helping someone with a $700 budget

[UltimaInferno]

this is what they selected rate and say what you think.

Case
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

MB
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Video Card
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

PSU
Newegg.com - Antec earthwatts EA430 ATX12V v2.0 430W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Power Supplies

CPU
Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E2220 Allendale 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

RAM
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

HD
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Optical Drive
Newegg.com - Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 10X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

cooling compound
Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

cooler
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

 

[aaron09658]

could choose a cheaper motherboard and go with a low end intel core duo processor instead of pentium. Its better getting a high mhz ram for intel processors, get 1066 or more. get sata disk drives its less problems than IDE. Could save 150 bucks by using other brands but wut you have listed isn't bad. good setup!

 

[NightSurge]

Also, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro comes with it's own pad of MX-2 thermal compound, so you won't be needing that extra Tuniq stuff. I believe it was Vernong that pointed out that fact to me and I have since verified it.

 

[gurusan]

looks like a decent build to me

 

[maroon1]

Also, have a look at this
Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-96TES2P-FSP GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

You can get 9600GT for $119.99 after MIR. Similar performance for much cheaper price

 

[gurusan]

if you decide to stay with the 3870, this card is the same price but comes with a much better cooler

Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H387QS512NP Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported IceQ3 Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

 

[jasonalwaysready]

Also, have a look at this
Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-96TES2P-FSP GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

You can get 9600GT for $119.99 after MIR. Similar performance for much cheaper price

a 9600 gt is better even if you stuck a gig (not surprisingly) of memory on it

Diamond's Radeon HD 3870 1GB video card - The Tech Report - Page 10