Help me try to cut back the price of this build

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XxAdioxX

New Member
Hey, I've been asking a lot of questions around here and getting really good help. I'm pretty close to figuring out everything I want, but I'm a little over budget. I was hoping (read "dreaming") that I could build a decent gaming rig for somewhere in the $500 to $600 range for everything (tower, monitor, bells and whistles) and still play most of today's games smoothly. I think I've gotten close, but would still like to see if I can knock down the price a little. This will be basically a gaming only system, used for games along the lines of Half Life 2.

DVD-RW ($35) Sony 18x
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131038

Memory ($80) Corsair 1GB (512x2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145539&ATT=20-145-539&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch

PSU ($45) XClio 450W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189003

CPU ($75) AMD Athlon 64 3200 2GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103637

Motherboard ($44) Biostar AM2 socket
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138036
-or-
Motherboard ($80) GIGABYTE AM2 socket
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128029

Graphics Card ($100) BFG Tech GeForce 7600GT 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049

Hard Drive ($75) Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200rpm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

Monitor ($100) 17" crappy flat panel (that I still don't like, but all others are $$$)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2606273&CatId=167

keyboard/mouse/speakers/case (about $100)
I live right by a tigerdirect store, so I'll get this stuff and the monitor there and save on shipping.

Fans/Wires/Misc. (?)

Don't need OS, already got that

Total: about $700 (w/ $80 motherboard)

Pretty close, for what I think is a decent computer, but I don't really know. I think I don't want to downgrade the RAM or video card, but can I skimp anywhere else, without killing performance? I've looked into used/open box but couldn't find anything that I liked. I'm still not happy with my motherboard, it comes with a graphics card that I wont need, and I just don't know what to look for in a motherboard.

I'm also not happy with my monitor choice. I want an LCD, but to get a good one I don't think it will fit the budget. But whenever I find a 19" CRT for a decent price, it says like a "17.5inch" viewable screen, which I don't like.

Thanks for any help
 
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First thing is not to post links from your shopping cart since no one can see what you are looking at since only you can log into your account there. The first thing to consider right off is the "cheapie" supply you plan on buying! The first half of any good build budget or otherwise is having a good supply to start off with. While I could point you at the Antec model seen at http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewproduct.asp?PID=PS-ANTEC&updepts=POWERSUPPLY&DNAME=Power+Supplies I would rather list some other options when comparing the "good", the "bad", and the "we don't go there" lists.

Good:
Antec(except Smart Power models) - Astec - AOpen - Channel Well - Coolermaster - Enermax(except Liberty models)
- Enlight - Fortron Source (Sparkle) - HEC - OCZ Technology - PC Power & Cooling - PowerMan
- Seasonic - SilenX - SilverStone - Tagan - TTGI/SuperFlower - Vantec - Zippy / Emacs - Verax - Zalman
- Corsair

Bad:
Allied - Antec Smart Power models seem to lack(recommend True Power or NeoHE) - Aspire - CoolMax - DEER - Enermax Liberty models - EYE-T
- KingStar - L&C - Linkworld - Logisys - PowerMagic - PowerUp - Powmax - Q-Tec - Raidmax - Skyhawk - Star
- Turbolink - Ultra - ThermalTake(complaints heard) - Rosewill - XClio can be added here.
 
I don't know what happened to the links. They weren't in my shopping cart or anything. They were working before, but now I can't even see them.

Let me see if I can fix them...

Edit: Do they work now?
 
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Yeah, they work now, at first glance, it'll be hard to get it down much more, but I haven't looked too hard yet...
 
Ok, here's what I'd do to reduce some of the cost and get a little better monitor in there...

Video Card - Keep that one, pretty good deal, if you willing to deal with the MIR
RAM - also good choice, although, I might go with the straight 1GB stick of the same model which would allow you to upgrade more effectively later

Here's the changes:

Motherboard -
MSI K9VGM-V Socket AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $52
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130542

Power Supply -
Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC ATX 430W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153023

Hard Drive -
Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $63
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822136062

Optical Drive -
SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM - $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827151133

Processor -
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Orleans 1.8GHz 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail - $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103639


Now on the monitor, there are two fairly equal options:
1. ViewSonic Optiquest Series Q171b Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 500:1 Built in Speakers - Retail - $180 (-$50 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824116051

2. SAMSUNG 720N Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 600:1 - Retail - $179 (-$40 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824001084

Both are good options, and much better quality than the one you had picked out. The Samsung has a little better brightness rating and is probably is a little better quality than the Viewsonic, but doesn't have as big of a MIR. The Viewsonic has built-in speakers (save you a little money there if you don't care about quality), and has an extra $10 MIR. Overall, I would go with the Viewsonic since the drop in quality is negligable, is cheaper and will help save money with the buit-in speakers.

Overall, without a case, this should get the cost down to about $579 with shipping, but no case, keyboard or mouse. If you get some cheap stuff should be able to go for around $650 total.
 
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Some good stuff in there I haven't stumbled upon yet. I think thats about the max I'm gonna be able to get it down. Thanks for the suggestions. :)

So with these systems (which should run roughly the same for video games, I'm guessing) what kind of performance do you think I'm going to be seeing? I'm hoping I'll be able to max out games like Half Life 2 and Counter Strike: Source. Will I be able to run newer games like FEAR decent? How about Crysis :) ? (lol, thats the best looking game I can think of)
 
Good decision on scrapping that monitor and going with something a little better. Your 7600 GT wouldn't be too happy about displaying through a dead pixle generic monitor. Either of your other two choices in monitors will compliment your set up much better. Can I make one suggestion though...you downgraded the processor from the 3200 to the 3000 but the price difference is $11. You might not notice a difference in processing power between 1.8 and 2.0 GHz but if you factor in $11 to your overall investment in my opinion it might be worth if you're not over budget. Good luck with whatever you decide to do...I hope you have fun with it.
 
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Avoid the Thermaltake PSU, it's a rebadged HEC 300W unit and an older ATX1.3 design. The XClio is much better and cheaper.
 
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