Looking to buy or build a new PC

Hey guys. My old computer has not been upgraded for 5 years and I'm ready for a new computer. I can't upgrade my old one because it is old and looks as if it is on the verge of breaking. Anyways, I'm looking to either build a new computer or buy one. Here's my problem: I'm a PS3 gamer, so I don't know too much about computers. I'm looking to build this rig to play games like Mass Effect, L4D, etc. Anyways, my little brother told me about how you guys helped him out (we share the account) and thought I should see what you guys think. I used this iBUYPOWER website to build a custom PC and it came out to be around $700, which is a little bit too much for me, (granted, that number includes Vista and a wireless adapter, both of which I do not have). I'd be happier spending around $500. Oh and I still need a monitor haha (which I'll probably buy on newegg). Anyways, here's what it gave me:

Case ( PSI ArmorX Gaming Tower Case - Silver )

Processor ( AMD Phenom™ II X2 550 Black Edition Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology - AM3 & AM2+ support )

Motherboard ( Asus M4A78 PLUS -- AMD 770/SB700 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB )

Memory ( 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module - Corsair-Value or Major Brand )

Video Card ( ATI Radeon HD 4670 - 512MB - Single Card )

Case Lighting ( None )

Power Supply ( 450 Watt -- Standard Power Supply )

Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )

Hard Drive ( 320 GB HARD DRIVE - [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )

2nd Hard Drive ( None )

2nd Optical Drive ( None )

Optical Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] LG 22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )

External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )

Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )

Speaker System ( iBUYPOWER 2.1 Channel Stereo Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System )

Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )

External Wireless Network Adapter ( LINKSYS WUSB600N 802.11n Dual-Band Wireless USB Adapter )

Floppy Drive ( None )

Monitor ( None )

Keyboard ( iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard with 18 Internet Hot /Multimedia Keys - Black )

Mouse ( iBUYPOWER 1600 dpi High Sensitivity Internet Mouse - Black )

Operating System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) - 64-Bit )

Warranty ( Standard Warranty Service - Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

Video Camera ( None )

Power Protection ( None )

Headset ( None )

Meter Display ( None )

Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer - Black )

MP3/MP4 Player ( None )

USB Flash Drive ( None )

2nd Monitor ( None )

Free Game for ATI Video Card ( [Free Game] - Stormrise - Free with purchase of ATI Radeon HD Video Card )

iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction ( None )

iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion ( [Back To School Special!!] Internal USB Expansion System ) (free)

Here is the site if you want to see what my options were: http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Configurators.aspx?mid=182

For the folks complaining tl;dr, basically, I need your advice. Is this computer (above) good? Is there anything that I can safely downgrade on to save some money? I want a PC that will last me a while, but I'm not looking for anything super high-end. If you can help me shave a hundred or two dollars off, I'd be very thankful =)

You can't really build a gaming Pc with 500$ with monitor included. At least 700$ for a decent system rronqe

Yeah I'm just looking for the tower to be around $500. I don't mind shelling out another $150 for a nice monitor.

That graphics card could be a lot better. Get an HD 8450. And without monitor you could probably get a decent PC for around 600RobboElRobbo

How About:

AMD Phenom II X2 545 3.0Ghz 6MB Cache FSB 4000MHz HT

AMD Heatsink and Fan

ASROCK N68-S (GeForce 7025 Video, PCI-Ex, 6-Channel Audio, LAN, 4xSATA2, 2xDDR2)

4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty

320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300

22X LG Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero

512MB ATI Radeon HD4850 GDDR3 PCI Express DVI/Tvout

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit SP1 w/ Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon

CoolerMaster Black Elite 310 (4 5.25, 4 3.5 bays) Windows, Fan, Front Audio/USB

600watt OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS

All for 595 from ecollegepc.com

How About:

AMD Phenom II X2 545 3.0Ghz 6MB Cache FSB 4000MHz HT

AMD Heatsink and Fan

ASROCK N68-S (GeForce 7025 Video, PCI-Ex, 6-Channel Audio, LAN, 4xSATA2, 2xDDR2)

