Buying from craigslist , help :)

[PP Mguire]

If the temps are below 75c load then you're good.

Here is a good cheap heatsink.
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+ - Newegg.com

 

[neilsugg]

Alright thank you a lot for the link, deifinately not bad on price.

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea there are cheaper ones than that, but the 212 is tried and true, and can even provide cooling for a decent OC as well if you want to go that far.

 

[neilsugg]

Well dang. I was hoping to spend this 420 and get a steal but I still gotta buy a monitor, keyboard and mouse, possibly heatsink, and than that ssd seems to make such an impact that its clearly worth getting. I'm looking at almost another 3 or 4 hundred in all that. I understand everywhere here probably built theirs over time so you all went through this too. I wish I could do it faster bet really only get like 300 a month after bills. Damn. I'll have to look into buying used ones for sure.

 

[PP Mguire]

SSD and heatsink can come in time. Most everybody here saved up a lump sum then paid for their PC. Mine was over time with help from my tax return.

Just worry about getting the essentials now, then you can start building up as you get some money. If the PC really does have a Phenom 2 965 in it, then that is a very good base to start on. All you need from there is a good GPU and you have a very capable gaming computer. Something like a 660ti would fit real nicely, then you can add an SSD later.

 

[neilsugg]

I'll look up that gpu, I never even saw the depth of the case to know if it'll fit a heatsink that big. I'll be sure to check that too. Thanks for all the help you're giving me.

This idk if you can help me on. Any idea how much power it'll consume? I know it's 650 w but idk how the power for computers works. I'm wondering how it'll effect my electricity bill ha

 

[PP Mguire]

650w is the maximum rated wattage the power supply will deliver to the computer. As it sits it will probably only take up about 250-300w at max load. That means, all 4 cores of the CPU at 100% and the GPU at 100%. Should only raise your electric bill 5 bucks, 10 tops at the end of the month with regular usage. Maybe even less depending on how much you use it.

 

[neilsugg]

Here is those pictures I asked for

 

[PP Mguire]

Ok, that is a Phenom 2 555 unlocked. That explains the small heatsink. It is not a Phenom 2 965BE. That CPU is originally a dual core.

 

[neilsugg]

Ok, that is a Phenom 2 555 unlocked. That explains the small heatsink. It is not a Phenom 2 965BE. That CPU is originally a dual core.

Okay, so pros and cons to it being that one and that one being unlocked as opposed to normal, I am quite the noob.