Building a Budget PC

How much do you want to spend? That's the real important thing.

CPU: Intel E2160. Supposedly that thing clocks to 3.0 GHz with stock cooling, with very little fuss.

Video Card: nVidia 8600, if you want something cheap for 100.. ATI 3850 for better performance at 170. Ultimate price/performance ratio is nVidia 8800 GT, but it's pretty expensive due to high demand at around $250.

RAM: 2 GB from a reputable company. More is okay, but what's the point?

Take a look around at these sites:
TR's Christmas 2007 system guide - The Tech Report - Page 2
AnandTech: November 2007 Budget Buyers' Guide

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Interestingly enough, I always thought DVD drives would get cheaper, but it seems they plateaued out around $35. My parents' desktop DVD drive was $37 and it was like a year or more ago.

The E2160 is only around 80 dollars and I would shunt money into a better PSU. Never want to skimp on that.

I say 8600 if you want to comfortable play Orange Box at a medium resolution.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

A front side bus (FSB) is a gateway to system memory. The faster the FSB, the faster the CPU can receive and send data. A slow FSB will bottleneck a fast CPU, because data must pass through the FSB to get to the rest of the computer. FSB is usually not important, because CPUs are (usually) made so the CPU won't out pace the FSB.

Cache, usually L2 cache, is basically memory for the CPU. The CPU will use pieces of the same data and instructions when doing a process. Instead of forcing the CPU to go through the FSB and pulling data from the RAM, the L2 cache is there for the CPU to access immediately. An L2 cache speeds up a processor. A higher amount of L2 cache is useful for CPU intensive work. So, if you're doing 3D modeling, high resolution photo manipulation and the like, a large L2 cache will be appreciated and make life easier. For most applications, doubling the L2 cache leads to a single digit improvement in benchmarks. Not economical.

I suggested the E2160 because it overclocks to 3.0 GHz easily and on a stock fan and costs only $75. It has had a reputation for doing so and there are plentiful guides to do so on the internet. For $75, you're getting a more expensive chip, just with less cache. The smaller amount of cache will not be a huge deal, because you're planning to keep the computer as general use and some gaming.

I think both motherboards that you have chosen seem like good options. I do know the Gigabyte one will have an CPU upgrade path, as it can use the 45 nm CPUs that Intel will eventually be selling. I am not sure about the MSI one, so do some digging for that one. If you want the extra ports, by all means get it for that. I'm curious what you'll use the PCI-E and PCI slots for? TV Tuner? Wireless Card? I hope you're not planning to SLI or Crossfire, because it's really not worth it right now.

You're power supply looks okay. 500W is good and it's from a major brand.

Have you thought about a media card reader? Most of them are around $15 and come joined with a floppy drive and sometimes a USB port or two. They're a bit lower on the quality line, since major manufacturers don't bother with them. Don't be afraid to RMA if they come busted or die quickly.

P.S. Do you have a case?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The CPU's lower FSB isn't important since you'll be changing that. To overclock the Core 2 Duo, you'll be upping the FSB manually in BIOS. Here: Legion Hardware The screenshots show the steps. It's a different motherboard, but it should have corresponding stuff in different menus.

Why the E2160? I don't really know. All suggestion say e2160. Don't know why.

7600GTS? You mean 8600 GTS?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yes. It's perfectly okay.

I was speaking idiomatically.