The best I could do would be to get a good base, a computer that could run, and then upgrade it.
Do you think that'd work? I mean, in the end it would be over $600 since I'd be spending $400 on whatever, and then however much to improve it so it would be as good as a $600 computer would have been at the start.

dont buy a SSD there more likely to die

Good processor/mobo combo - $300-$400
Good video card - $180-$250
4-8 gb RAM - $30-$60
Maybe a PSU to power the new items - $70-$150

$680 minimum, $860'ish max

This is just a few things you would need/want to upgrade, I don't know what you're keeping in you old PC.

Anyway, the point is, you get what you pay for. Good PC's aren't very expensive, but they aren't very cheap either.

p.s. Never buy pre-built PC's, they are a ripoff, you save so much money buying the parts and building them youself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216. Kind of expensive, but has a lot of nice features like a top-mounted HDD bay and a cool glowing fan.

Well in this case to a certain cut off point the more you invest initially the more you offset the cost later. At these lower price ranges each bracket you go up will get you something a lot nicer for only a little bit more money invested. The inverse would be true if you had a larger budget, past a certain threshold your paying a lot for minimal increases in performance. You could wait, but it would be best to buy it all at once. Guaranteed part availability, and other reasons. If you have to wait? Is that workable? it all depend son how long you have to wait to fill it in and get it working.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in a good case though. Good cases can last for a long time.

Buy a decent CPU and mobo that is compatible with your current stuff. If you have money left over, buy some RAM and, if you still have money left, buy a new PSU. Save up cash for a bit, buy a new GPU.

Yeah, that's what I'll have to do, I guess. I definitely need RAM though. I think all I have is DDR2, so even the pitiful 1 gig I have won't work for the new computer (plus you need more than that to run Win 7)

I never thought of using my old PSU, at least for awhile. Good idea.

were do you buy your items? O.o gold pressed ebay? you can get a 700w psu off ebay for less than $30

I do not trust that kind of stuff.

That is a great deal. It's $25 Dollars off and a $10 mail-in-rebate. It costs like $35 bucks total. I may buy it.

_{Everyone usually says you can build a PC for around that, but I wouldn't. Save a little more money and get really nice gear.}

This is so disheartening.
I know everyone says to wait, but believe me when I say this, I can't wait. This computer is ready to be thrown in the garbage, practically.

What would be better - the barebones route or building completely from scratch?

No credit card to help you pick up the $200-300 slack? (j/k, I know not everyone can or wants to go that route)

How long has it been since you've done a complete wipe/reformat of your HDD? If it's been a long time, trying that couldn't hurt re: your crashing or performance issues. Windows O/S rot can get pretty bad sometimes. Not as bad as ancient days, but still noticeable.

Also, the beep on startup/press F2 could be a failing mobo/CMOS battery. Could try replacing it (typically like a big watch battery).

Like the others have said, you could build something for $400 (minus monitor, HDD & such etc) if you really tried, but imo it wouldn't be worth it because you'd may end up with something that wouldn't be what you want in the longer run, or having to buy what I'd consider potentially dubious parts. I know you aren't trying to build an uber type rig, but still... $550-$650 would make a large difference, so if you can get your P4 a bit more stable, waiting a few more months or something would definitely be better.

It would be the GPU I go without (have a temporary spare), rather than the HDD, as I need a new one. I think this one is part of the problem.

Thanks for the advice. So many people have said the same thing, so it's surely true. I'll have to figure something out.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/5k2j

There's this, if you're looking for cheapest of the cheap, it needs a power supply, and you need to supply your own monitor, keyboard, mouse and OS.

If the OP really needs something right now, I'd go with something more akin to the AsRock Z68 Pro3 someone else mentioned, or http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1165562&SRCCODE=BIZRATE&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjCmtB5ObkkzCjCVqHCjCdwwp&cpncode=30-34177657-2 There could be better options (brand, quality rep) then the latter, not sure about Gigabyte. Point is, could get an i3 to start with and upgrade it to i5 or i7 later if he wanted. Even an i3 would be substantially faster than the P4 he has now. So MoBo+CPU together might be around $225-250. Power supply+HDD+case and there you go?

The HDD's, btw, have definitely gone up in price recently. But if you're happy with a small one at first (160GB vs. 1TB say) they're not too bad...if you can find them in stock. I personally wouldn't buy a refurbished one, however.

Could be useful, but it appears they're using Newegg.com rather than a Canadian site.


Hmm, I have a 160gb right now and it always runs out of space. I had like 7 gigs left for the longest time. I installed lots of games and now that I've ripped my CD collection I have about 60 gigs of music. I guess with the music I could just keep it on my iPod, though, or get an external at some point.

I would say it's an overall better decision to just try and save up.

Hard drives are cheap, install the OS to a 160Gb drive, then buy a 2tb usb drive for storage later on.

Depends how you define cheap. 1TB 7200 SATA's are currently about $100-$150 where I live (US, Calif). That's new and in the box, retail. 2TB over $150-$200. Unless they're on sale, little cheaper then. OEM (unboxed) a little cheaper too. Even some of the 500GB can be $100, depending on brand.

I see $49 1TB web sales and I think "refurbished" or "piece of crap." But I could be wrong.

It's an unfortunate time to have only $400CAD to spend when you need both an OS disc and preferably a new hard drive. That sets you back almost half of the budget already. The hard drive market has been suffering price inflation for several months now since the Thailand floods. At this point, will have to make use of that Radeon 4670 you got and I hope you still have a DVD drive handy. Every little bit will help in your situation.

The best advice to take is to save up a bit more. $100-$200 extra will go a long way. This is what I can come up with so far and it's still over-budget ($450CAD)....

CASE: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=63079
CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1622288&CatId=4919 ...it's OEM, so chip only. Will need to buy a cheap $10 HSF separately
MOBO: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=61189
HDD: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=63468
RAM: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=55546
PSU: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=60491&promoid=1009
OS: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213932&CatId=4622

Yeah, my current DVD drive is fine, I can use it.

Thanks. If I have to go $450, I guess I'll find a way. Is that including shipping on all those sites, or is that going to be extra?

Also, I noticed on the NCIX site, the HDD has an Open Box option for $14 less or so. Do you think it would be worth the risk (if there is any)?