New Gaming Build for $800-950

Hello. I am anticipating building my own home PC somewhat soon and was hoping the veterans here could lend me a hand, because I am simply stressing myself out now from picking parts. I want the most for my money, and I would like it to be a fun and somewhat easy learning experience. I will answer the questions from the template:


Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime in the next month I hope.

Budget Range: $800-950 after rebates and shipping.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the web, light video editing.

Are you buying a monitor: No



Parts to Upgrade: Completely new computer. Maybe I don't understand this question.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes. But I may be able to get a copy for free from my college.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Anything really. I've been using the PC Part Picker website.

Location: Iowa, USA. I'm nowhere near any in-store pickup locations.

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU and I'd like the Radeon 7850.

Overclocking: I don't know, this has me really intimidated. All I've heard about OCing is it can damage your computer.

SLI or Crossfire: No.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments: Preferably a cool looking case that is easy to work with, obviously performance comes first. I don't play really intensive games like FPS's. The most intensive game I would play is probably The Witcher 2. Perhaps some MMORPGS.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My store-bought computer is getting old, and I am going to college for Computer Support, so I would like some hands on experience. Plus I would like a quality gaming computer.


I anticipate any help you all may be able to offer me. I've been choosing parts for the last month, all the choices are giving me a big headache. The only part I have stuck with is the video card and some miscellaneous parts. Here is the incomplete build I have so far. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bNVb