Ok I need suggestions on building another computer

[Logan2002]

Ok the budjet is 500 bucks. My twin brother wants to just surf the net, but his wife would like to play sims.

I know that sims eats up ram. But what are your recommendations?

thanks.

[NDD]

"640 kilobytes ought to be enough for anybody"

512MB should make your feel comfortable. WinXP, of coz.

[Beeblequix]

Does your wolverine-like twin have any existing transferrable parts?

On a budget like that I'd probably get

cpu: Athlon XP 2400+ retail ~$100
heatsink/fan: stock

motherboard: MSI K7N2L ~$65
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/chipset.asp?
chipset=nvidia
sound: integrated
LAN: integrated

video: cheaper Nvidia or ATI DX9 part ~ $60

modem: only if necessary

hard drive: Western Digital 40BB (40Gb, 7200rpm)(and good quality) $60

keyboard: Microsoft Internet Keyboard $15
mouse: Microsoft Wheelmouse $8

midtower case & power supply: ?.....~$65
cdrw: slower Lite-On or Plextor ~$25

monitor: 17" KDS or ADI CRT monitor ~$85

memory: 256Meg DDR PC2700 Mushkin ~$45

That's $528 plus tax, and it's nicer than my current gaming rig('cept for the video card)...

ß

[Someone Stupid]

I'd swap the 256 at 2700 for 512 of anything (including Mushkin) at 2100 if on a budget and probably go with Crucial as they would probably be one of the cheapest for 2100.

[Beeblequix]

I forgot to add in the $100 for Windows...

...so my rough draft needs axing in a few places.

I still don't think 512Meg is necessary for surfing & Sims.
http://thesims.ea.com/us/support/question53.html
I accomplish *everything* I want on XP with 256Meg PC2100. This is a budget system, and that's one part I'd diminish.

Well, you'll then need to sqeeze $100 out of the parts listed above

Windows XP Home
WD 40 GB 5400 rpm hard drive___________ $51
AthlonXP 2000+ retail___________________$67 (only $4 more than retail 1700+)
Samsung or Micron 256Meg PC2100 DDR___$32 (free shipping). Get two if you're up to it and use the Dual Channel memory capabilities; 1 to start out to keep the cost down.
motherboard: MSI K7N2L (still, cuz lan & audio)___$65
video: MSI Gf2 MX400D 32MB _________________$29 (free fedex)
keyboard: Microsoft Internet Keyboard $15
mouse: Microsoft Wheelmouse $8
midtower case & power supply: ?.....~$65
cdrw: slower Lite-On or Plextor ~$25
monitor: 17" KDS or ADI CRT monitor ~$85

Hmmmm. Got it down to $542, and lots of free shiping deals...

Hopefully TwinLogan will have transferrable parts.

[Logan2002]

Hmmm well twin logan doesn't have any spare parts.
But 542 sounds good. And it could be upgraded later.
Does the 2000xp oc well?

[Someone Stupid]

True, 512 for just the sims would be a bit much given what I've seen of it. It would benefit a bit from more as nearly alll games do, but not enough, especially being on a budget.

[Izdaari]

I'd build one similar to Beeblequix's but I'd use an nForce2 IGP board of some kind for the onboard GF4 440MX video, a fine interim solution 'til they want to put a good video card in the AGP slot.

[Someone Stupid]

I second Izdarii. Some are quite cheap surprisingly, depends on brand and how much you want in features.