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[Magnnus]

Hello my girlfriend is looking to get a new computer, but is on quite the budget. First we were looking for laptops and came across a great 1000 dollar laptop, but unfortunately its out of the budget at the moment.

link: http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-f50sfa1-p-2606.html?wconfigure=yes

So instead we are looking for a pc the can match or get close to those specs. It should be able to play modern games, but they don't have to look great. A good processor is more important than pretty graphics, but once again it should be able to at least play modern games reasonably.

500 dollars isn't a strict budget, its just what I was hoping for.

Thank you, and let the search begin.

[Sensei]

I strongly advise you to do as much of the assembly yourself as you feel comfortable with- get one of those kits that just comes with a case, motherboard and processor, ideally.

[sneakey pete]

Get someone to put up a parts list (so that everythign is compatable) and suggest a store to get it from (i won't do this, as i'm not from the US and i have NFI about what's cheapest). Buy the parts, assemble it. There's manuals and directions that come with evey component these days, anyone could assemble a PC, its like IKEA furniture.

[redacted123]

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[sneakey pete]

$500? I wouldn't even consider £500 to be enough for a computer capable of playing modern games, I think you're going to have to raise the budget or make do with older games.

Well, it of course depends if you can re-use your keyboard mouse, monitor, and operating system. but for the box, 500AUD is enough. let along pounds or USD.

for just a box (shamefully ripped off of another forum i go on)

$500 Light PC for Normal Internet Usage.

    * CPU: AMD Athlon X2 5050e ~$99
      2.6Ghz, 512KB L2 Cache, 65nm, 45W, Socket AM2+
    * Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H mATX Motherboard ~$115
      4xDDR2 Ram slots, AM2+ motherboard with integrated graphics
    * RAM: Kingston 4GB 667MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 ~$65
      4GB of tasty RAM. Have as many pages open as you want!
    * HDD: Samsung 500GB 7200rpm SATA II HD502IJ ~$79
      Even has room for music and pictures.
    * DVD: Pioneer DVR-218L DVDRW OEM ~$65
      22x Burn Speed, Blazing fast.
    * Case: CoolerMaster Elite 341 with 420W ~$75
      Excellent quality case with 420W of goodness
    * Total: Approx. $498

[sneakey pete]

$500? I wouldn't even consider £500 to be enough for a computer capable of playing modern games, I think you're going to have to raise the budget or make do with older games.

Well, it of course depends if you can re-use your keyboard mouse, monitor, and operating system. but for the box, 500AUD is enough. let along pounds or USD.

Don't get the wrong idea though, its not going to be a beast.

[Puck]

If you can reuse periphals and software, 500 is plenty.

PSU should be around 60 to 80 (and yeah, that will be a quality PSU), good cases are available around 30 (all you need is friggin SPACE to work with, so you can create a decent airflow. IMHO my 30 buck case even looks a whole lot better than most of the expensive cases), add in an extra 5 bucks for 2 smartly placed fans. Maybe 50 to 100 for a mobo, 100 tops for the CPU and another 100 tops for a _last_ gen GPU, which will be more than enough for recent games. 3 gig of decent RAM can be bought way under 30. You can then go on a spending spree with the money left to get you a HD and a DVD drive. (why you would spend more than 20 for a DVD burner is beyond me, however)

Then OC the fucker a few hundred mHz, and you got a powerhouse. I pity the foo' dishing our for a "gamer pc".

I'm dead serious. If you have software and periphals, you CAN get a beast for 500. And if it aint beast enough, upgrade the GPU later, sell the one you get now.

edit: a lot of people would gladly pay double for 10% (if even) increase in performance. Guesstimating I'd say once you cross the 700 buck mark (again, not counting periphals or software) you get exponentially less bang for your buck. Or however you say that in english.

Seriously. Those guys forking out for aftermarket cooling, for instance... That is mostly useless. Unless you bought the best CPU available for money and you still want to OC it. But stuff like this should always be viewed as "proof of concept exercises". Hardly makes any sense for home use. Especially since you buy stuff that will be available for half the money in half a year.

So just aim for the stuff that gives a good bang/buck ratio, OC a bit, cool it with smart design and a 5 buck investement in extra fans, which you place smartly. I think that's a sound advice.

[Magnnus]

Ya, I don't need a beast, just want it to play modern games, and I'm perfectly comfortable building my own computer from scratch.

Mostly I'm looking for advise on whats the best bang for my buck. Actual names of components would be appreciated.

[Puck]

Sheesh, that changes so fast, I can't give you actual components right now. Maybe if I got some time tomorrow I could have a talk with the guy in ye shoppe I trust to give reasonable answers to my questions.

But something that is kinda indepent and universally true:
The mobo might be the backbone of the system, but hardware evolves quickly and sometimes has great fluctuations in price. I see the case more backboney, you can carry that over in between major system rebuilds. Unless you keep the old box as backup system.

