First time building a computer. Under tight budget

[AverageZak]

This is my first time building a computer. I would like to keep the budget under 700 dollars. but a little over is OK. I want a decent computer that i can have for my games, songs, and photos.

And or, a computer for business.


Any advice is much appreciated.

Average Zak

Games like: World of Warcraft, Doom 3. ext..

[jer888]

700$ is a little tight for gaming. you shouldnt have a problem with those other things though. what kind of games did you want to play?

[Extremerc12]

He could build a computer for around that, but getting anything big will be out of the question. If he went with like an AMD 3500 as opposed to a X2 or Core 2 Duo he could probably put something together.

[AverageZak]

This is what i Currently have as an idea.
----------------------Brand/Model----------------------------------Supplier----------------------Price
CASE:--------ATX Clear Acrylic Case---------------------www.atxcases.com-----------88.00
PSU:-----PowerMax XPOWER 550w Duel Fan-------------Atxcases.com---------------25.00
Case Fan:--ATX blue 80mm LED Fan-------------------------atxcase.com-----------------6.50
Cold Cathode light kit:---Cathode light Blue-----------AtXcases.com--------------------9.00
Mobo:-MSI Socket T (LGA 775) motherboard. 865GM3-V-------Advice please----$67.50
CPU:
HDD:
RAM:
Pri Optical:
Sec optical:
Sound Card:-CREATIVE LABS 128PCI Sound Card----------------Atxcases.com-------$22.50
Video Card:-MSI PCI Express Video Card NX6600-TD128E Lite--------ATXcases.com--$94.50
FDD:
Keybord: In the ATX 3 in 1 Combo.--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mouse:-ATX 3 in 1 Combo Set-------------------------------------ATXCases.com---------$29.99
Modem:--AOPEN FM56SVV PCI Modem-------------------------ATXCases.com----------$20.00
Lan:
Moniter:--SAMSUNG 720N Black 17" 8ms LCD Moniter 300cd/m2 600:1-Newegg.com-$139.00
Speakers:-COMES IN COMBO---------------------------------------------------------------------
Os:
TOTAL:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------$$$501.99
Still stuff missing, Will someone help me fill in the blanks? and sugest some parts that can/will be replaced?

[newbuilder14]

That's a little hard to read.
That power supply is low quality, and I wouldn't get that motherboard.
With that said, I'd propose a new list of parts based on quality parts on a budget.

Processor: Intel Pentium D 915
Motherboard: Asus P5L-MX or something with an Intel chipset from Asus
Memory: Corsair ValueSelect DDR2-667
Hard Drive: Any SATA drive you can afford, Seagate 7200.10s are great
Case: Something you like
Power Supply: Xclio 450w, FSP 450w, or something from Antec
Soundcard: None, onboard audio is quite sufficient
Video Card: NVIDIA 7600GS or 7600GT
Keyboard/Mouse/Monitor: Whatever you like and can afford
Modem: Do you use dial-up? If you don't, you do not need a modem
Fans/Lights: I would leave out for now as you are on a budget
FDD: Floppies are pretty obsolete

You have the right idea.

[AverageZak]

A
ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
is one that i found. for $195
And im lookin at the videocards now.

[flanzig1]

If you don't need the WiFi/RAID controllers/Firewire/etc, could drop down to the basic P5B and save $70.

[newbuilder14]

Good, that is a great board, let us know your new list when you get a chance before you order. Make sure you choose a quality power supply.

[AverageZak]

Sorry i havnt been on in awhile been havin internet problems.. i will update the list today with new supplies ext.

[andper10]

Here is my suggested parts list. By the way, newegg.com is really the best place to get parts from.
$106.00 - Intel Pentium D 915 Presler 2.8GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116253

$75.99 - CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145568

There are 9 clear acrylic cases available on newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SubCategory=7 ). I personally have one (the Logsys Yen Yang), and it is great! Just make sure that you have some zip ties to manage those wires, b/c they will all be visible.
$79.99 - Sunbeam AC9B-T Clear Acrylic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811166033 - I recommend this one because it has like 4 120mm fan slots. If you put in 4 Yate Loons ($12 total w/o shipping - http://www.jab-tech.com/product.php?productid=3009 ), you will have a cool, quiet computer with some good overclocking potential.

$124.99 - ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030 - If you want to save a bit of money, you could get the ASUS P5LD2 R2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131048 ). However, it will limit you to DDR2 667 Ram, and it probably won't support the new Quad Core processors. You could also get an ASUS P5l-MX ($75.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131041 - but it is micro atx and it doesn't allow for much expansion.)

$79.99 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144

$31.99 - LITE-ON Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106043

$169.99 - ASUS EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M Radeon X1950PRO 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121031 - You will probably want to look into Nvidia's cards, but I don't know much about them, so I just recommended this one b/c I have heard it is good.

$37.99 - XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003 - This is kind of a "minimum". If you ever decide to upgrade the video card, you will have to get a new PSU too.

As far as your O.S., I would wait a while until they come out with some service packs for Vista. If you get XP Home, you can get a discount on vista, although I think it might expire pretty fast.
$89.99 - Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169

$16.99 - Microsoft CA9-00001 Black 103 Normal Keys 3 Function Keys PS/2 Standard Basic Keyboard and Mouse Mouse Included - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823109132

There is no way that you can get a LCD monitor and a gamer for under $700. I would just drop by goodwill or check your local craiglist and grab a CRT to hold you over until you have some more money for a LCD. I got a nice 19" CRT from Craiglist for only $20!

The total for all that comes to $825.91 before shipping and before a monitor. If you get a cheaper video card, you can probably drop that price by about $50, but I am not sure how well a cheaper card would play your games. Bottom line: you can't get a good gamer for less than about $750 (and that is before monitor, keyboard, and speakers).

[glc]

You can drop the video card down to a 7600GT and still have a decent machine. That MIGHT let you get a Core 2 Duo E6300.

[newbuilder14]

I would drop to the 7600GT as well, particularly with the Xclio 450BL power supply.