SPCR

I'm thinking of building a new computer soon. Its main purpose is for some light gaming and office use. My budget is about $500 CAD.

So far, I've only thought of:
- Antec P150/Solo/etc + Antec NeoHE 430
- an AM2 system



Any recommendations?

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (~$60) - OC this if you want
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103068

RAM: Corsair XMS2 1 GB (~$70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145040

HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 250 GB (~$70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822144701

For "light" gaming...what resolution do you play on? and what games?
Are you getting Vista?
If you're getting vista, i'd get a 8600GT. If you plan on sticking w/ XP, get a 7900GS, since they currently outperform the 8600 on DX9 titles.
PNY 7900GS (~$140):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133186

If you have a 17" monitor, 1024x768, just get a 8600GT, since its about par w/ the 7600, and a 7900GS would be overkill (unless you want max settings on graphics, AA, AS, etc)

Is $500 just for the components, or also LCD monitor?

For cooling, try stock, but if you aren't satisfied w/ it (i.e. OC'ing) get a Arctic Freezer 64 Pro (~$25)

*If you're getting Vista, get 2 GB ram too, since vista will take out a lot of memory usage.
**Are you sure you want AM2, not Core 2 Duo?

thanks for the recommendations!

I'll be getting a 20" LCD soon (1680x1050), which won't be part of my $500 budget. Gaming probably won't involve anything too GPU intensive.

oh, ok

get a 8600GT then if you plan on using vista...as it has DX10 support