EmeraldICE

My girlfriend is in dire need of a new computer. The one she's using now is a 6 year old HP... and it wasn't even that good to begin with, so you can imagine how futile it is now.
My budget is $400-500 and I already have the RAM (4gb DDR2 1066) and Windows 7.
I'd prefer a black/green schemed case, just to appeal to her favorite colors.

I saw this awesome AMD deal on newegg the other day that had the CPU, the case, the power supply, and the video card, all in one bundle for a pretty cheap price, but it seems I waited too long and that deal is gone.
Maybe there will be more deals like that closer to Christmas?

I'm asking for help on this build because I'm primarily an Intel guy. I've never built nor even took a real look at AMD components.
I was also thinking of going with an ATI card, which is another unknown area for me as I've always bought Nvidia (after a very bad ATI experience on my first laptop). But, I am willing to try ATI again.

As for what she will use the computer for, she plays games such as Bioshock, Fallout 3, The Sims and FEAR. She also does some video editing, but really nothing too extensive and with no footage above SD. She's also entering college in a couple months for graphic design.

Thanks in advance for the input.

nolonger

Asus M3A78-EM U$59.99 after MIR (free shipping)
Corsair TX650 U$89.99 after MIR (free shipping)
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB U$54.99 (free shipping)
Sapphire HD5770 U$169.99 + shipping
Antec Three Hundred U$59.95 + shipping
Athlon II x2 240 U$55.00 + shipping

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Jyr

As for a green/black case..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-157-_-Product

? (although it's a tad more expensive than the antec 300)

nolonger

That'll increase the price on my build by U$40, but the case will probably appeal to your GF more. You could always add green LED fans on the Antec Three Hundred, though.

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IntelConvert

nvidia case w/ ATi GPU? lol @ that

that board could support AM3 CPUs, so upgrading to a quad core is possible if i am not mistaken. that will help significantly in ur GF's video editing. anyone have this board or know if there is a BIOS update to support phenom II? or the athlon II X4?

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Gr33n Machine

nolonger

If it's the 1.03g revision of the PCB it'll support Phenom II's I believe. I'm using one on my brother's rig with a Athlon II x2 240 at the moment.

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-iceblade^

there are several good deals on the Egg. you could sell off the ram you have for a bit of extra cash

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.293283

other than that it should be easy to put together a Propus powered rig - there's an article on tech report - windows 7 system guide. go check it out

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