Alright. So, seeing as you live
in very close to STL, I know there's a Microcenter, but it might be a bit of a drive for you guys.
Microcenter has a bundle deal where you can get a CPU and a discounted motherboard.
-
http://www.microcenter.com/product/414698/FX_6350_Black_Edition_39GHz_Six-Core_Socket_AM3_Boxed_ProcessorTogether, you get a pretty good, 6 core CPU, and a basic motherboard. It doesn't have many features, but it'll work. Total price so far, $137.00, including tax.
Now, you'll need a PSU, case, GPU, RAM, HDD, and wifi card.
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026. This is what I used, I got it for $19.99, and saw it for cheap not that long ago. Currently out of stock on Newegg. They have it at Microcenter though. $5 less, too, although you should probably try to find a better deal on this.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/399979/Builder_Series_CX430_430_Watt_ATX_12V_Power_SupplySo for now, I'd say we're at $197.28, according to Microcenter, including tax.
Add a 500 GB Hard drive from Amazon (a WD Caviar Blue, really good HDDs), and we're at $249.77.
For a case, you can see if the one you have works, or you can shop around for a case. A good pick is
this one, it's pretty popular and is a good case. If you buy this from Microcenter, it's 32.99, plus tax, making the total Microcenter price $233.45 and then the HDD, so a total of $285.94.
So we have a HDD, a case, a CPU, a motherboard, and a power supply, but we still need a GPU, RAM, a wifi card, and an OS.
RAM:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J8E92R6/?tag=pcpapi-20 Kingston makes good stuff, and this is a fairly decent price for 8 gigs. If the total is too expensive, you could probably bump this down to 4 gigs (but get a different 4 gig set). If you do get 4 gigs, and later want to upgrade, you MUST get the same model of RAM, so keep that in mind if you want to get more later.
Operating System: Here, I STRONGLY recommend getting Windows 8.1 (if you get Windows 8, you can upgrade this to 8.1 for free). It's faster, cleaner looks (in my opinion), and is overall better than 7.
http://www.outletpc.com/xk2782-microsoft-windows-8-1-64-bit-operating-system-oem.html?utm_source=xk2782-microsoft-windows-8-1-64-bit-operating-system-oem&utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&utm_campaign=pcpartpicker&utm_content=Microsoft%2B-%2BSoftware%20%2F%20OS%20%3E%20Microsoft%20Windows%208#.U3FCh_ldWu8 Total price so far: $440.91.
Wifi adapter:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN751ND-Wireless-Adapter-Low-profile/dp/B005FUGPP4/ref=pd_sim_e_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NMBGQHEGQM73W0P8WCR Based on my understanding of your internet situation right now, you guys don't have good internet, and likely won't be getting good internet for some time. This is very basic, but has good reviews. I have a wifi card in this price range, and it works just fine.
Total: $454.90.
Now, the GPU. I found on Newegg's website a GTX 750 TI for $139.99after a rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133530&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfoSo, it's above your budget, I think. The build that Blaze0 posted was around your budget, but to get an OS, he's using some obscure seller on Reddit? IDK about that so...? If it is legit, that could drop $80 bucks of your build, but IDK what your parents would say about buying it from some random guy on Reddit. It seems kinda sketchy to me, TBH.
http://www.reddit.com/r/softwareswap/comments/25dz7q/w_windows_81_8_pro_8_7_ultimateprohome_premium/
So, assuming that $610 is above your budget, we can lower the GPU to
this, which drops the build down to $584.55, and if we drop the case, that's around $35 bucks less. That's roughly $550. If that's still too much, we can drop the RAM down to
this. The total price would now be around $521. This is still a bit higher than you wanted, and would be in an ugly case, but would offer some pretty good performance. If that's still too much, you can get a different GPU, like
this GTX 650 for $80, which would put you around $491.
All in all, if you want a good build in your budget, your going to have to do some rebates. People often talk about how "they didn't honor the rebate." You must do the rebates EXACTLY how they instruct you to, and you should get it back. I got back all 3 of the rebates I used on my build just fine.
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