It kind of depends what sort of games your son likes to play, and how nice he wants the graphics to look. The high end of computer components does exist mostly for gamers. WoW is not very graphically demanding.

He probably doesn't need Vista. I don't expect many games to require Vista over the next two or three years. There are a couple of them from Microsoft - their attmept to push people into getting Vista - but they're nothing special anyway.

He doesn't need 3 gigabytes of RAM, though he probably needs 2. But, memory is very cheap nowadays.

He probably does need dual core, but almost everything is dual core these days. He won't necessarily need an especially fast dual-core.

He doesn't need an Nvidia 8800, and almost certainly won't get one on that budget, but a good graphics card is the key to playing most modern games, and the place where money is best spent in a gaming computer.

At that age you could probably try challenging him to select components up to the budget and put the computer together himself, which might save you some work.

I found a system for you (not refurbished for around the right price of 400 dollars.
You will have to get windows vista or add it to the basic configurator for 89$ OR buy windows XP cheaper...(still good for a few years)
WWW.ibuypower.com
THIS IS THEIR BASIC 429 dollar configurator as a base.

AMD Athlon X2 DDR2-800 PCI-Express System Configurator
EagleTech Sidewinder Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Black
AMD Athlon™ X2 4200+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
6 free things if you check the boxes
Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink
Asus M2A-VM AMD 690G Chipset w/6-channels, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Single PCI-E MB This motherboard can have up to 8gigs of memory in 4 slots, I checked.
which is good if you go vista in the future (Only Vista can recognize over 4Gigs and use it.)
2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand
NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS 512MB w/DVI +tv Out Video
(You could upgrade this to the "recommended by others" at 8800 but it will cost you lots)and this is ok as is at 8400. (I have an 8600 and it's more than ok)
160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]
[** Special !!! ***] 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
(I used to buy creative labs soundblaster Audigy SE for like 49 bucks..but the onboard is all you really need nowadays)
600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
network card Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive Beige (If not needed you could save 5 dollars by dumping this item)
No monitor
PS/2 104 Key Windows 98 Keyboard Beige
Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black
Build-in USB 2.0 Ports
OS None- Pre-formatted Hard Drive Only Option to buy Windows Vista home basic for 89$ Currently I have XP Home Basic and don't feel the need to upgrade yet to Vista..
Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days
TOTAL $427.00
You should look at upgrading a few items later if needed such as another 1gb of memory especially if you go with vista...a better wireless optical mouse and wireless keyboard at best buy, etc..

Yes, children are picking up computer skills as early as kindergarten nowadays. If they don't they might run the risk of being a little behind, it seems as things are moving so quickly forward. So different from one's generation.

I keep seeing cool games I want to be playing need Pixelshader. I don't know how popular that is as a requirement, but I know Company of Heroes and Europa Universalis 3 both need it, and both were games I would have bought had their requirements been lower.

I don't know much more about graphics cards than that.



Are you the kind of person who enrolls your kids in sports they don't want to play, making life miserable for the kid and the coach who has to play him?

What's wrong with putting a computer in the budget? Should she pay more than she can afford? What point are you trying to make here? You think the money would be better spent elsewhere? Maybe, but it's not your money to make that call. If Tova wants a computer, she can have one.

Hey Moose?

Bite me.

I know what is best for my family.

 

Thanks!  That helps a lot...I am not exactly computer savy, but my son is a good kid, and I want to get him something he will like, but not spend too much....hahaha.

I am going to look at this.

Thank you for doing all the work.

Wow.

Windows Vista? Avoid it! If it costs you more, avoid it! (And, trust me, odds are it won't)

Twilit....I looked at the system above...and its seems like a good deal, but then I found this.....

Can anyone tell me if this is better?

Great....I'm ordering it tonight...THANKS!

There are only a handful of games that require Vista (as in, won't work on XP) and most of those didn't get great reviews. Most games still run on XP, with only th highest settings requiring Vista.

As for a gaming rig, if you can build one from the ground up, you can get some great deals on newegg.com to keep the cost down, and if you've already got a monitor, that will knock the price down as well.

However, a lot games out there (Including most from a little company called Stardock) are fairly hardware friendly. As long as he's not playing bleeding edge games, you can be a little behind. My rig is now about two years old and still runs everything just fine. It all depends on how "future proof" you want to be.

Ok, it works great.

Hubby picked up something that makes the graphics card 8500...I don't have any idea what that means, but my son assures me its rockin.

Thanks to everyone again.

HUGS all round.

I don't know...we bought the graphics card thing separate. It was marked down from $125 to $70...

My husband think we will eventually have to get a new power supply as this one is just 300 or whatever.

I'm just glad its over. It "should" be the last one we buy for him. He will be old enough to have a job by the time this one poops out if it lasts about 3 years...woot!