Possible new budget build

[revefel]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (currently mostly City of Heroes, but will probably play some other newer games soon), browsing, watching videos
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Would like to stay around $400 not including the OS, but can throw in another $100 if it will make a big difference
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, Lancaster, PA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, motherboard, video card, hard drive
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Case, old Antec Super LANboy, meh it works
Corsair HX520 PSU
Mouse, KB, speakers
Monitors
1 TB drive for storage
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not initially, possibly in the future
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
primary is 20", 1680 x 1050
secondary is 18", 1366 x 768
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in the next month or so
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
None of these are very important to me
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No, but I may be able to get my hands on windows 7 through a student deal. If not, I can add $100 to the budget for a copy


Here's my current system:
Athlon X2 5000+ BE
4 gigs DDR2
Biostar motherboard (I don't remember the model but i believe it's a 770 chipset)
8800GT
Audigy 2ZS
1 TB drive
DVD-R of some sort
Case and PSU mentioned above

Obviously I'm not looking for top of the line with my budget, but my system is getting a little long in the tooth. I haven't done much PC gaming in the last couple years(been playing on my 360), but I recently got back into City of Heroes and I'd like to be able to turn the eye candy up a bit more than I can currently. I'm also game for reusing more of my current parts if there's a good upgrade path, but I believe my stuff is old enough not to warrant that.

If need be, I can skip the video card for the moment and use my 8800 for a few weeks until I have more funds for a new card, but I'd rather do it all now if feasible with the cash at hand.

 

[Dangman]

Did you need another storage drive or an OS drive?

Also I recommend saving your money for the GPU upgrade. If you want to stick with your current case, save up about $200 to $240 for a new GPU. In case you're wondering: Right now the shortest but still decent card that can fit inside your case is the 9" to 10" GTX 560 and GTX 560 TI which cost around $200 to $240 respectively. Not the best bang for the buck GPUs mind you but they will actually fit inside your case.

 

[revefel]

OS drive(though I would like a bit more space. I currently have only the 1 TB drive and it's relatively full, but if I move my installs to a new drive that will free up a lot). Another 1 TB drive wouldn't break my heart.

I'm not averse to getting a new case, I just thought it might push the budget a but high. If it's worth it, I can get a new case for the initial build then get the GPU in a month or so. What would you recommend if I go that route?

 

[Dangman]

$230 - Intel Core i5-2400 CPU + Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM Combo
$133 - MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
$65 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
---
Total: $428 plus tax and shipping.

A little over budget but worth it as you're getting one of the faster CPUs on the market. You also get a very solid mobo and one of the fastest consumer grade hard drives out now.

As far as cases go, your current case should be ok in terms of cooling. The key problem is cable management and GPU fitting. If you're fine with the cable management, then grab the GTX 560 or GTX 560 TI as those are really the shortest but still high-performing cards out there that can fit inside that case. As noted earlier, they have a length of 9" to 10" which is the max GPU length for your case. Luckily for you, either of those GPUs will be just perfect for 1680 x 1050 so a longer but higher performing GPU really isn't needed.

However if you want better cable management, a change of looks, and/or the ability to fit longer video cards like the HD 6950 2GB, GTX 570 or HD 6970 if you're planning on getting a larger 1080P monitor, I recommend any of these cases instead:
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance nVidia Edition ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium Grey ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$170 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case