Building a Desktop [UPDATED OP]

[Skig]

Hello forums, I have $650 saved up and I might as well use it on something. I am looking at custom desktop parts and I'm trying to stay under a total of $400-$500. I would like some input from all you computer experts out there
I have a motherboard and power supply in perfect condition, they are just a little dusty.  I have a case picked out and I plan to order it this week. I'm also ordering:

A wireless network adapter (thanks Georges)
A new memory (thanks again Georges)
A graphics card (thanks once again Georges)
A keyboard, mouse and USB hub

I still need:

An SSD hard drive that I still have to pick out (I don't know how much space I will need on it)
A CPU, probably this (thanks Bisjac). But it could change

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[Pie Crust]

Every commercial OS now-a-days has a TCP/IP protocol. You will be able to connect to the internet wether it is by Ethernet cable or WiFi. Regarding to Microsoft Word, you either need to buy it from Microsoft, buy it from an OEM or find an alternative.

[Bisjac]

does microsoft still sell older office programs?

i know they now have a 10 dollar monthly subscription to the modern ones.

low heat and sound is all about the case you pick. and then you should not spend less then like 80 dollars on one.

[Georges]

Don't know if you know any teachers, but my aunt got me office 2010 for $21. She teaches at a college, and was able to get a discount.

[Skig]

How honest is this?

http://toptengamer.hubpages.com/hub/Best-500-Gaming-Computer-Build

i know they now have a 10 dollar monthly subscription to the modern ones.

low heat and sound is all about the case you pick. and then you should not spend less then like 80 dollars on one.

The fans are what I'm worried about. This site says around $50 for a case so $80 isn't too shabby I guess. I'd like to stay as cheap as possible

[Pie Crust]

If the fan spins and nothing is blocking its flow of air, no problem at all. You should have a minimum of three fans. One that blows air into the CPU's radiator, one that blows air towards the outside of the case and one that blows air towards the outside of the PSU.

[Bisjac]

fans can always be easily upgraded.

"high end" fan swaps are like 20 bucks at most. i mean its not a big deal. do it later if they are sucking.
good quiet ones can still be like 10 bucks to. while stuffty ones that comes with cheap cases usually are worth like 2 bucks lol.

when i want a good case im not thinking of the fans they come with. im concerned over the in/out flow of air where i need it.
i know for a fact you want at least a midsize atx case. do NOT get a smaller one.

[Skig]

I also have an old Compaq computer and a crashed Acer we bought in like 2008 (crashed July 2012) so I'm not sure but I guess I could pull something out of those





They're just sitting in the basement

[Pie Crust]

Compaq computers have very good fans. (Atleast the ones in the Deskpro series).

[Skig]

I think the Compaq actually still works but its really old and not useful for anything right now. The disk drive was replaced in '08 or '09 and still works fine

[Dreams_Of_Cheese]

see if you can salvage a hard drive out of them, save a few dollars

[Pie Crust]

Lets not move into disk drives because I will begin dumping my history with drives.

see if you can salvage a hard drive out of them, save a few dollars

Old Compaq computers have IDE and SCSI drives. They're not very reliable according to many.

[Skig]

see if you can salvage a hard drive out of them, save a few dollars

I don't know what went wrong with the Acer but it doesn't turn on right. We still have files trapped on the drive so I don't think I should mess with it

[Pie Crust]

The best thing you can do when you're in that situation is to plug in the drive in a working PC, set it as Slave (or take down its priority if it's a SATA) and copy the files. Then format it and scan it.

[Skig]

The best thing you can do when you're in that situation is to plug in the drive in a working PC, set it as Slave (or take down its priority if it's a SATA) and copy the files. Then format it and scan it.

We only have a laptop right now