Bang for the buck system?

[HRslammR]

Used to be a huge geek, but then graduated, got a big boy job, got a girlfriend, fell out of the geek world loop. But now my buddies are starting to upgrade and my inner geek is growing again, so I'm wanting a new build but in the best bang for the buck category.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming/Internet. That's it. FPSers mainly, Starcraft 2 (when it comes out), WoW.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

sub-$500. give or take.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?

CPU, Mobo, RAM, SSD, PSU, Video Card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? .

Case, Sound card, cpu cooling, HDD(s)

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

I've thought about getting a bigger monitor, but my handy 1680x1050 monitor has suited me fine so far.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within 2 months

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

no comment.

Current system is in sig. I know that a video card has more impact on the actual playing/image quality on a game, so i'd prefer a quality card. Also that loading times are more determined by HD access spead, so a SSD would be more preferred as well.

Bang for the buck!

 

[Shadowssong]

For one, sub $500 won't get you a cpu/mobo/ram/psu/video card AND ssd.

And can you elaborate on why you said no comment for OS?

2 months is a long time to consider buying something. I would wait until the last possible moment to buy your parts so you can get the best "bang for the buck" that you can get.

 

[lt_shiro]

What you are asking for is not possible with the current budget. If another $250 was possible then yes it would be doable.

 

[horrorshow]

If your motherboard supports it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471&cm_re=940-_-19-103-471-_-Product

If you have AT LEAST a 500W PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150494&cm_re=5850-_-14-150-494-_-Product

Just pop that stuff in your current rig and your set for a long time.

Upgrading anything else would end up bottlenecking something.

(And if you wanted to build a completely new rig for $500, we'd end up recommending a AMD/4gig/4850 build anyways to keep you within budget.)

 

[Wumpus]

It looks like you will be bottlenecked by the monitor before even upgrading the video card (if you upgrade the CPU first and can't always run 60fps, it's worth a shot). Note that if you can find a reasonably priced 4850, it shouldn't be held back too much by a x4 PCI slot in crossfire mode (compare to dual 5850 in x8 slots). This should be considerably less expensive than the 5850, and will be equally bottlenecked by the monitor resolution.

No idea if the CPU linked above will work on that motherboard, but any upgrade will require checking the power supply.