so i figure i have about 500 bucks to spend to get a new pc, is it even possible to get an adequate gaming pc for this price?
i have researched alot and come across alot of "800 dollar gaming pc builds" but rarely see anything lower, so is 800 bucks the barrier of entry to pc gaming? 
maybe some suggestions would help also, i can get my brother to help me put it together since he has built a few of his own computers, so im looking at a DIY setup
 
follow up question, is there any downside to using an old 22 inch lcd tv as my monitor as long as i get the right cables? 
 
i tried to include all the necessary info, but if you need something else to answer my questions, just let me know

The problem when building a pc  is that there is a barrier that maybe 100 bucks could differenciate between a crappy and a good pc, for example  if you are already spending let's say 800 and you the performance leap is at 900, you have to go with it. That leap is usually given by the money you spend in the VGA, most pc games are more gpu bound thant cpu bound, but a cpu is something that you rarely upgrade on a pc while a VGA is constantly being changed so buying a good cpu is also important if you want to forget for at least 2 years about recommended pc requeriments on your games.
The problem of using that lcd tv is that the resolution is low for pc gaming and a pc in general (assuming your lcd tv is only hd-ready), you are going to have a lot of trouble reading text, it won't be crisp and will make your eyes hurt, a lot, so if you are planning to write code or any kind of time consuming work on it, forget it.  I recently got a Full HD samsung that has a lot of inputs and it even comes with a remote control, it's the p2370ms (I think NA has the improved version, the p2370HD, for the same price), it's really good if you want to hook up all your gaming devices, it should be around 250 in your country.
 
PD: The monitor I recommended to you is 23'', it will be crisper than a 22'' with 1650x1080 and it will suit your gaming needs better because of the aspect ratio.

Get more money or wait until you can get more.
If your getting it for gaming, Just pick up a console,
Or wait until you get a little more money for a decent gaming rig

 It depends on what you want from your PC. I believe you can play most if not all the games on the present market now with a pc of around £400. This is if you build yourself. When you buy a prebuilt machine its usually a £100 at the minimum addition to the cost of the parts.  On the subject matter of playing games, I would assume that most people are content with good performance and a medium level of graphic ability on most games.
 
 If you want high performance and high end graphic fidelity the cost usually goes up about £200. I recently purchased a high end computer for £620 and its able to play all the games I have thrown at it with good peformance and good visuals.  The other pro to a high end purchase is its longevity. Of course, the concept of longevity is relative to what you think is suitable for a gaming PC. I believe the current price of £620 on high end spec will last you a year or two before you have to start tweaking down graphic sliders to save some performance. But even then, I am sure you will be still content with the games you are playing. Definately more so when compared to a console.
 
My personal reccomendation is to get a high end machine. It saves you money in the long run, as you dont have to keep repurchasing a graphic card. 
 
Reccomendations regarding actual specifications would be 4gb memory is the minimum now and dont cut savings on a good power supply. Your LCD tv's resolution leads me to reccomend a beefy graphic card. At the moment ATI is leading the market as they have the only DX11 cards out, this is their HD5800 series. You probably will be saving your money so you can wait for Nvidia's new launch of cards which will also be DX11 compatible. Not saying they will be better but will give you more choice and will drive down prices in the ATI HD5800 line perhaps. You can always look at performance benchmarks.
 

 I've given you my price in pound sterlin, I would imagine the currency conversion would provide a more or less accurate scope.
 
Regarding the monitor question. No there isnt really a downside to using that that I know of. Be sure to research the right ports. A lot of modern graphic cards come with adapters.

Prostitution is always an option 

" so is 800 bucks the barrier of entry to pc gaming?  "

"
Reccomendations regarding actual specifications would be 4gb memory is the minimum now and dont cut savings on a good power supply. Your LCD tv's resolution leads me to reccomend a beefy graphic card. At the moment ATI is leading the market as they have the only DX11 cards out, this is their HD5800 series. You probably will be saving your money so you can wait for Nvidia's new launch of cards which will also be DX11 compatible. Not saying they will be better but will give you more choice and will drive down prices in the ATI HD5800 line perhaps. You can always look at performance benchmarks.
 "

General rule of thumb is if you have less than $1k to spend on a gaming PC you should just buy a console instead. The differences will be marginal but you will be spending a lot more. 

thanks for the input everyone, im just gonna keep saving until 800 dollars i think
 
@Geno i already have a console tho i want a pc that can play games that are obviously designed for a pc (dragon age is the first example i can think of)

If your using an old 22" lcd, your videocard must have hdmi out, or else you need to buy a dvi to hdmi cable. The reponse time of hdtv's are sort of slow, you might notice a bit of ghosting. Look pc gaming is sort of expensive and a luxury, maybe it's not for you, or save up a bit more.

