$250-$300 Build

[NASA22]

Thanks for all of the great information guys! I love both builds presented to me and combined them to make one of my own with a price point between the two. Let me know what you think.

Motherboard- Newegg.com - ASUS M4A88TD-M/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
I like this Asus one since it has a 6 mb/s SATA port and USB 3.0 to allow for future upgrades (maybe an ssd).

CPU- Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDX840WFGMBOX
I decided to go for the original quad core that I found. It isn't too expensive and will also allow for some "future proofing".

HDD- Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
500GB is more than sufficient for my current uses right now (I'm only using 200GB on my laptop currently).

PSU- Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
This is the one patonb recommended. The price is right and 80 plus certification is a nice thing to have.

RAM- Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT
I decided to go for the cheaper RAM since I don't believe the heat spreader is necessary for me (although it does look cool

Optical Drive- Newegg.com - LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - CD / DVD Burners
It works and gets the job done. I don't need blu-ray currently.

Case- Newegg.com - Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
Seems to be a good quality case with sufficient ventilation. Plus I think that the blue LED is cool

OS- Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems
Going with good ole Bill and Windows.

The total comes to $470. It's over my budget by a bit but I feel like I will be getting a quality computer that will last me for at least a couple of years. Maybe I can find some of the stuff in Shell Shocker Deals to save a little cash. So what do you guys think? Any recommendations or things that you would change/modify?

Thanks especially to jasonalwaysready and patonb! You guys put together some great builds and I really appreciate your help.

 

[patonb]

Yha te Asus boards a nicer board, its a good upgrade. As a heads up, the psu, being green, doesn't come with a wall cable, but most iof use have them from old builds.

 

[NASA22]

Oh shoot. Didn't see that. As this is my first build I don't have an extra cable. I think I'll go with the psu that you put in your build. This one:
Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP430 430W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

What do you think?

 

[patonb]

the green would be my choice, its a better psu, its an 80 bronze, the basiq is just 80%.

A cable is 4 bucks, or steal one from your old power supply... But as I said both are good, the green is much better with 2 more cables, and better efficiency.