$500 spend to spend on a gaming PC, what are your recommendations?

I have a budget of $500 to spend to make a new gaming PC. I need your recommendations as to what motherboard, ram, harddrive, video card, case, and cpu? I really like the Athlon 64 with the Nforce4 combo. Your recommendations are appreciated.

What games are you thinking about playing?

well, your cpu, video card and ram will be the deciding factors on how well your games play. problem is, those three alone will cost $500 at least, so you might be pushing it there. I think youll be able to put something much better together is you save another $200-$300, but maybe someone here will figure out something for you, it seems to be a fun game here. try riggin something up on newegg, you can put everything in your cart then just cancel when you have an esitmate

The PC is for my nephew who loves to play Halo. Here is what I have pieced together from Newegg.com:

MGE CAG-M1-BK Black/Silver SGCC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: CAG-M1-BK

In Stock
Remove Add item to Cart
$50.99 $50.99

Update MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: K8N Neo4-F

**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.
In Stock
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$86.00 $86.00

Update GIGABYTE GV-RX70P128D Radeon X700PRO 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: GV-RX70P128D

In Stock
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$109.00 $109.00

Update AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3000BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3000BPBOX

**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.
In Stock
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$146.00 $146.00

Update crucial 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model CT6464Z40B.8T - OEM
Model #: CT6464Z40B.8T

In Stock
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$40.68 $40.68

Update HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 -0A30356 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA II Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: HDS728080PLA380

In Stock
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$53.75 $53.75

Update Rosewill White IDE Combo Drive Model RB-321 - Retail
Model #: RB-321


This puts me at ~ 550 shipped.

HALO benchmark X700PRO is doing OK, its faster then 6600, but quite a bit slower then 6600GT, which is in turn more expensive

this is what I would change:

Case Antec SLK 2650 with Antec 350W PSU (12V .. 21A) $69
Antec 350W PSU will be much better then your typical 400W "no name" stuff

Definitely get LG drive and not something like Rosewill:
GSA-4163BB $47.99

Id stay awaay from Hitach and would choose Seagate for reliability, but WD is nice too:
WD 80GB 8MB cache SATA $54.00

I would recommend 1 GB of ram for a gaming machine. :D

Thanks Falcon, I will go with your recommendations. My nephew gave me 500 bucks but I am having to spend another 100 bucks to put it together for him and install all the software. What a deal he is getting. My nephew can add more RAM when he has the dough. :D

Just remembered, Antec site doesnt say if PSU is equiped with 24-pin ATX connector or not, so its possible you will need a 20pin to 24 pin ATX adapter (now there is also a way to connect it directly:click, but its better to use the adapter).

Its also a good idea to connect the 4 pin power plug into the 4 pin power connector on the mobo, even if manual says its not necessary.

Falcon, would you please explain or direct me to the right place to read about the difference between the 20 pin and 24 pin ATX power connector. I am reading the MSI manual I downloaded and they say I can plug the 20 pin into the 24 pin but what about the last 4 unused pin? What are they for? Lastly, if you are refering to the 4 pin connector when 1st released were for the P4 boards but the AMD board eventually adapted this extra power connector -- I always plug it in just for extra juice should the board need it. Man I fall a sleep for a few months on computer stuff and all this new stuff creeps up on me. Thanks for your knowledgeable input.

I just found out, the Antec is a 20 pin connector and my MB is a 24 pin :(

No problemo, just get the 20 pin to 24 pin ATX adapter, shouldnt be more then $5.

Now if you choose to use 20 pin as the above linked to picture suggests, supposedly its fine as well and yes in that case leave the rest of the 4 pins on the ATX24 connector open. I would go for the adapter though, local Radio Shack should have one.

In any case plug in the 4 pin power connector (P4 stuff you mnetioned) into its 4 pin plug on the motherboard.

BTW this 20 pin to 24 pin problem was going to haunt you anyway since quality PSUs with 24 pin ATX plug usually start at $65 and of course thats without the case. And its always better to get quality stuff from Antec with 20 pin plug, then some no-name PSU with 24 pin plug.

Xbox 360
PS3

Just ordered from Newegg ~ 580 shipped. Thanks guys.

good job man, now dont forget about all of the free service calls when the game crashes to desktop, controllers dont work, cant find game icons ...:D

All is well, the PC works fine with the games I play. Thanks.