If you already have a desktop, you can modify the one you have and save some money.

"If you already have a desktop, you can modify the one you have and save some money. "

" @Bellum said:

"If you already have a desktop, you can modify the one you have and save some money. "

This.  If you already have a PC and can re-use the tower, power supply, optical drive, keyboard, mouse, and hdd (and you sound like you're going to use a tv as a monitor) then you'll save a ton of cash.  You'll only have to replace the mobo, grafix card, cpu, and maybe the ram (depends on how much you have vs. want and if it'll work in your new mobo). "

I always re-use my old PCs when I upgrade the mobo, cpu, & memory.  Everything else will tend to remain the same, or I'll upgrade the sound, video, or hard drives at a later time...Space out the upgrades a little.

" so is 800 bucks the barrier of entry to pc gaming?  "

" General rule of thumb is if you have less than $1k to spend on a gaming PC you should just buy a console instead. The differences will be marginal but you will be spending a lot more.  "

" @Geno said:

" General rule of thumb is if you have less than $1k to spend on a gaming PC you should just buy a console instead. The differences will be marginal but you will be spending a lot more.  "

That's a pretty silly rule then because if you plug said PC into a TV it'll look a whole hell of a lot better due to proper 1080P, the differences are far from marginal.  I'm not sure why people think that a PC needs to uber expensive to play the latest games at 1920x1080 because it just isn't true. My Core i5 750/4GB RAM/P55-UD4P was cheaper than 500 and that's because I reused my case, drives and my 9600GT.  If I'd opted for a case, 1TB drive, DVD burner and 5770 it would've ended up a smidge over 650. "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @Geno said:

" General rule of thumb is if you have less than $1k to spend on a gaming PC you should just buy a console instead. The differences will be marginal but you will be spending a lot more.  "

That's a pretty silly rule then because if you plug said PC into a TV it'll look a whole hell of a lot better due to proper 1080P, the differences are far from marginal.  I'm not sure why people think that a PC needs to uber expensive to play the latest games at 1920x1080 because it just isn't true. My Core i5 750/4GB RAM/P55-UD4P was cheaper than 500 and that's because I reused my case, drives and my 9600GT.  If I'd opted for a case, 1TB drive, DVD burner and 5770 it would've ended up a smidge over 650. "

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME HOPE!  I LOVE YOU!!!!!! So, what would you say would be a reasonable point of entry? "

Central Virginia.
I got a couple wishlists on Newegg, but I'm wondering what are some other good sources for parts.

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @Geno said:

" General rule of thumb is if you have less than $1k to spend on a gaming PC you should just buy a console instead. The differences will be marginal but you will be spending a lot more.  "

That's a pretty silly rule then because if you plug said PC into a TV it'll look a whole hell of a lot better due to proper 1080P, the differences are far from marginal.  I'm not sure why people think that a PC needs to uber expensive to play the latest games at 1920x1080 because it just isn't true. My Core i5 750/4GB RAM/P55-UD4P was cheaper than 500 and that's because I reused my case, drives and my 9600GT.  If I'd opted for a case, 1TB drive, DVD burner and 5770 it would've ended up a smidge over 650. "

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME HOPE!  I LOVE YOU!!!!!! So, what would you say would be a reasonable point of entry?  How much RAM?  What GPU? "

" @SeriouslyNow:  Very few people plug their computers into their TVs. It costs over $500 for a barebones PC. $100 power supply, $100-150 mobo, $50-100 for a case, $50 for memory, $100 for hard drive, and $100 for OS and that's for a mid-end PC (LGA 1366 mobo and DDR3 mem will cost extra, so will a larger case or power supply). Decent mid-end processors and graphics cards start at $200, increasing your total cost to about $1,000. A mid-end gaming PC will not run Crysis at appreciably high settings, and will have trouble with antialiasing at 1080p with most games, but will run at 720p just fine (like consoles). You'll indeed be getting only marginally better performance, at triple the price of a console if you're getting a new PC from scratch at that price. That's why for PC gaming the general philosophy should be to go big or not to go at all, since you're only adding value after going past the barebones price, if you're only spending a little over the barebones price you're just wasting your money.  "

@wosifat

" Central Virginia. I got a couple wishlists on Newegg, but I'm wondering what are some other good sources for parts. "

