Hey guys, so my parents asked me to build them a computer. I'd consider myself fairly knowledgeable in the high-end stuff, but I don't know the good parts at the lower-end.

Well then, let's begin.
1. What
YOUR PC will be
used for. That means what types of
tasks you'll be performing.
Internet browsing, e-mail, those windows card games, etc. Simple stuff really.
2. What
YOUR budget is. A
price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
No real budget, but they wanted to keep it cheap while still keeping functionality. I originally pieced together a machine for about $400, lets try around that for now. This part of the budget won't include the OS, just hardware.
3.
What country YOU will be buying
YOUR parts from.
Canada FTW.
4. IF
YOU have a
brand preference. That means, are you an
Intel-Fanboy,
AMD-Fanboy,
ATI-Fanboy,
nVidia-Fanboy,
Seagate-Fanboy,
WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
No real fan-boyism here, though I'd prefer AMD and WD, but I am open to other companys as well, I'm not hard set on those. I'm also partial to Corsair power supplies, but again, I'm not set on that brand in particular.
5. If
YOU intend on
using any of
YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Monitor, keyboard, mouse?
6. IF
YOU have
searched and/or
read similar
threads.
I've searched other threads, can't seem to fine one with such a tiny budget though.
7. IF
YOU plan on
overclocking or run the system at
default speeds.
Probably prefer default speeds for now so as to avoid costs of an aftermarket cooler.
8.
WHEN do you plan to build it?
Pretty soon.
9. What
resolution do you use?
Monitor right now is 1024x768, but if I sell them my monitor it will go up to 1920x1080.
Right now I was planning on building it around an Athlon II 240 and
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H, but I am open to suggestions. Cheers.