No, it isn't basic budget towers. I thought I relayed that info. As far as getting jacked somewhere, like I said, I priced every single component out separately and searched for the lowest price. It came out to a very similar price. I had a good experience with them, and didn't feel jacked in any way.

If you re use your case, you can probably build a decent web machine for 200 bucks.

When I say jacked, I dont mean taken to the cleaners bigtime (some places will do this though) I just mean anytime you are paying labor for someone else to build your PC you are throwing away money.

And believe me, they arent doing the shit for peanuts~

Again, fine it worked for you, I just cant recommend anyone buy from PC boutiques, unless they don't care about the value they are getting.

If it's a Dell, I doubt he can, unless his existing MOBO accepts the new CPU. Especially if a desktop.

i realize that. they are legit keys from students or business accounts. while legit, it is still part of the gray market. why spend any money?

In case it remains unclear, grey market is the bridge between pirated and the intended purchase transaction. ie, transactions outside the intended distribution channels.

Student licenses purchased by non-students.

Asian versions purchased by Americans or Europeans.

Canadian prescription runs.

You can get mobo/cpu/ram combos that will be a fine web machine for about 90 bucks, cheap HDD, cheap PSU, re use case and optical drive. 15 dollar window key.

KABAM

Assuming your case is full ATX, and your optical drive is sata, here you go~

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A6-5400K 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($47.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88X-D3H ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($67.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 500W ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $213.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-13 14:29 EST-0500

If your case supports a different sized mobo you can of course switch it up, if its micro ATX it will actually likely be a couple of bucks cheaper.

Ah I miss the days of building up my PC piece by piece.

But I love my 27" iMac so much more.

I bought a cheap windows key online from a bulletin board a few years ago. It worked for a couple months then got blacklisted.

I think what he means is that most Dells have a BTX case. Mirror image of an ATX case. Most mobos will be ATX only and won't work with his Dell case. You can find some mobos that work with both BTX and ATX. But not real common.

Yeah, I see the ambiguity in my post now.

'I doubt he can' re-use the case, not 'I doubt he can' build for $200.