Maximum PC

Greetings all,

My father's computer sorely needs to be updated to this century. He recently purchased Diablo 3 and cannot play it because he doesn't meet the minimum requirements.

He has a good case and powersupply/dvd drive so we can forgo those parts.

All he really needs is windows 7, a cpu, motherboard, memory, fx , and a hard drive.

Would like to keep this below $500 as that is our budget. I am usually fairly good at building my own PC's but the last I built was 2 years ago (i7 920), and I haven't kept quite up on the new technology so I could use a hand knowing what goes to what and what the best use would be.

Any help is appreciated thanks!

If you're absolutely certain that's all you need:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM - $99
Motherboard: ASUS P8H1 LX PLUS - $70
Processor: Intel Pentium G860 - $100
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2GBx2 DDR3-1600 - $30 (This memory should clock down to DDR3-1333, as that's the most the motherboard can support, if it doesn't, well we should stop recommending G.Skill )
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti - $135
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 500GB - $75
Total: $510

If you need a case: Antec NSK 4428B - $95. It comes with a 350W Antec power supply

If you're really short on cash, I think you can run D3 on an AMD A8 APU, but at reduced graphical settings.

Tight budget, this is a good starter gaming PC

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G630 2.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($68.99 @ Mac Mall)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.80 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 440 1GB Video Card ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.18 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($96.48 @ Amazon)
Total (before mail-in rebates): $480.41
Mail-in Rebates: $-10.00
Total: $459.40
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-24 13:42 EDT-0400)

I recommend, if you live by a brick-and-mortar Micro Center, check out the CPU/combo deals you can get an i3 + mobo for the same price as above seperately - and they still have the Zalman Z9 case for $35 w/ $10 MIR worth checking out. I also recommend at least a radeon HD 6770 or GTX550ti as a good basic $600ish game rig. But this will do the job for your budget.

cheers

EDIT - missed the bit about having a case & PSU

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($122.66 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.80 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($96.48 @ Amazon)
Total (before mail-in rebates): $500.91
Mail-in Rebates: $-20.00
Total: $480.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-24 13:56 EDT-0400)

Yeah sorry I forgot to mention that the motherboard needs to be micro ATX

Also, there is no Case or PSU needed, its a lian li case and a 450 watt psu that I put in there a while ago

Would this work? I try to avoid 'budget' cpu's

HD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
MOBO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128540
CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
Windows http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Video http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403

There's nothing wrong with Intel's Pentium series. It's the Celerons you have to look out for.

Otherwise that's fine.