Building a new (cheap) rig - advice?

[heyaz]

So my current machine goes back to Wotlk - super dated. Q6600, 8GB Ram, a ATI 5750 and SSD I added later. It's fine questing and in instances, and small BGs, but it really really chokes at times. Orgrimmar is now impossible as is some of the quest hubs.

I don't think there is a whole lot I can upgrade on my current machine, but I'm not really in a position to spend $1.5-$3k on the system I *really* want.

Given my machine is 4 years old now I'd be surprised is a $500 rig doesn't blow this thing away and is good enough for 4-5 boxing.

But on the other hand, I don't want a capped out machine, I wonder if it were possible to throw $500 into a machine, use my existing power supply (very nice 800w aftermarket) and the SSD, and end up with a machine I can upgrade as I go.

I'd also be keen on buying your used GPUs :)

Recommendations?

[Apatheist]

$500 is a bit of a stretch. If you could go a few hundred more, you could build something solid. I just built a system for a friend that cost around $750 AUD. The difference between what you could get for $500 Vs. what you could get with the extra $250 is significant. I'm not sure what the cost of parts is like in the US, you may be able to pick things up cheaper than we can in Australia.

CPU i5 3330
MoBo Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H
GPU HD7770 1GB 1100MHz
RAM G.Skill 8GB DDR3
HDD Seagate Barracuda 500GB
Case/PSU Thermaltake V4 Black Edition Case with 500W

[Meathead]

Apatheist has a decent list there :) but yea 500 is a bit under for a decent pc

[heyaz]

Thanks guys. Yeah I knew $500 was gonna be pretty much impossible but if I'd said $750 then it turns into $1000 and so on and so forth :)

I have an SSD and an unused SataII, and a very new power supply 800w, wonder if I could shave off $100 or 2 going with those and a case without a psu?

[Ualaa]

Chances are decent, the case from your last system might be good.
Unless you want to have two systems, using the old system for a web browser or to do videos or whatever.

There's a thread on multiboxing.com (by Snowy42) on building a boxing system for $1000 (Australian Dollars).
If you don't need a case, SSD or power supply, that might knock the price down to within your budget.