what is a new good computer for gamming
i am willing to spend around $400-$500

would it be a good idea to buy a stock comp. for around 200 with a good processor, hard drive, memory

and just buy like a nvidia geforce 8600 for

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due.......

Rage_3K_Moiz just showed me this Mobo;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128079

It looks like a potent little sucker with onboard SATA RAID, Intel 3000 onboard graphics plus a PCIEx16 slot, and support for all current Intel processors.
It only has 2 memory slots but it supports 4GB. The 2GB DIMMs this would require might be almost affordable with current prices. Anyway you only need 2GBs to get off if you install XP.

Some people claim that the Intel 3000 GPU is actually capable of some gaming, but this is hearsay, not personal experience.

and then uprgrade parts on that whenever i feel like it

Ahem........

Did you want to spend $500.00 or $2000.00? I have certain moods where I'm willing to debate pro and con ad infinitum, jump through hoops as it were, regrettably I'm not in one at the moment.

somewhere from $200-$500

$200.00 is not Happening.....Period....

Anything you buy for $200.00 to $300.00 in a pre-built machine is likely not upgradeable to where you might want to be 6 months from now. At least not if you're a gamer.

The board I showed you is a goody... here I'll Link it again.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128079

Go take a look at the specs, it's only $60.00 and it will take all the best new CPUs plus it's loaded with features. I may order 1 tomorrow, really. I have a new pentium dual core E2200 which is faster than the E4300 for only $100.00 and no mobo for it. Please note that I don't think speed is the only consideration, but Intel's CPUs just keep getting better and cheaper by the month!

SNGX1275 gave you a lot of good ideas for a reasonablly priced build. It's not going to be $200.00 by any means but it won't break the bank.

is the HP Pavilion a6200n Minitower a good comp. for gaminf if i put a XFX - NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT Graphics Card in.

Hmmmmm......

It's not that we're lazy,...,(well,maybe a little), but why don't you link the product page for us to peruse. (copy entire URL and paste it into your post). Make sure "automatically parse links in text" is checked. It's that-a-way..., -V- under "additional options.

Hey with your budget you can have a look at these two choices:
Lenovo ThinkCentre A61 2.0GHz 1GB 80GB Desktop $439
Dell Vostro 200 Dual-Core 1.60GHz 1GB 250GB 20 inch Desktop for $469
You can upgrade some of the parts, some of their specs are not good enough for gaming.

before slapping a 8600 in it, make sure you have a pci-e slot, some motherboards on the low end still come with agp slots i think, just be carefull about that.

edit:

here are 2 barebones from tigerdirect.com, take one of these and beef it up some with your remaining cash.
each of these cost about $250, this leaves you with 250 to get your vid card, cpu fan, and what ever else you need.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3523726&CatId=31

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3401765&CatId=31

just dont expect to do any extreme gaming on them.