Anyway. Get something decently purdy, I like to pick black, and try not to get too small. Especially girlfriends (sorry for sexism here) seem to think about the room and the fengshui more than the airflow inside the case, and so they want a small case they can fit in neatly between some drawers. Teh Horror. So, prefer to go big, it keeps the cost down with the other components and also helps with cleaning, which in turn, improves stability (Heat is bad, remember ) As I said, I got my case for 30, and it's pretty dang perfect. In the front there are several slots for drives, and the lower half of them sort of works as a dust filter. Special inlays you can clean and stuff. Behind those I put a 5 buck fan, same diameter as the whole front, that sucks in the air and blows it through the whole case. The fan got blue leds, same as the case, all a coincidence, but it makes the thing look sort of pimpy, which is funny, considering the price.

I tucked the cables away neatly, so they dont get heated up and they dont block the airflow. The psu sucks the warmish air through and out on the back. I know that isnt exactly ideal, but another 2-3 buck fan below the psu, pointing out of the back (so the airflow really gets sucked through the whole case) would change that. In my case it aint necessary, because there is enough room and it just works out.

So if you're looking at 1 vidcard, 1 HD and 1 DVD thingy and maybe 1 extra card for whatever, you have good chances building the thing in a way it's easy to keep cool. Because you then can OC the thing cheaply. And with a lot of CPUs that isnt a biggie at all. It's like they are built to run faster, they just really really run in the safety zone. for people that live in the 3rd circle of hell, you know, like for tax collector or banker PCs.

If you cram the box full of stuff, you might need to spend more on the case, because it will be harder to cool, but I dont expect that, considering your first post.

[IHateOutside]

Here's one that I've planned to buy myself. It comes in at US$328.05 plus post and packaging off www.ebuyer.com

• Foxconn G31MV G31 Socket 775 VGA 6 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard
• XFX 9400GT 1GB DDR2 VGA DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
• Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz Socket 775 800FSB 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
• Casecom MA-1199 Shiny Silver with Black Front MATX Tower Case - No PSU
• CIT 500W MATX PSU - 20+4pin 1x SATA 4x Molex
• LiteOn 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer & Ram IDE Black Bare Drive - OEM
• Maxtor 320GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM

[Twiggie]

i built my computer for £600 + a GPU, but you should be able to cut a lot off that and still get reasonable performance on modern games.
imho, go for an intel board, with a dual-core processor - make sure its socket 775 so you can upgrade it to an i7 when they get cheaper. Also, make sure you know you've got a heatsink for it - I had to wait extra because mine didnt come with one. Alternatively, you could reuse your current heatsink, though you might need to buy a tube of thermal paste to use.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on a case - £30 got me a good one, while i got 4GB RAM for about the same - you shouldnt need that much. also, double check the case to make sure it doesnt come with a PSU - you're better off buying your own.

Make sure you go with good brands - coolermaster, corsair, OCZ etc. The PSU needs to be reliable, but i think you should be able to get one for the equivalent of £40. I went with arctic power, they're cheaper than the more popular brands but work just as well.

You should be able to reuse a lot of hardware from any old computers you have - DVD drives and HDDs should be ok. do check your motherboard for HDD stuff though, especially if you want to use RAID - not all of them come with it.

I cant comment on any AMD stuff though, sorry

ninja'd.

oh. and my motherboard came with a fan control - thats really useful if you dont want your fans pounding out noise while you arent doing anything

ninja'd again.

[KaelGotDwarves]

If you live in the US, got $500, and access to a credit card, you can build an AMAZING computer for $500 as long as you have the basics already.

Having Frys or Microcenter close by helps too. let me see...

I can run up a build on newegg if you ask/need me to.

Heck, adding to my old computer, I spent less than $460 on my i7 gear.

[Magnnus]

We will need a case as her current computer is a laptop, but OS we can take care of. Also I might be able to scrounge up a DVD + RW but that's iffy.

If you live in the US, got $500, and access to a credit card, you can build an AMAZING computer for $500 as long as you have the basics already.

Having Frys or Microcenter close by helps too. let me see...

I can run up a build on newegg if you ask/need me to.

Heck, adding to my old computer, I spent less than $460 on my i7 gear.

We don't have a Frys or Microcenter nearby, but we live in the US and can order online.

If you could run up a build on newegg or wherever that would be much appreciated as I've never built my own computer and don't have enough knowledge to feel comfortable picking out the components alone.

[KaelGotDwarves]

Well having an old OS or acquiring one helps, that saves $100+.

Do you have access to a monitor at all, including an old one?

I'm putting a build together and I'll post it later.

[Sensei]

www.newegg.com

This is where I get my parts.