Hi, I would like to upgrade my son's computer for christmas (using a Gateway P3 now) and would like some suggestions. Money is tight so I am looking to build something cheap but can be upgraded as time goes on. I have a 80gb HDD, cd-rom, cd-rw, and floppy drives. What I have come up with is (all from newegg): Case/psu: Apex Supercase w/300w psu model pc115 $45.50 USD cpu: P4 2.26 GHz 533 FSB northwood $115.50 USD mobo: ECS "PM800-M2" (supports both northwood and prescott cores for later upgrade) $41.50 USD ram: V-DATA 184 pin 512mb pc2700 non-ecc unbuffered $63.00 USD total: $244.50 + s/h This will be my first build and could really use the help. Thanks, Mike

These are all ok. Check the prices on a few different sites to get the best deal if you havent already. The only thing I would consider is finding a case with slightly bigger PSU (350/400w) you should be able to get one without spending much more money, if any! 300w should be fine for now but if you start adding extra drives etc then you may have problems in the future. Wizard ICT. Microsoft Certified Professional

Sounds like your son will have a nice Christmas . This close to C-eve, with lots to do, I'd stick w/ newegg. And don't forget the extras...CPU cooler, optical mouse, keyboard...maybe some nice speakers, cheap stuff that'll let it feel newer, too. The li'l stuff add$ up; Order it w/ the main parts...stead of wrestling w/ miserable local pricing/selection at Walgreens on Dec. 24 :)

Thanks... I researched this project until I started to confuse myself, and just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. I had already bought the rest of the parts (monitor, keyboard/mouse, speakers and printer) as a upgrade for the old computer before I decided to do this. I am planing to do this as a father/son project while I am off of work and he is out of school, so as long as it is here before christmas, I will be okay... And again... Thanks... Mike