my new PC build to help stimulate the economy

[gta_bmx]

My current year old machine is caught in casual gaming Hell with my wife spending hours playing Peggle, Bejeweled, Zuma, Luxor, 7 Wonders, etc.. So she can have that system. :)

Patrick and Garnett on Tekzilla stated that buying from the major co's like Dell saves you money. The lowest end Dell is about $330 with s/h and has a really crappy Celeron CPU, low RAM, bad graphics, small HD, bad PS, etc.. Whereas the system below is an awesome system for $420 and will save a person money in the long run (less upgrades needed).

AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor Model HD8450WCGHBOX
$94.00

ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$65.99

ASUS EN9800GT HB/HTDI/512M GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
$104.99

ASUS TA-851 (generic) Black/ Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply
$29.99

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-20B1LT
$19.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$59.99

COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR 500W ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply
$16.99

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS24G6400LLK
$27.99

$420 total (prices reflect included rebates)

[tokenuser]

You don't need a second powersupply, the 350W one that comes with the case would be fine.

You need to factor in an OS. Linux would be great, but this is for gaming, so you will need XP or Vista.

You will need/want a better heatsink/fan. The stock ones suck.

I used to be a fan of AMD (my silent watercooled rig was an overclocked AMD), but would strongly consider an Intel based platform over an AMD one these days. Totally Rad Show have a coupon code for mwave that might be of benefit to you with this regard.

[gta_bmx]

You don't need a second powersupply, the 350W one that comes with the case would be fine.

You need to factor in an OS. Linux would be great, but this is for gaming, so you will need XP or Vista.

You will need/want a better heatsink/fan. The stock ones suck.

I used to be a fan of AMD (my silent watercooled rig was an overclocked AMD), but would strongly consider an Intel based platform over an AMD one these days. Totally Rad Show have a coupon code for mwave that might be of benefit to you with this regard.

I was just going to use the better name brand 500W supply since it's only $19 after rebate. Then keep the stock 350W as a workshop spare. I already own like 2 copies of XP and a copy of Vista (full versions). I need to change my CPU thought process. I've been automatically just buying AMD CPU's for so long that I'm out of the Intel loop. :) What would you suggest for a good Intel CPU for about $100? I bought a couple of early Pentiums in like 1997-1998, then I bought a Cyrix based system in 1999, then shortly after that, I bought an AMD K6-2 333mhz system, and then all AMD's after that.

[gta_bmx]

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Retail $119

This one seems like a good deal for a budget Intel build. Plus it's a little bit faster than the triple core Phenom.

ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $52.99