Good set-up?

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by CovertFirewall

yeah, I have been looking at their cases and they have a bunch! hahaha. well, i'll be researching a little more and I hope I will have a custom PC pretty soon! Thanks for your help!

Good luck man! Be sure to post what exactly you chose, and post some pics of the build when it's all done!

Also, if you need any help putting it together, come back here! We'll help you sort it out!

[fstroupe]

I've had two cheap Liteon drives for five years and they still run fine. That's pretty much all I buy. Get an SATA one, you don't have to use a big, ugly cable.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by fstroupe

I've had two cheap Liteon drives for five years and they still run fine. That's pretty much all I buy. Get an SATA one, you don't have to use a big, ugly cable.

Yep, that one is SATA.

[Stormcrow]

Taking a little of what everyone has said, this is what I'd recommend for a complete build in the range your looking for with light gaming capabilities.

CPU -75.99
Newegg.com - Intel Dual-Core E2140 Allendale 1.6GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA775 Processor - Retail

Motherboard -86.99
Newegg.com - ABIT IB9 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Memory -39.99
Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

HDD -42.99
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

GPU -59.99
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 194L Radeon X1650 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

Optical Drive -35.99
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail

Case -49.99
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

PSU -89.99
Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB, CE, CSA, UL, FCC - Retail

OS -139.99
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM

Total -$631.99

Some of those have rebates and free shipping as well, which may lessen the overall price. I never add in rebates into my figures though. The processor is highly overclockable, a past time many of us here enjoy to get more familiar with our systems. I opted for 2x512 modules instead of 2x1GB simply because XP isn't as memory dependent as Vista and for older games more then enough. 2 sticks also gives you a dual channel boost over a single DIMM and costs slightly less. The X1650 is a decent card, nothing to brag about but supports the newest DX9 shader models and pulls in some ok FPS for it's price. For the case, I picked the same one I'm using now. It's nice looking, roomy, excellent cooling and has a modest asking price. I find it well worth the 50 bucks.

[stinger608]

Damn Stormcrow!!!!

That is a great looking setup, and very complete for the price

That would get him well on the way to a decent system, providing he doesn't need a keyboard, mouse, and monitor! And well within the budget

[gvblake22]

If he's doing video editing, I would suggest more than an 80GB HDD. It isn't too much more for a 120GB or 160GB; heck or even 250GB! You could probably get a less expensive power supply to make up for the slightly higher cost of the larger HDD. Something like the Antec Earth Watts 430W PSU should be fine and comes in at the bargain price of only $60 shipped (plus a $20 mail in rebate, dropping it to only $40). Otherwise, I like Stormcrow's build the best so far!

[Stormcrow]

For the hard drive, I was going to add in something larger but decided it would be more convenient to add in a larger drive later on to easily store and backup larger files or important documents. If the 80GB is too small initially, theres still room in the budget to upgrade to a nice 16mb 160GB. A smaller wattage PSU like the Antec was what I was debating on since he's demands are pretty low, but went with the OCZ for expandability and plenty of connections for future upgrades. That, and I hate having all the SATA plugs on a single strip. Especially when you have SATA dependent HDDs and DVD drives as polar opposites.

[Elysium]

Nice one, Stormcrow!

I forgot the OS in my suggestion...

[gvblake22]

If you are going low-end, you could also consider an AM2 setup as well. Those processors are getting dirt cheap these days, and so are the motherboards.

[CovertFirewall]

so what should I go with... AMD or Intel??