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I've got exactly $472 to work with. I'm building a new pc for somebody and it needs everything except: monitor/hard drive/mouse/speakers/windows
So I need:
Mobo
cpu
gpu
psu
case
ram (8gb for $40 hopefully)
keyboard

The econobox is too expensive and I'm having trouble figuring out where to cut costs. The main purpose of this rig will be to play SWTOR on a 20" monitor while hopefully remaining capable of future games.

I realize SWTOR has low requirements but ideally I would like to fit a 6850 into it. That would put the i3 out of my budget I think. Any suggestions? A cheap flashy case with lights and windows would be preferred as well, and as small as possible.

A refurbished Dell with a decent graphics card purchased from Newegg may be the cheapest way to get a decently-capable gaming system, but your budget isn't impossible to meet with new components purchased from Newegg.

Kulith wrote:

I need:
Mobo
cpu
ram (8gb for $40 hopefully)
gpu
case
psu
keyboard

TR's Econobox wrote:

Asus P8H67-V $112½
and Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz $125 -10 code "EMCJHKD49"
or Asus M5A97 $95
and AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz $120
Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 $20
or Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 $40
Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB $152 -15MIR
or EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB $177½
Integrated Audio $0
Fractal Design Core 3000 $75
Antec EarthWatts Green 380W $55

I believe that we can find some alternatives that may better fit your budget.

We might try to get a slightly faster Core i3-2120 processor for $3 more than the Core i3-2100:
122½ + 130 -17 combo GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 + Core i3-2120
or $94 + 130 -17 combo P8H67-M LX + Core i3-2120

Here's a motherboard + RAM deal if you choose to go with the Core i3-2100:
$112½ + 43 -10 combo GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 + 2x4 GiB PC3-12800

There are some super-cheap LGA1155 motherboards based on the H61 chipset. Something like the $63 ASRock H61M-GE and 2x2 GiB of memory for $20 could let you get by within your budget without giving up on a Core i3-2100.

You could save a few dollars over the Radeon HD6850 in the Econobox. I've had excellent results with Sapphire cards over the years, but you could get one from Gigabyte (820 MHz) for 150 -20MIR or HIS for $140 -10MIR.

$7 cheap USB keyboard
or $13 PS/2 keyboard
or $20 Media keyboard

The really obvious opportunity to save money in the Econobox is with the case and power supply. What can we live with for less than the $130 that TR's staff spent on their selections?
$80 -10MIR Antec Three Hundred + Basiq BP430
If you take this first option and call it a day you're $50 ahead with the possibility of a $10 rebate that may or may not be fulfilled.
Without an included power supply, here's a good value:
$50 -10MIR Antec Three Hundred Illusion
You're stepping down a whole lot in quality if you go with one of the super-cheap micro-ATX cases for $35.

Here are three 80+ power supplies that are cheaper than the selection in the Econobox:
$50 -10MIR Antec EarthWatts EA-430D
or $47 -20MIR Corsair CX430
or $48 Antec Neo Eco 400C

I think JustAnEngineer has nailed it. I would go with the I3-2120 + P8H67M-LX combo. Figuring that plus $20 for 4GB ram, $20 Keyboard, a $130 Gigabyte 6850, $40 Earthwatts Green 430D, and the $40 Antec Illusion and you're at $457.

I would stick with the Antec Illusion case over your preferred "cheap flashy case with lights and windows." It has LED fans which can account for lights. As far as cheap cases with windows, those cases rarely have any form of cable management so you probably wouldnt want to see inside anyway. It wouldnt be pretty. The mid tower ATX case may be a bit big for your preferences and considering you'd be going with a microATX mobo you could get away with a similar size case but getting one thats even halfway decent would break your budget.

I got the i3 and ASUS P8H67-M combo, the 6850 and a memory combo, the $7 keyboard, 430W earthwatts and a $40 small case (size beats quality here). Total came out to $471.93 before rebates! Thats pretty clutch, thanks guys

http://i.imgur.com/x78lI.png

I hope it all fits

Pretty crazy that you can build such a capable machine for that kind of money. Have fun building!

Kulith wrote:

It needs everything except: monitor/hard drive/mouse/speakers/windows

...and presumably a DVD-ROM.
That's about $360 worth that you didn't have to buy for this build.

$80 500 GB Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 7200-rpm hard-drive
$19 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-RW
$100 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
$13 cheap wireless 5-button mouse
$28 Logitech S-220 2.1-channel speakers
$130 -10 code "EMCJHKB48" Acer S220HQLAbd 21½" 1920x1080 monitor with DVI input