Budget PC's: Looks can be Deceiving

Processor, Motherboard, & Memory

The core combination that must be made with the utmost care, the processor/motherboard combination.  There are quite a few options in this area, all varying depending on your intended use for the computer.   The ideal choice in this case would naturally be an AMD K6-2.  A K6-2 will run you about $130 for a 266MHz version, which is a bit pricey if you remember that these are Budget PC's that we are building.  The next step down, from an overall performance perspective (including games) would be a Pentium MMX, however with the price of a Pentium MMX very close to that of a K6-2 it is best to just forego the idea of a Pentium MMX system unless you find a great deal on a 233MHz chip (< $90).  Many people looking for a decent Budget PC are overlooking an excellent contender, the original AMD K6 processor.  A K6-200 can be bought for around $70 now, and if you couple that with a Super7 Motherboard that can run it at the 100MHz FSB, you'll be getting an excellent performer for the price, although its gaming performance will be a bit on the slow side.   If all you're planning on running is Business Applications with a fair share of Net Surfing, you may want to give the Cyrix M-II line a try.  With prices no higher than around $125 for the PR2/300 chip, the M-II is a definite performer on the Business end of things and is beyond just affordable.  Keep in mind that your primary choice should be a K6-2 if you are a gamer, followed by the original K6 and the Cyrix M-II.

As far as motherboards are concerned, with the price of Super7 motherboards so incredibly low already it would seem pointless to go with anything else than an AT Super7 motherboard.  For under $100 you can pick up a decent Super7 motherboard, your only sensible choice if you're going with a K6-2, however if you don't mind the lack of a 100MHz FSB setting then you can pick up a decent Socket-7 AGP motherboard for around $60 - $70. 

For memory, standard 72-pin EDO SIMMs will work just fine.  For you Super7 users, this does limit you to MVP3 boards only (since the MVP3 chipset allows you to run your Memory Clock at 66MHz while your FSB operates at 100MHz) however that isn't much of a limiting factor as there are very few AT Super7 boards out based on the Aladdin V chipset. 

Video

Voodoo² is almost completely out of the question, unless you can find room for an extra (but well spent) $180 in your budget.   If you're looking for cheap 3D acceleration, then there is no replacement for a used or even a new Voodoo accelerator (yep, the original card).  Not only does the Voodoo chipset offer outstanding performance, it is now much more affordable because of the release of the Voodoo² chipset.  For your 2D needs you can pick up a decent AGP card based on a Trident chipset, however if you happen to have a larger monitor you may want something with a bit more quality at higher resolutions.  In which case there is no replacement for a low-cost AGP 2D accelerator based on the S3 Virge GX/2 chipset.  On a 21" monitor you can barely tell any difference between a Millennium II AGP and a Virge GX/2 based accelerator, with the latter carrying a price tag of around $45 - $55.

Storage

UltraDMA/EIDE, there is no arguing here SCSI is simply out of the question for a Budget PC.  For most gamers a SCSI drive is overkill in any case, so a decent EIDE Hard Drive should take care of all of your needs.   Keep your aims high, but also remember to keep the price of your system low, so your best bet would be purchasing an average sized Western Digital, Maxtor, or Fujitsu Hard Drive.  While those may not be the best brand names out, most users will swear by the overall reliability of Western Digital Hard Drives and Maxtor drives aren't at the bottom of the line either. 

A decent CD-ROM drive can be purchased for a little more than $20 or $30, you don't need anything faster than an 8X drive, even a 6X would do the duty although anything slower can't be recommended due to performance issues.  

For your floppy drive, as well as any other components that this may apply to, try to reuse an old drive you have laying around the house.  In the case that you can't find one, do not purchase one from a retail store as you will probably end up paying anywhere from $15 to in excess of $45 of what you should be paying for a simple floppy drive.  If you are making any purchases through mail order vendors see if you can have them ship you a floppy drive with the rest of your components, sure you'll pay shipping, but you'll end up saving more on the cost of the drive.

Other Components

Components like your case, sound card, and modem are left up to your own discretion.  Make wise decisions in those areas as they may come back to haunt you with compatibility problems in the future, if possible go for a brand name Sound Card and Modem as you will usually have fewer problems later on (drivers) with brand name modems and sound cards.  These are the only places you should cut any corners, leave the other four categories mentioned above alone as far as cutting corners goes.  If you skimp on any of the first four areas then you'll most likely end up losing performance, which defeats the purpose of taking these steps to ensure that you have a high-performing Budget PC.