Help me build a new computer on the cheap.
 

Hi everyone. I am trying to build a new computer. I am looking to spend about 300-400 bucks, although I can go a little over if necesary. I play games, but I'm not looking to play the absolute newest games. Basically I'm just trying to get the most for my money. Thanks for your help!

Is this with the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers? Or just tower?

Well, a big factor in this equation is if you have a monitor or not. If you don't expect to pay between 50 and 200 for one. That's a pretty large piece of the old budget right there.

do you have any components that you're going to put in your new computer from your current one?.. that could save some $$ too

Yeah, we can't put up any builds unless ya give us the info. Get back with us and I'm sure we can have ya some builds up pretty fast!

-Lasereth

My apoligies.

I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse. So I suppose it would just be for the tower.

On a brighter note, I got my tax return, so really I could spend more like 400-600, although I'd prefer to keep it around 500ish.

Thanks for the help!

Well then, in that case we can definitely hit you up for some good computer-building fun. I'll start with an Intel solution.

Motherboard:
ASUS P4P800S Retail - $69.00
Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4C GHz 800 MHz FSB 512K Cache, Hyperthreading Technology - Retail - $169.00
RAM:
[url=http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-479&depa=0]Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC3200 - OEM - $79.00
Graphics Card:
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK - OEM - $126.00
Storage:
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6Y080L0, OEM Drive only - $70.50
CD-RW:
ASUS Black 52X32X52 IDE Internal CD-RW Drive w/ QuieTrack Technology, Model CRW-5232AS QuieTrack, Retail - $36.00
Case:
RAIDMAX Black Mustang 10-Bay ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB 2.0 and 350W Power Supply, Model "ATX-289WBP" - RETAIL - $32.00
Floppy Drive:
NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive, OEM - $10.99
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack SP1a - OEM - $141.00

Total: $733.50

However, this estimate makes several assumptions. 1) you're not going to transfer your current HD, or OS. If you are, subtract $211.50, and it brings ya down to 522, right, in the middle of your range.

However, if you're looking to go with an AMD solution, here's one I like:
Mobo:
ABIT "NF7-S" nForce2 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU - RETAIL - $82.00
Processor:
AMD 45 Watt Mobile Athlon XP 2500+, 266 FSB, 512K Cache - OEM - $88.00 I recommend this one over the other 2500+ Bartons because it's not locked.
Graphics Card:
AOpen nVIDIA GeForce FX5900XT Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "FX5900XT-DV128" - RETAIL - $174.50
The RAM, storage, CD-RW and floppy can stay the same.
Total:
$634.99 (HDD & Win XP Pro OEM included.)
$413.49 (no new HDD or WIN XP Pro)

great setups, for a little exta (+~$120), I might drop the 80G drive and go with 2 36G raptors in raid0. a great speed boost and a pretty good investment (5yr warranty).