[BloodEagle]

PREAMBLE, Skip this if you're lazy:

Some of you might remember the rather unique problem I posted about a few months (?) ago.  Well, I never got it fixed or figured out the problem.

Since then, a few more problems have occurred (none of which I'm going to explain).

Suffice it to say, I'm ready to give up, proclaim myself meek, and throw in the towel on this Hellish problem and just build a new damned system.

Here's the problem.  It's been a while since I've looked at computer hardware, and it seems like A) all of the prices have jumped back to their pre-depression levels, and B) hardware manufacturers decided to name their parts in an asinine manner (Military-grade mainboard?  One review said that it caught on fire.  I don't think that's quite what they meant with that advertisement!).

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Short story: I have no real idea of what is and isn't good, anymore, and I need a new computer.

I'm looking to spend less than 300 USD (don't freak out, check below), with an absolute maximum of 450 USD.

I technically only need three parts (Mainboard, CPU, and RAM), as everything else is backwards compatible (and has a nil chance of being responsible for my old problem).

Pretty much anything on the market is going to be an upgrade from my current system:

Antec Earthwatts 650 watt PSU
AMD Athlon 64 (running 32bit) 2.4ghz
2.0 GB Samsung DDR800 RAM
MSI Mainboard (best mainboard for mentioned CPU, I believe; and no, I'm not digging out the model number)
NVidia GeForce 7600GS 256mb GDDR3, PCI-E (16x) [works surprisingly well]

Needless to say, I have all of the secondary peripherals that I need.

On top of the above, I'm looking for a good (cheap) monitor.  It seems like the life-cycle of CRTs is over, as the last three I've used have all started dying on me within a few months.  So any tips on new monitors and new monitor technology would be greatly appreciated.

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I already did some looking, but I'm not really sure about any of this.  I mean, what in the Hell does an L3 Cache do, anyway?

General Search Results
(Boy, Newegg's selection sure has taken a hit, over the years.)

GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H: 95 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128444

Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 (x2): 50 USD [Kind of weak, but recommended by the MB specs]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104224

AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz: 130 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103656

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Any help on this matter would be appreciated.

[Klaustrophobia]

i've actually just been looking at putting together a similar system.  i'm just allowing myself a bit bigger budget and springing for a step or two higher in each area: 970BE cpu and 4gb 1600 ram.  i'll do a little more poking around on the ram, because i think you can do better there (not that it's that bad what you have).  i'm also going with THIS mobo.

EDIT:  well actually that does seem about the best choice for RAM, on newegg at least, unless you want to go up to higher speeds.  (which you would have to overclock to reach)

[Bob-san]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121390

And for a monitor, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009275

All that comes up to $468 shipped.

1st hand experience says those X4 940 BE's overclock easily on less-expensive boards. I built a system on a cheap Biostar 790GX board (it was like $20) and it took an X4 940 BE to 3.6GHz without an afterthought and has been 100% stable for >1 year now.

[JGZinv]

I spent right under $300 (298) and got 4GB of G.skill DDR3 1333, a Core i3 540, and a open box Asus P7P55D Evo mobo
all from Newegg.

I do have to say the EVO has really great headphone audio. I had a Asus Striker II Extreme board before that
had an external audio card and it pales in comparison.