Econobox alternatives
The preceding selections round out our low-end system, but we've come up with a couple of suggested alternatives, should you wish to tweak the formula a little bit. These alternatives will allow you to step up to better performance for a little bit more money or save a little without too much pain.

Processor
Our dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3800+ is a great choice for general use, but if you're stuck with a tight budget and would rather prioritize gaming performance, we suggest the Athlon 64 3200+. This chip won't give you silky-smooth multitasking or high performance in multithreaded applications, but it runs at the same clock speed as the X2 3800+, so performance in the vast majority of games shouldn't be any worse. The 3200+'s $75 price tag gives you some extra wiggle room to add a discrete, game-worthy graphics card, which will naturally make games run a heck of a lot faster than the integrated graphics on our recommended mobo.

Graphics
All that's required to turn the Econobox into a sweet little gaming machine is a decent graphics card. Nvidia's GeForce 7600 GT has dropped in price pretty dramatically over the past few months, and you can now get your hands on our recommended eVGA model for a scant $119.99. Of course, no $120 card is going to let you play Oblivion at 1600x1200 with the detail maxed out, but the 7600 GT packs enough punch to run most games at decent frame rates, provided you don't push the resolution too high or crank up the antialiasing.

You might think we've forgotten about Radeons, since we've had GeForce graphics cards in our Econobox alternatives ever since the very first system guide. There simply hasn't been a compelling Radeon in the sub-$150 segment for a long time now. Today, the red team's only card comparable to the GeForce 7600 GT is the Radeon X1650 XT, and it costs more despite providing roughly equivalent performance.

Sound card
We reckon users with more discerning ears might want better sound quality than what onboard audio tends to provide, so Chaintech's trusty AV-710 is back once again. The AV-710 won't give you perfect surround sound or 3D audio acceleration in games, but it does combine an affordable price tag with the ability to route stereo output through a high-quality Wolfson DAC. This last feat translates into stereo output quality that's comparable to more expensive cards and far superior to most onboard audio—perfect for users with decent headphones or stereo speakers.

Vista support note: Drivers for the AV-710's VIA Envy24 audio chip are only available for 32-bit versions of Windows Vista at the moment. Until VIA releases 64-bit drivers, prospective Vista x64 users should avoid this sound card.