Building a budget gaming PC. HELP?!?

If you have the full version of windows 7 then that's good. Buying it new wil cost you about 100 dollar so you can scrape that of the price of your computer. And in that case you could already build yourself a quite nice computer for 465 dollar. On that budget i'd go for something like this: cpu (78): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886 (low-budget gaming powerhouse, but also good for mainstream computing) motherboard (48): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130601 (low-budget quality motherboard with for instance solid capasitors on the pwm: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/NF725GM-P31.html#/?div=Overview , but also support for more then 4gb of memory in case you have or upgrade to 64 bit windows) gpu (78): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952 (very nice midrange videocard that doesn't require to much space and also requires no additional powerconnections. I'm staying a bit modest with the videocard here but it's a lot better then the one you have and the videocard is the most important when gaming. Even better would be something like a hd 6850 for about 150 dollar so if you want better gaming performance look in that direction instead of upgrading the cpu) memory (28): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146740 psu (60): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200 (a good powersupply is extremely important and although this powersupply is not from a brand with a reputation like corsair this specific model does have a good review at hardwaresecrets.com. a powersupply like this would allow an upgrade to a hd6850 videocard for instance. if you are sure you are not going to upgrade the $78 videocard you could consider the corsair tx430 builders series powersupply, also available at newegg, which is a bit cheaper, but only 430 watt) casing (40): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121096 (getting the right casing is always difficult, but this one is not to expensive, looks nice and has a good review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/HEC-Blitz-Case-Review/1329/1 ) So far the costs stand at 332 dollar and you could complete the computer as you see fit yourself. Maybe do get a new hdd, or get a hd 6850 videocard for improved gaming. There is one important thing to point out though, take a look at my answer here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am73g0FZjQeyTTOz22V8wqLty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20111002090428AAshEJQ (starts with "first of all") If you install bootit bm from the start you'll avoid a lot of problems in the future. In this context it's also handy to have 2 hdd's. Some other advice: - use a standard keyboard and a wired gamingmouse. place the wired mouse on a deep platform to give the wire room to slide, in a flat curve, without pulling on the mouse and clamp the cable into a cable-clamp at the far end of the mouseplatform (my homemade mousetable is for instance 60cm! deep which makes me forget the wire is even there, very handy). the mouse should be at the same hight as your keyboard. - get a dedicated soundcard (even the cheap creative "audigy se" would be an improvement)

I have the 955 cpu and it works great- don't believe the intel lovers-they have more money. The 430 might be a bit weak so if you can afford a 450 buy that or add one later when you can. I have a 64GB hard drive with 20 gigs of free space, you don't need a huge one, plus you can add another later if its a desktop.