$550 gaming pc? Help needed

My cousin is trying to build a pc that can play team fortress 2 at a reason fps and maybe cod4 on low settings. Can someone help pick the parts? I'm no good at this stuff especially under such a tight budget. I'm not sure how to allocate money for the best results.

Also, is there any possible way to do it for $450? He is tight on cash.

Does he have a monitor or keyboard?

He has a monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, and os (i think...). He basically needs the case and everything inside it.

Alright i can probably handle that.

Phenom II 720 x3 Tricore $147

320gb Hdd-$54.99

Antec 300- $59.95

GIGABYTE GA-MA780G-UD3H- $89.99

4GB Kingston 800mhz ram- $39.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-400C- $49.99

MSI R4830-T2D512 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bi- $94.99

$536.90

Thanks guys. I'll go over these with him in the morning. Anyone want to take a stab at a $400-$450 or under one in case he needs to buy windows? Or is that mission impossible?

You could replace the tri core with this. It would save around $92, but the tricore is alot faster.

Core 2 Duo E5200
2 x 2GB DDR2-800
nVidia 9500GT 512mb
Corsair 400w PSU

Good to go :)

He'll probably go with the dual core. I'm a pretty much a novice, but it looks like the tricore and the motherboard sockets didn't match up?

I've been reading up on that hd 4830 card... Now I'm starting to feel pretty dumb for getting a more expensive 9800 gt a couple of months ago. :o

Am2+ boards supports Am3 cpu's with a bios flash. And the HD4830 is a steal for the price ;)

Everyone seems to be recommending at least a 450 W psu for that card including the ati site http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd4800/requirements.html

Is this one good? It's 500W and 20 bucks cheaper than the corsair 400W. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012

The corsair 400 watt would power that rig no problem. That ocz is a decent psu, but it still only has 2 more amps on the +12v rail...which wouldent make much of a difference, even if its only $10 more (same price with mir, personally id choose corsair over ocz). Besides the 4830 doesent take much power to run.

Remember, the +12v rail size is more important than pure wattage.

OK. So I think we've got a close to final list. Is the ram he picked good? Any changes that should be made or anything missing? He wants to buy it today.

GIGABYTE GA-MA780G-UD3H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Brisbane 2.7GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5200DOBOX - Retail

MSI R4830-T2D512 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM

OK. So I think we've got a close to final list. Is the ram he picked good? Any changes that should be made or anything missing? He wants to buy it today.

GIGABYTE GA-MA780G-UD3H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Brisbane 2.7GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5200DOBOX - Retail

MSI R4830-T2D512 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - RetailSnowyGiant

That's perfectly fine... The CPU is getting on a little now, but that can just be upgraded to a Phenom II X4 etc later on down the road. The 4830 is also a great card for the money

Also need an OS. So vista home basic, home premium? 32 or 64 bit? Or is XP still the way to go?

Yes,that RAM iss very good but I would say this is the best you can get for that price -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

I would go with Vista Home Premium 64bit ( 32 bit only uses about 3.25 GB's of RAM but you can use more with 64 bit) -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

since you have 4GB get Vista and you'll have to get a 64-bit OS too. So get this its pretty expensive though thats why I hate OS's.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488