in a few years or less. Save another $200 and you will get a few more years than the AMD you have posted.

[BaldEagl]

^5 Fulmar. ATI 4650's are around $50 which is nicely priced and will handle AH no problemo! Just remember this, for a few hundred more you can make a much  better system. Your AMD 5000 is priced at $54. The Intel E8400 is $165  but the mobo will cost a bit more. Something to toss around. You have nowhere to go with the AMD with games and Technology getting more CPU intensive and movies and much more. The system you have is ok for today and today only. It will be a dog in a few years or less. Save another $200 and you will get a few more years than the AMD you have posted.

The guy is trying to build a machine on a budget.  He's grappling to get a $45 video card vs onboard and you want him to triple the price of the CPU?  Get a grip.  What he's building will run the game just fine with the modifications that we've suggested unless you want to pony up for the extra $$$.

[haggerty]

I priced a machine for you...halfway through I started building it for myself and will probably buy it.

Came out to $544 before $65 in mail in rebates and $10 in combo savings.  Total: $469

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8011274

The important stuff, prices before rebates or combo deals:

Processer	E5200 2.5ghz Core 2	$73
Board	GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L	$53
Video Card	XFX GT9800 512mb 256 bit GDDR3	$129
Memory	Patriot Viper 4GB DDR2 800	$53
Hard Drive	G.SKILL 64GB Solid State Drive	$140
PSU	Thermaltake 500w	$50
Case	Thermaltake WingRS 200	$46

The keyboard, mouse, and OS i'll steal from work.  2GB ram is a solid amount of ram...I threw 4GB in this build because Patriot is giving such huge rebates that 2GB was the same price.  XP 32bit only uses 3GB...I'll probably use XP 64bit.  I really do not like Vista.

Obviously money can be saved on the video card and hard drive with lesser models...im pretty old school and all these newer games dont interest me...a 9800GT will probably last me years.  I am an avid preacher that hard drives are the biggest factor in computer performance.  These new solid state drives are really fast...especially as replacements for laptop hard drives.  This choice is a personal preference for me but for half the cost you can have a 7200rpm 750gb SATAII hard drive instead.  If you want speed in a traditional hard drive I'd give the velociratpors a look too.  I only play one or two games at a time, 64gb is plenty for me.

[Fulmar]

I priced a machine for you...halfway through I started building it for myself and will probably buy it.

Came out to $544 before $65 in mail in rebates and $10 in combo savings.  Total: $469

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8011274

The important stuff, prices before rebates or combo deals:

Processer	E5200 2.5ghz Core 2	$73
Board	GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L	$53
Video Card	XFX GT9800 512mb 256 bit GDDR3	$129
Memory	Patriot Viper 4GB DDR2 800	$53
Hard Drive	G.SKILL 64GB Solid State Drive	$140
PSU	Thermaltake 500w	$50
Case	Thermaltake WingRS 200	$46

Why the SSD HD?  You can get a 500gb Seagate for about $60.  That gives you an extra $80 to play with.

You can find 9800GT's for $92 after MIR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500080), but Zotac doesn't offer the lifetime warranties that BFG, XFX, and EVGA offer.

You can take that $80 savings and use it to where you can get more performance.  Either use it in a video card, or a faster CPU such as an E7400, E7500, or the fan favorite E8400.

[haggerty]

Why the SSD HD?

Speed.  Building same computer for friend but replacing SSD with 750gb WD Caviar Black http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283and going with a lesser video card (got any value ones in mind?).  He doesn't game

Zotac doesn't offer the lifetime warranties that BFG, XFX, and EVGA offer.

I plan to keep the computer for well over a year so the extra $10 doesnt hurt much here.

You can take that $80 savings and use it to where you can get more performance.  Either use it in a video card, or a faster CPU such as an E7400, E7500, or the fan favorite E8400.

Processor speed is pretty overrated.  I have yet to see a game close to utilizing my processors.  The E5200 overclocks to 3ghz without breaking a sweat.

[1701E]

Budget builds can actually be quite nice, as I have found with mine.  Best?  Not quite, but dang it's nice.

Motherboard: Biostar NF61S-M2 TE / AM2 Socket   50$
CPU:            AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz            65$
RAM:           2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2-800MHz              40$
GPU:            Nvidia GeForce 7900GS                    100$
PSU:            OCZ Stealth 700Watt                      90$ (Arrives Wednesday, old PSU is trash)
HDD:           Western Digital 360GB EIDE               65$
Case:          Aerocool M40                                 80$

Total: 490$

I am soon replacing the GPU with a GeForce 9800GTX that will bring the price up to about 540$. (Around March)
It may be a little more than some consider "budget", but most parts have rebates and all parts are good brands.

It works very nicely, although some may hate my 'Cube Case'.  Currently it runs all my games from old C&C games (1995) to AH (current) almost perfectly.  Games such as new C&C to Crysis run on Medium with acceptable FR.

[Fulmar]

Speed.  Building same computer for friend but replacing SSD with 750gb WD Caviar Black http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283and going with a lesser video card (got any value ones in mind?).  He doesn't game
I plan to keep the computer for well over a year so the extra $10 doesnt hurt much here.
Processor speed is pretty overrated.  I have yet to see a game close to utilizing my processors.  The E5200 overclocks to 3ghz without breaking a sweat.

I'd have 64Gb filled in the first 15 minutes of a build.  I guess if you want, use the extra $80 for a second hard drive if needed.  If the person is going to be doing a lot of modeling, design, or video/photo editing, I guess SSD would be an improvement.  You're noting going to see FPS increases on using a SSD drive, games don't do a whole lot of read/writes.  If this is a Browser/Word/Aces High machine, I'd use the money elsewhere.

[drdeathx]

The guy is trying to build a machine on a budget.  He's grappling to get a $45 video card vs onboard and you want him to triple the price of the CPU?  Get a grip.  What he's building will run the game just fine with the modifications that we've suggested unless you want to pony up for the extra $$$.

LOL. Sometimes its better to wait. The suggestion was for Iron, not for you Baldeagle. I am sure if he cannot afford it he will not use the advise.

[drdeathx]

Budget builds can actually be quite nice, as I have found with mine.  Best?  Not quite, but dang it's nice.

Motherboard: Biostar NF61S-M2 TE / AM2 Socket   50$
CPU:            AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz            65$
RAM:           2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2-800MHz              40$
GPU:            Nvidia GeForce 7900GS                    100$
PSU:            OCZ Stealth 700Watt                      90$ (Arrives Wednesday, old PSU is trash)
HDD:           Western Digital 360GB EIDE               65$
Case:          Aerocool M40                                 80$

Total: 490$

I am soon replacing the GPU with a GeForce 9800GTX that will bring the price up to about 540$. (Around March)
It may be a little more than some consider "budget", but most parts have rebates and all parts are good brands.

It works very nicely, although some may hate my 'Cube Case'.  Currently it runs all my games from old C&C games (1995) to AH (current) almost perfectly.  Games such as new C&C to Crysis run on Medium with acceptable FR.

Waste of money on 7900GS. ATI 4350 can be bought for $50. The 9800GTX + 7900GS in dollars makes no sense. Your ram is rather pricey too. You can buy ram for half the price DDR2.