• Intel Core i5-750 CPU 
• EVGA P55 TR 
• Intel P55V MB
• 2GBDDR3/1600MHz RAM
• 500GB SATA-II 7200RPM HDD
• ATI HD 5450 1GB Video
• LG 22X DVD±/±RW Drive
• High Definition 7.1 Sound

" @SeriouslyNow: My point with games like Crysis and 1080p AA is that they offer appreciable difference over what is available on consoles. A ~$1,000 mid end PC will not be able to attain that level of performance, and thus the difference over console is minimal. Obviously there is some difference, 1080p and a better framerate, but I think that money would be better spent on games. Most games nowadays are cross platform anyway meaning they will look somewhat similar on consoles and PC unless you push max settings, but a PC that can do so is beyond the mid-end budget (Batman Arkham Asylum with 16xQ AA and high Physx is an entirely different experience from the console version, but it also takes a hefty PC to deliver that at 60fps). I think the money would be better spent on games, or even just a better TV, because I don't think the gains that he will be getting from a PC on that budget will be worth it.  "

As I learn more, the wishlist is changing.  At present...
Rosewell R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply - Figure it's cheap, but not too cheap.  Was gonna go with a separate power supply, but I figure starting with a case with one gives me a bit of time to get a decent one, and give me an idea of where to start looking for a replacement.
MSI 760GM-E51 AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - 16GB RAM max and a Radeon 3000 onboard  may hold me for a bit playing the games I bought on Steam for my current system.
AMD Athlon II X2 Regor 2.8GHz  Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - The plan is to start here and eventually replace with a Phenom II X4.
Patriot 2GB 240-Pin DD3 SDRAM DDR3 1033 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Module - Don't know if I'll start with one or two of these.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380215AS 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/S 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - The idea being to have a small hard drive with just Windows and a separate, larger drive for data.
Haven't chosen the data drive, GPU, or optical drive yet.  If I can use the DVD-ROM from this system, that'll be it until I replace the PSU, add ram, get a video card and replace it with a Blu-Ray.  Don't feel like blowing thirty bucks on a DVD burner when I don't burn any DVDs.  As for an OS, I don't know whether I'll go retail or OEM, and while I don't have over 4GB RAM, Tiger Direct has xp OEM for $90  If I go Win7, I go 64 bit.
This is where I stand at present, subject to change.  And yeah, I plan to build.

i spent 500 on an ibuypower computer 1.5 years ago, ahd to spend 100 for 9800gt video card 
 
got 3.0 dual core, 2 gigs ram (easy to upgrade later), 200 gig harddrive

I already have a 360.  Just getting into Steam after finding games my current system will run, but more often than not, my video card won't handle them, and the motherboard only has PCI, which inspired this build.  I'll probably start off with the above list (maybe changing out the processor for quad core) and upgrading incrimentally, but I probably won't overclock, watercool and dual GPU it.  My budget WAS $500, but it's naive wishful thinking.  I'm getting my tax refund in the next week, but I don't want to blow the entire refund on the computer.

Four gig RAM is pretty much needed, I would recommend Quad core, I have an i7 920, although I think the i7 range goes lower. The three major things you need to be concious about is your cpu, your amount of ram, and your graphics card. For the graphics card I have an ATI 4890, but will upgrade when the new Nvidia range comes out and drives down the price of the 5870s, if you can get a Graphics card in the 5000s range, I would do that. Then again, there's also Nvidia, but I'm not sure about their models, I know they're generally more expensive for performance, and also cost more to run than ATI.

Have an old CRT that I'll use until I get an LCD, and I probably won't go too large with it.  The big mystery is choosing a GPU, with the cryptic alphanumeric gumbo that is the chipset names, and figuring out which is better, and which will give reasonable performance, and which isn't worth bothering with (and that's before dealing with the different brands of cards.)  Like I said, I'm looking for more bang for the buck than biggest bang.  Thinking of ATI.

" I already have a 360.  Just getting into Steam after finding games my current system will run, but more often than not, my video card won't handle them, and the motherboard only has PCI, which inspired this build.  I'll probably start off with the above list (maybe changing out the processor for quad core) and upgrading incrimentally, but I probably won't overclock, watercool and dual GPU it.  My budget WAS $500, but it's naive wishful thinking.  I'm getting my tax refund in the next week, but I don't want to blow the entire refund on the computer. "

I was thinking about sticking with AMD processors, and that motherboard only takes 8GB RAM max.  Do appreciate the input, though.
But I was wondering, has any of this helped the OP?

save more money