$250 for PSU, CPU, mobo

[garrius]

As title, $250 to spend on those 3 components for a budget upgrade. Will be used with an XFX 7900GS 600M and 2GB DDR2800 I've already picked up on the cheap from a colleague. Want to buy new, not 2nd hand. Not looking for anything too future-proof...this is just an intermediate upgrade to last 12 months or so, at which point I plan to upgrade to Vista/DX10 etc. I was thinking probably a low end AMD X2? Computer will be used for games played at 1280x1024 and just browsing, listening to MP3's.

Any opinions welcome!

 

[tcG]

This one is easy...

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane AM2

BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550

XClio 450BL ATX 450W

$256.97

Will overclock to around 2.6GHz (because of cooling constraints).

 

[moosey]

Asus MB $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022
Athlon 64 X2 3600+ $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103036
400W FSP $42
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104953
TOTAL = $242

OR

Asus MB $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022
Athlon 64 3800+ $93
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103631
FSP 450W $54
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
TOTAL = $242

OR
Biostar MB $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138026
Athlon X2 3800+ $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103735
FSP 450W $54
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
TOTAL = $243

edit: added link

 

[tcG]

Moosey's first build doesn't include a heatsink.

If you are going to overclock, I would go with the build I first suggested. If not, the obvious choice is moosey's second build.

 

[moosey]

Originally posted by: tcG
Moosey's first build doesn't include a heatsink.

If you are going to overclock, I would go with the build I first suggested. If not, the obvious choice is moosey's second build.

Yeah that's a good point, I forgot about the OEM and no HSF.

Take any of the builds and do your own combo

 

[engiNURD]

If you plan on upgrading to a Core CPU, you could go with a PentiumD 805 for now, along with a P965 Express board, and one of those PSUs listed above. The Biostar TForce965P is around $105, the Pent.D 805 is around $90, and one of those <$50 PSUs. Then, in a year, a Core2Duo will be much more affordable, and maybe even a quadcore. Though, the Athlon builds above would give you the best performance for your budget.