$500 huh? That's a pretty strict budget. What's your current specs right now. And what kind of performence would you like, (if that's not the broadest range )? The first thing you'll want to do is check out is here. This is the best place to buy your parts. High praise from everyone, good prices, and fast shipping. Once you post your specs, I'll help you some more.

Whoa!   That's a lot of effort you put into that little schpiel, but alas, the point is moot.

I went out today and on my way home I realized instead of getting a computer that is just gonna keep me inside all darn day and night, I should be out getting more exercise.  So I went to my local bike shop and PRESTO!  I have a new bike.

So thank you very much, but I think I've found something that I can do with my time that will further my body, but maybe someday in the future (a few months maybe) I will be able to really afford a new computer.

  *sigh* oh well...    Hopefully somebody else can use this.

A Simming PC can be built on a budget, but it needs very high spec core components, there is just no way around that, if you think there is, you only fool yourself.

You need the most powerful CPU you can afford, on a budget, this is going to be an AMD CPU, unless you can "find" a second hand 2.8gig P4 lying around.

There are bargains on mainboards, no-one throws out a decent mainboard, so this will have to be purchased new.

A 512mb stick of RAM is an essential first step, no getting around that one.

The video card is a killer, it's the single highest priced component if you are serious about a high spec machine.
It doesn't matter if it's an EL CHEAPO brand, it's still gonna hurt the pocket. If you have a freind who's throwing out their 9800XT for a shiny latest card, well... we can dream!

Sure it's possible to build a cheap gamer. But I assure anyone, $500 is pushing the limit to breaking point.

I priced an AMD 64bit machine today, and ordered one for a freind. I did it for the very cheapest price possible with 5 years experience of researching out the best deal possible. The upshot was $1250 US dollars for basic rig and monitor, no software, no peripherals.

For him, it was $1864 Australian dollars delivered to his door. For me, I'm down the cost of a few Long distance calls.

I challenge anyone to make a comparable system cheaper, Dealers excepted.

Going to a 64bit system only added about $200 to the total cost by the way, and was about the same price as a 32bit P4 rig would have been.

This was supplied today from one of the cheapest online stores in this country.

2 x 512M PC3200 DDR RAM Kingston                 $318.00
350W Metallic Midi tower case (Silver)                 $85.00
Seagate Barracuda 120GB 7200RPM                 $139.00  
ASUS K8V Deluxe VIA K8T800 chipset M/board  $229.00
MSI 8XDVD±R/±RW Writer                                 $139.00  
Samsung SyncMaster 785MB Monitor                $229.00  
AMD Athlon™ 64 3000+ Processor Retail           $358.00
Albatron 128MDDR FX5900XTV 8X                     $302.00
Alps 1.44 Floppy Drive(black)                              $15.00  

Total :  $1814.00     Shipping : $50

Real Prices in my world..... What planet are you on?

Oh, and Happy Biking!

I think you misread my post Anagnos, I actually did it for $1312 US dollars at todays exchange rate, with the graphics card, DVD burner and monitor, and it's not a wish list, by the time you read this it will probably be delivered.

I'm getting this in Australia, where things are comparitively more expensive, I imagine in the US I'd be able to do quite a bit better, but alas, I'm not.

   Oh, I see! $1312 was yours! and $1814 was your friends! Ohhh! Ohhh! Ha... What are your specs? And Iroquois (that is way too hard to spell) we've been dodging the issue for a while now, but now we really realized that our computer SUCKS. But it is 4-5 years old, we have an Intel Pentium 3, .5 GHz. 1/2 GHz!    So we splurged, we just hope this one will last forever!

Where did you order them from?