4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty

320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300

22X LG Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero

512MB ATI Radeon HD4850 GDDR3 PCI Express DVI/Tvout

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit SP1 w/ Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon

CoolerMaster Black Elite 310 (4 5.25, 4 3.5 bays) Windows, Fan, Front Audio/USB

600watt OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS

All for 595 from ecollegepc.com

MrMcPeach

Thanks for the website! I've been working on it and here's what I got right now:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 545 3.0Ghz 6MB Cache FSB 4000MHz HT
AMD Heatsink and Fan Included

Mobo: MSI 770-C45 (AMD 770, 2xPCI-Ex, 8-Channel Audio, LAN, 6xSATA2, 4xDDR3)

Memory: 4GB (2GBx2) PC3 12800 DDR3 1600Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty

Hard drive: 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300

Case: Foxconn Black FX-TS001A (3 5.25, 5 3.5 bays) 2 Fans, Front Audio/USB

PSU: 400watt Stock Supply included with Case

Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Standard 1 year parts and labor

I left out the DVD drive because I think I can salvage the one on my old computer (which will save me $30).

Price: $361 ($410 with S&H)

I did not get one of the video cards they had on the site because I found what I think to be a much better one for a much cheaper price on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131163. It'll cost $89 with a rebate, putting my new total at $450 ($499 with S&H).

Concerns:
1. Newegg's PSU calculator (http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html) seems to want a little more wattage (408) than what I already have (400)... but it'll cost $25 more to go up to 450 watts... is that something I NEED to do? MrMcPeach seems to want me to go for 600...
2. Should I buy Vista? If I get it, I get a free Windows 7 upgrade voucher. Now, I know everyone hates Vista (myself included), but I don't know anything about Windows 7. Should I get Vista just for getting a free Windows 7? And I don't have my XP CDs or my mom's Vista CD. Also, in order to take advantage of all my wonderful hardware, I would need Vista 64 bit, right?

I also need a new monitor and I'm completely lost when it comes to monitors. Do I need a certain size for my hardware to shine (like how a PS3 doesn't rock unless it's on 720 or 1080?).

Anyways, thanks for the help so far guys, and any further comments/suggestions/general advice would be greatly appreciated =)

[QUOTE="RobboElRobbo"]That graphics card could be a lot better. Get an HD 8450. And without monitor you could probably get a decent PC for around 600Dstorm09

Bump

I would be hesitant to trust a Foxconn-case bundled power supply with the 4850, especially one that's on the verge of what's recommended. The problem, of course, is that buying a decent power supply will jack up your costs a fair bit (I'm not sure how much the case & supply is costing you), but I think it's worth it for the extra peace of mind and room for future upgrades. Those are best bought at sale prices, since the cost of a decent power supply can get a bit ridiculous when we're talking budget rigs. Antec bundles some of their power supplies with cases, and they're pretty decent. The cases that get them aren't exactly gaming enthusiast cases, though.DJ_Lae

Cool, thanks for the help. Do you mind telling me which case is for gaming? The brands they offer are: Coolermaster, Raidmax, Antec, Apevia, Xion, NZXT, Thermaltake, and Foxconn.

[QUOTE="DJ_Lae"]I would be hesitant to trust a Foxconn-case bundled power supply with the 4850, especially one that's on the verge of what's recommended. The problem, of course, is that buying a decent power supply will jack up your costs a fair bit (I'm not sure how much the case & supply is costing you), but I think it's worth it for the extra peace of mind and room for future upgrades. Those are best bought at sale prices, since the cost of a decent power supply can get a bit ridiculous when we're talking budget rigs. Antec bundles some of their power supplies with cases, and they're pretty decent. The cases that get them aren't exactly gaming enthusiast cases, though.Dstorm09

Cool, thanks for the help. Do you mind telling me which case is for gaming? The brands they offer are: Coolermaster, Raidmax, Antec, Apevia, Xion, NZXT, Thermaltake, and Foxconn.

http://www.techbargains.com/catsearch.cfm/0_10_0

i use this for monitor deals and agree with DJ_LAE you prob dont wanna trust your expensive system to a cheap powersupply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.234111

never tried rosewill but both products are 5/5 stars