~$800 Budget Gaming Build -- Please Advise on Parts Selection

[dblev]

Hey Tomshardware forum gurus,

I recently completed my first budget build for my aging mother and I am high with the prospects of building my own rig within the upcoming weeks. Currently, I am a college student with general multitasking needs, small amounts of python coding, and a few nights a week of raiding on WoW. I'm certainly not attempting to create the end-all, be-all of machines, but I would like to squeeze as much performance out of my budget as possible given my current needs. I would also like to leave some room for the addition of a second graphics card, in case my gaming needs increase, hence the 700W power supply I currently have selected. I also included a small 64 gig SSD because people have been giving rave reviews on how they boosted their system's performance. Is this a mistake? Still unsure about price/performance on this technology.

I would certainly appreciate if you all could take a look at my proposed parts selection here and give your informed inputs. I would also like to hear everyone's individual takes on whether or not it is worth holding off until March to purchase the i5-2500k and build around that, or if this current build will satisfy for less.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Proposed Build:

AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE 3.4 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

Radeon HD 6850 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150505

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357

Rosewill Case/PSU Combo Deal (Only Good 'til 10AM, can substitute this if I miss the deadline)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.610310

 

[batuchka]

Hmm with the new Vertex 3 SATA 6GB/s Sandforce based SSD review out a few hours ago i would rather u hit a HD 6870 and hold off the SSD for now

$652AR

OCZ Vertex 3 Pro Preview: The First SF-2500 SSD
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4159/ocz-vertex-3-pro-preview-the-first-sf2500-ssd

Edit
That Asus 790X/SB 750 is also on USB/SATA 2.0 so the Asrock 870Extreme3/SB 850 with native SATA 6GB/s solution and USB 3.0 via Marvell Controller is also geared to take full advantage of incoming tech/greatly enhanced transfer speeds ^^

 

[dblev]

Thanks, batuchka, for the timely response. Does it make any difference on your graphics card upgrade recommendation if I add that I will be doing most of my gaming at 1920x1200? What's your take at this res?

As per your advice, I have dropped the SSD from the list and upgraded the MoBo. Surprisingly enough, I just used that ASRock870 in my first build (and loved it)... I guess I was trying to cut costs in an area where I shouldn't have.

 

[batuchka]

Given same budget/price of config i will always vote to eek out a superior GPU in there