Building a new desktop, first time.

[vVv Method]

Hey, I am building a new desktop for gaming purposes. I plan to use this computer for no more than two or three years before upgrading to a much better PC. My reason for this is because I am earning my Degree in Psychology and I plan to have received my BS and masters with in the next two to three years. I have been a gamer my entire life and I currently work for a gaming community (vVv Gaming.) I plan to play an MMORPG (WoW, Aion, or Warhammer), Heroes of Newerth, and Steam/Valve games.

Now that you have my life story, here is a computer that is an example of what I am looking for, Newegg.com - iBUYPOWER Gamer Power 513 Athlon II X2 250(3.0GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Free MS Windows 7 upgrade - Desktop PCs. I'd like to keep it UNDER $530, and if possible MUCH under that price. My only concern is the free Windows 7 upgrade that is offered by Best Buy and Newegg, and I do not own a current version of Vista, just the pre-installed version on this laptop. I am only building a tower including a case, and I might need a monitor (I expect it to be over 530 if i choose to get a new monitor). I have a keyboard/mouse and speakers.

I appreciate your time and help, thank you.

 

[Guttzu]

Welcome to the forums Method I know someone will be on and help you with a list! You'll be looking at an AMD build...

I can recommend this HDD: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Best of luck to you man (Heff or Slaymate woot!)

 

[JorgeHGPR]

I don't know, if you want a computer for the next two or three years you want something like this. It's cheap and good.

Newegg.com - SIGMA VENOM Venom-WB Black 0.7mm STEEL SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPI - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - CD / DVD Burners

Well that's it...

 

[Muffin Man]

^ youd still need to include vista, which is another $110 >.<

this is $523, but if youre looking to include a monitor too it will be around $600 even if you cut back on things like the gpu, and ram.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - Operating Systems
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

 

[Guttzu]

+1 to muffin for posting combo deals... I forgot to mention look for combos when you are ordering Method... between that and Mail in Rebates you can save a good amount of money!

He could get Windows 7 and that would save the $110 for Vista

 

[Hefemeister]

Sorry, the Windows 7 RC is no longer available for download. If you've got the download and need a product key, they'll be available until October 21, 2009.

Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) Download Is No Longer Available

Free Win7 RC is done unfortunately. At least now you can buy vista with a free win7 upgrade.

 

[Guttzu]

Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) Download Is No Longer Available

Free Win7 RC is done unfortunately. At least now you can buy vista with a free win7 upgrade.

Well that sucks

 

[Fat.Clown]

only thing I don't like on Muffin's build is that he skimped out on the PSU. but budget limitations are tough

 

[Muffin Man]

well, rosewills are no corsairs or pc p&ps, but they are still good. but its not as cheap as the one that would have come with that prebuilt, which i think is a sunbeam.

 

[aaronkupen]

Instead of an hd 4850 you could always go with an hd 4670 to save yourself some money, with that downgrade you could also easily downgrade to a 400 watt power supply; for what it seems like your intentions are, I think this would be a suitable solution.