So I just received a random check for $400 from my college and I thought I would use it to upgrade my current rig. I'm salvaging my RAM (Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ) and my video card (EVGA 9500 GT 1GB). The rest is pretty much very old. I came up with the following: Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80570E8400 Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Newegg.com - Rosewill 8X DVD+R 4X (HS:8X) DVD+RW 6X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM 2MB Cache USB 2.0 External Slim 8X DVD Burner Model ROD-EX001 Newegg.com - Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant Dual 80mm Fans Full Cable Sleevings Power Supply Also thought I might slap in a thermal paste for 10 bucks Newegg.com - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease I'm going off the recommendations from Newegg, but I want to make sure these will all work together as I am fairly new at this. The main purpose of this computer would be some light-medium gaming (starcraft II, counter-strike source, etc.) Not looking to run anything on extra-super-ultra settings, just a modest medium-high. Total for this comes up to $436.40. If there are any better parts that would be worth the extra cash, that's not a problem. I'd say my budget would go as far as $500. Appreciate any help in advance. Thanks **Edit- updated the amount, didn't include the power supply
All of this seems to go together well, but I am not sure about the medium-high gaming capabilities. It might get you medium all the way through, but high... I don't know. At the same time - if you change any of the components to something better, it would automatically require you to change all the other parts, too (to match up and to avoid bottlenecking). Like, you get a i5 CPU, you'll have to change the mobo and probably scrap the DDR2 RAM. This is the best thing for that budget, anyway. I guess that the 3.0ghz CPU will hold up good enough. One thing I'd like to add as well is that you might want to consider a AMD machine (they are cheaper - not as many feats, but some more crude power). On a side note: nice random check you got there is that some kind of accumulated stipendiary or something?
