I want a budget gaming PC.

[Wonkyth]

Why's that?
I've had equally good results with both NVidia and ATI cards, from the top and middle quality range, as well as more aging cards.

[SpacePirateCaine]

I'm assuming that sticking with your current monitor and case are not a preferable option? That alone will knock 200 bucks off of the price. Also, if you can find a non-Black Edition processor, it might take it down ten or twenty bucks, though the BE does overclock better, if that's your thing. Always cannibalize what parts you can from your old computer wherever possible. You can always upgrade over the course of a few months, going one step at a time, if you have enough parts that will still work in the interim.

[R4L]

I'm assuming that sticking with your current monitor and case are not a preferable option? That alone will knock 200 bucks off of the price. Also, if you can find a non-Black Edition processor, it might take it down ten or twenty bucks, though the BE does overclock better, if that's your thing. Always cannibalize what parts you can from your old computer wherever possible. You can always upgrade over the course of a few months, going one step at a time, if you have enough parts that will still work in the interim.

Nah, the OC ability isn't that important. But having it as an option is a plus.

And yes, I don't own a monitor or case anymore. My brother took them when he moved out. I wanted a new case though; I'm not putting all these parts in a Dell case. 

About my old PC, there was nothing really to save. My mom not being tech savvy or rich insisted on buying a bare bones model. Basically, enough to play flash games and do school work on. It only had 512 RAM, a 75 GB HDD, onboard graphics and sound, and that's basically it. Like I said, nothing to salvage.

I'm gonna start by buying the case, and then the components when I can afford them. So I'll probably buy the mother board first, then everything else when I get the money. I guess a plus about this is that I can get my parts when I want, instead of paying one lump sum. I'll have to wait a bit, but that's better than nothing.

I would never, ever, even at gunpoint buy a video card made by ATI.

Why? ATI offers pretty good price/performance from what I've seen.

[Snarky]

You can't do anything with just a motherboard and case, so why not save the money until you have enough for all the required components? Computer parts invariably fall in price, so you'll be able to get the same motherboard cheaper in a few months, or get a better one for the same price. It's always best to wait to buy until the last minute. The case and PSU I guess you could buy at any time, if you really want to have a box to put in your room.

My experience with ATI cards has been that they are buggy and have poor configuration options, but I doubt they'd have survived as one half of a duopoly for so long if they were really that inferior in general, so I've probably just had bad luck. (Mind you, that's what I told myself last time I bought an ATI card, and I had nothing but trouble with it until I replaced it with an nVidia a couple of weeks ago.) But, yeah, I'm staying away from them.

[R4L]

You can't do anything with just a motherboard and case, so why not save the money until you have enough for all the required components? Computer parts invariably fall in price, so you'll be able to get the same motherboard cheaper in a few months, or get a better one for the same price. It's always best to wait to buy until the last minute. The case and PSU I guess you could buy at any time, if you really want to have a box to put in your room.

My experience with ATI cards has been that they are buggy and have poor configuration options, but I doubt they'd have survived as one half of a duopoly for so long if they were really that inferior in general, so I've probably just had bad luck. (Mind you, that's what I told myself last time I bought an ATI card, and I had nothing but trouble with it until I replaced it with an nVidia a couple of weeks ago.) But, yeah, I'm staying away from them.

I didn't plan on using the PC yet. Not until it's actually ready to go. But I get what you're saying though. I'll just save my money up for now and check the prices over the time to see if they drop, or if better options roll by. Good thinkin Snarky.

I've never owned an ATI card, so I can't say anything. I read some reviews on the PowerColor and they showed that it was pretty great for the price. Like I said though, I'm open to recommendations.