First build please help with part list

[witmen]

I went to newegg to try to build a computer with descent gameing ability and room to upgrade later. My budget was $500.00. When I had everything in the cart I was up to 1100 without a monitor. So I'm wondering whats the best possible gamer I can make for 500. is a 512 mb video card at all possible? After blowing my budget badly the first time I wont be adding the monitor to the budget. Thanks for the help.

[Alaron]

Gaming on a tight budget really is not possible. What is possible is building a good basic machine with lots of room for future upgrades. We recommend building a machine with onboard video, so its fully functional and then adding your gaming-worthy video card later.

Antec Sonata III (case and 500w power supply) $130
Asus P5KPL-VM Motherboard $75
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 $125
2GB DDR2-800 Corsair RAM $50
Seagate 250GB Hard Drive $70
LiteOn DVD Burner $40

That comes out to $490. Then save up another hundred or two and stick in a Geforce 9600GT and you'll be gaming in no time.

[witmen]

Thanks alot. looks good my only question is would that on board video play most new games? I'm sure it wont be great but will it atleast run half life? I'm so clueless about on board video cards. thanks again.

[Alaron]

The onboard graphics will not play new games, only older ones. You can read up on its performance here: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3111&p=18

But at least setting up the computer that way will allow you to use it fully. Then in a month or so when you're ready, all you need is a mid-range graphics card to game.

Otherwise it would be best to wait until you have a bit larger budget.