i have 500 to spend on tower

[xtagenesis]

I am looking to see what I should build for 500 dollars. This is for the tower and contents of it only. I do not need monitor, etc. I have always built my computers, but have been out of the loop for a little while. This computer is for general use. Digital photos, word processing, etc, and some light gaming. I have another system i game on that has nice geforce 6800 OC in it.. i don't need that type of card. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm most concerned that it'll be fast enough for general stuff.

I prefer AMD, figure i need 512 Megs Ram, 40GB HD minimum

 

[AwesomeJay]

play around with this.. it will get you started
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...y=y&keyword1=guide


Budget System B - $1000

Processor
AMD Athlon 64 2800+ 1.8GHz "Newcastle" Processor Retail - $127

Motherboard
Chaintech VNF3-250 NForce3 250 Motherboard Retail - $73

Memory
Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC3200 Retail - $74

Hard Drive
Samsung 160GB 7200RPM Hard Drive - $91.69

Optical Drive
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive Black - $68

Video Card
Rosewill Radeon 9600 128MB DDR 128-bit DVI/TV-Out Retail - $78.99

Floppy Drive
NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive - $9.99

Sound Card
Chaintech 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card - $26.99

Speakers
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speaker System Black - $65.99

Case/Power Supply
Antec Solution Series Quiet Mid Tower Case w/ 350W Power Supply Black SLK2650-BQE - $75.99

Monitor
ViewSonic G90FB 19" PerfectFlat CRT Monitor - $218

Total: $909.91 Shipped ($691.91 w/o Monitor) + Tax