Didn't feel like making a new thread for this and this one pretty much says what it need. I'm going to assemble a new PC but I wanted some advice as how I might save some money, if I can. Here's my current list of parts. My budget is $740, possibly $800+ if I could get my brother to chip in.

Case ($54.99)
Rosewill LINE-M Micro-ATX Mini Tower Computer Case, Dual USB 3.0, come with Dual Fans, Support up to 4 Fans, 12.5" card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147166

Processor ($219.99)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Motherboard ($109.99)
ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157296

Memory ($66.99)
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196

SSD/Hard Drive ($114.99)
SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163

Power Supply ($29.99)
Rosewill RV350-2 350W ATX 12V v2.2 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182023

Monitor ($119.99)
Acer S220HQLAbd Black 21.5" 5ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ACM 100,000,000:1 (1000:1)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009316

DVD Drive
I'll probably just use the one I have in my current PC.

Video Card
AMD Radeon HD 6450 (Can't really afford a better one with my budget)

 

Can I ask what sort of things you are expecting to use the computer for? Are you a gamer at all? Photoshop?

It's hard to say at the moment but honestly your build looks very unbalanced at the moment.

 

This is why I'm asking around. :3

Yeah, I wanna be able to play most, if not all, at minimum quality at least. Not much photoshop-ing planned but I do like to tinker around with CS2 every now and then. Other than that, just browsing the internet.

 

Two further questions, your current budget is ok, but are you planning on investing any more money in it at all soon. Because some choices are dependent on how upgrade happy you are. That is to say are you happy to have say limited graphics capability for a bit knowing you will have another 150 or 200 bucks to spend on a graphics card in a month or so. Or once you have spent your budget is that it for a long time?

Secondly, I notice you haven't budgeted for Windows. Do you have a valid copy or are you perhaps *cough cough* planning on downloading Linux.

 

Hrm, I decided to use Part Picker as it may be easier. Changed some parts around and removed the monitor for now. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/K9c4

I would like to be able to possibly upgrade in the future. As for OS, I suppose I could give Linux a try, or just borrow a Win7 OS from my brother in law.

 

I decided to take all your suggestions Cheddar, the only reason I wanted an SSD is because they're supposed to be faster OS startup times. Here's an updated part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/K9ym

 

Here are my recommendations for a build that is about right for your budget:

Processor
Motherboard
RAM
Graphics Card
Hard Drive
Power Supply
Case

The total for all the parts is about 686 dollars which should just about leave enough for a monitor. It hits all the base attributes for a good midrange gaming rig. Quad Core processor, 2 gig 7850, 8 gigs of RAM and plenty of storage for games, with good reliable parts in a decent budget case.

 

I decided to go with you choices for Processor, Mobo, RAM and Graphics Card.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KaDx

 

Good choices, the Carbide 200R case is also an excellent alternative to the case I suggested. I would just warn you, that the hard drive you have listed is 2.5 inch instead of a 3.5. I'd suggest you replace it with a 3.5 inch model of hard drive and also it is a 5200 rpm drive. If you are getting a single mechanical hard drive as your main drive on a system build you at least want a 7200 rpm drive otherwise you will have to put up with some torturous boot times and load times in games.

I also suggested the 500 watt version instead of the 430 watt power supply. It is up to you when it comes to that, the build you have should be fine on 430 watts but you are beginning to butt up against it. I suggested the 500 watt to give you some leeway for PSU degradation and incase you decide to later add any more internal hard drives or perhaps shove in a less frugal graphics card. Neither choice is wrong as such but I always prefer to leave a bit of leeway. My own i5, 7850, single internal hard drive build uses a 530 watt Bequiet PSU (good brand but not available in the US sadly).

 

Hrm, very well, I switched out the Drive and PSU I had for yours. Also, what advantage does your 7850 have over the 7770 Cheddar suggested? Other than the AMD Gift coupon: Bioshock Inf. + Tomb Raider?

 

Well like you mentioned that is like a 100 bucks worth of up to date games. Though of course YMMV depending on how much the genres appeal.

As for the cards themselves, the 7770 is a good low end performer especially at lower resolutions but its limited resolutions but at the modern standard of 1080p it suffers and any level of anti aliasing is probably beyond it.

The 2 gig 7850 on the other hand is an excellent performer for the price and should give you at least medium if not high settings with some level of AA at 1080p. It has also got excellent overclocking potential if you want to go into that, and often you can push it beyond 7870 levels of performance.

For 1080p gaming I really wouldn't want to go below a 7850. It delivers at the minimum medium level beyond console visual details (and often higher) alongside some AA and good frame rates of 45 or above fps.

They are both good performers for their price though and certainly not bad cards, it really is up to you. What level of experience do you think worthwhile compared to the relative costs.

 

HIS is fine, if a little unknown. Here are some benchmarks from the HIS 7850, and as you can see, it can handle Battlefield 3 at 1920x1200 on full settings with and average of ~30 fps (but keep in mind that you won't have the exact same system they tested with, so your performance may vary).

A pretty good choice for that price. Of course the Gigabyte version is more powerful since it's overclocked (and has the better cooler, which gives it even more OC potential), but if you want to save some money you should be fine with the one from HIS.

 

With regards to the GPU, look at this for a quick reference. Use it to narrow down your search and then look at specific benchmarks. Good reviews can be found at that site, as well as Anandtech and Bit-Tech to name a few.

 

Someone on another site suggested a downgrade to an i3, This is what I've got so far http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KgqS

Also, Seems I had my numbers mixed up, I've got $704, not $740.