Please help me build my computer

[wallybear]

I've been out of the loop for several years now and don't really know much about the latest things. I'd like to make a small desktop computer, like one of those shuttle XPCs, but there are so many of them that I don't know what to buy.

I'll be carrying over my hard drive, monitor, keyboard/mouse, and DVD-burner to the new computer. I'll need a case, CPU, motherboard, RAM, and video card. I have about $400-$500 to spend. I'll be using this computer mostly to browse and surf the internet, although I'd like to play some simple games on it, like Madden or GTA.

Any recommendations? Thank you in advance.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

You mean something like the QPack2 or Microfly (cube-shaped cases)?
Heat might be an issue in a case like this.

Alright then,

AMD Athlon x2 4850e $57

Silverstone Sugo2 cube case $80 + shipping

Corsair 400w power supply $31 AR with promo code

Apollo HD 4670 $70 + shippinig

Corsair 2x2GB DDR2-800 $25 AR

ASRock 780g micro-atx motherboard (claims AM3 support) $70 + shipping

 

[MegaVovaN]

GTA 4 is not a simple game, you need an all-out gaming rig to play it. GTA SA and earlier is another story...

 

[Denithor]

If you're refering to Madden 2009 and GTA 4 I have two suggestions.

1) BlueAcolyte's build, minus the 4670 completely (run just onboard graphics) - $300
2) XBOX 360 - $200

Seriously...

If you want to play the latest games, do your basic tasks on the computer & use a console for gaming. To build a gaming rig is going to cost closer to $1000 (especially because GTA 4 doesn't run well except on quad-core processors).