I know this topic covers an entire computer config, but i wasn't sure where to put it...

You doubted, You didn't think it was possible, BUT IT IS!
After much research and headaches from staring at the screen, I have created the recipe for a great rig UNDER 500$ to play DX10 games...

(Note this is the rig, not the monitor or software...)

CPU/ Mobo Combo: XFX Nvidia nForce 680i
Intel Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz - (159.99 for Combo)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...rchTools/item- details.asp?EdpNo=3422351&CatId=2235

Hard Drive: Maxtor 6L200M0 200GB SATA - 50.99

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...00M0-R&cat=HDD

Memory: OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB - 49.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...rchtools/item- Details.asp?EdpNo=3079597&sku=O261-7054

Video Card: XFX GeForce 8600 GT / 256MB DDR3 – 99.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...rchTools/item- details.asp?EdpNo=3048551&CatId=1560

Optical Drive: Black Lite-On CD-RW 16X DVD Combo Drive - 22.99

http://www.directron.com/dh52c2p04.html

Case w/ PSU: Black Tricod 8068 ATX Mid Tower w/ 450W PSU -38.00

http://www.directron.com/tricod8068case.html


Other Thoughts: CPU Could be Uprgraded, Rather Cheap Optical Drive, Integrated Sound - Still, Could Work Great with Later Upgrading but great to start with

Post Comments!

See if you can substitute the Intel 945 (3.4 GHZ). They are not much more. I think you've done a good job putting together an inexpensive, yet competitive gaming rig. That's a good price just for the board, not to mention a CPU to boot. I notice that you use Tiger instead of the egg. I'm glad to see that.

That proc. is terrible I would much rather go for either of one of the three choices:

E4600 - 149.99

E4500 - 124.99

or

X2 5600+ - 139.99

w/ either the intel board
NVIDIA nForce e-7050/610i - 69.99

or amd board

Nforce 520 - 59.99

ATI - 59.99

also if you get the 5600 theirs a combo deal with it to get both the proc. and 4gb of Ram for 239, weither or not the ram is of good quality I don't know I didn't check (I hate dial-up).

And I would get this dvd burner:
Samsung Black 20x burner - 27.99
or with one comes with software and lightscribe (the above has a customer award though... but the bottom is really quite I guess so many choices)
asus

This is my recommended build and the best for your budget I believe.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Processor - Retail - $61.99
MSI K9VGM-V AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $51.32
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - $49.99
SAPPHIRE 100216L Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail - $184.84
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $64.99
Sony NEC Optiarc 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 IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM - $26.99
COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 Black Aluminum bezel, SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $29.99 after $20 rebate
COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 500W Power Supply 110 - 115V/220 - 230V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSMI, FCC, CCC - Retail - $39.99

Grand Total = $510.10 including shipping and rebates. Slightly over your budget but it's a superb PC that will be able to rip through most games with relative ease at high detail settings. All parts are of excellent quality and will work together well. Good luck and I hope I helped.

are you sure you want to go with a MICRO atx board? not a full ATX? it might provide better room and a better gaming performance level. also more customization ability in terms of messing with the BIOS and overclocking stuff.

the only problem is, it's hard to find a decent quality AMD full ATX board, and it also gets almost twice as expensive. so it'll upset the delicate budget.

i'm just saying...micro atx isn't very conducive to gaming.

here's what i did to save money:

i realized that right now, i have 2 fully operational, working hard drives. why not reuse them and save up for one later? it'll save a good 65 dollars that you can put towards getting a full ATX board. or a better processor. or both if you balance it right.

i am also going to reuse my dvd drive. it's a good drive, good read speed, and despite being IDE/PATA, my board that i'm looking at will house it ok. so, i'm saving another 30 dollars there. again, you can save up to buy one later if you want.

the same money can go toward a better processor or board, or even a better graphics card if you want. where all the money goes is up to you. i'm just showing you ways of freeing up some leg room.

i'm getting a very nice intel rig based around an E6750 for about 550 dollars. i have a slightly higher budget, but you can see that i was able to shift the money around and save by cutting back on those parts to afford a better quality system.

you don't have to. if you'd rather buy all the parts now, that's fine too. if you want to cut some corners to free up some cash and still be ok in terms of quality, then you could take some of my suggestions.

just have to change the hdd to WD or Seagate instead of Maxtor

It's good to see someone else who shops on geeks.com. Everywhere I read, Newegg.com is the hot thing. Even in the Computer Shopper magazines, they're website of choice is indeed NewEgg...

Seagate is the brand of choice since WD upsets the budget a bit and Maxtor drives aren't as reliable as Seagate or WD ones.
As for the website, I cross-referenced the items on ClubIT, ZipZoomFly and m-Wave as I always do and found Newegg's prices to be the best. But that will differ depending on the parts you're looking at. It's just that for these parts, Newegg had the best prices available.