i am looking for more of an upgrade than a full build all i really need is:

1. a SATA HDD

2. MOBO

3. RAM

4. and PROC (thinking amd)

for around 300 can be less (would be better) or a bit above like $350
all i really need is some stuff that has good speed and i will be running Ubuntu.
I have been browsing through newegg looking at some stuff. and will be posting some when i get a chance probs soon but suggestions are welcome

HDD - Love those Seagates, even a late model. Quiet, reliable, and a 5-year warranty -- you can't go wrong.

Mobo - I'm no expert on AMD chipsets, but that 690G is certainly loaded with features. With built-in graphics and HD audio, you pretty much have a whole new system here. One thing that jumped out at me: only 4 USB ports ready, with 3 headers on the board. I would need more than 4 to get by, so I hope you have places to connect the other (up to) 6 ports.

Proc - Again, no AMD expert, but this one seems a little behind the times. 90 mm fab and 2x1MB L2? Maybe that's how AMD keeps the price down. If so, that's fine.

RAM - with that mobo, it's DDR2 800 max. From what I have seen, DDR2 DIMMs are pretty cheap these days. Pick a trusted brand and the best timings you can get within your budget. You could even drop back to DDR2 667 with tight timings if it saves money. 4 GB sounds good, especially if you plan to use that integrated 690G graphics. The integrated graphics will take it's RAM from main memory -- up to 1 GB!

Since you will be running Ubuntu and not Windows, these parts should be plenty. Here's something I never thought about: can you run 64-bit Ubuntu to use all 4 GB of memory? If you use only 32-bit Ubuntu, what's the max memory available to the OS?

Is this the 5600+ we are talking about?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6819103234

I like the 65 nm fab process, and roughly half(!) the power consumption. But, the L2 cache is smaller at 2 x 512MB. That's an odd design decision.

i read that 4GB's is that max for 32 bit ubuntu

and for the MOBO i don't really use many usb ports all i have are a mouse and external HDD, and maybe a keyboard soon and i have ports on the front of the case i will be using

edit: i switched out the proc with the one scottw posted

@rick you can make one if you want to lol

well it will be a couple months to get the money together because right now i have about 10 dollars in my name LOL so a build is going to have to wait for a bit i am just starting to look around again because i haven't really paid attention to the newer stuff in a while and looking at the stuff that i have posted it only comes to about $230 without ram so i don't think that my budget is too small to be at $300 it's just right :)

Here's an article from Tom's Hardware a few months back, it was their $500 gaming PC complete with specs. Both Tom's and Anandtech do system builds, with the low end usually being a sub $1000 PC. Since you are not looking to build an entire system, you should be able to find your parts there well within your budget, plus you also get reviews on the parts as well.