Need Advice Building $800 PC. Mainly gaming and school

[sigmamax]

Approximate Purchase Date: about three weeks

Budget Range: US $800 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (mostly Arma2/DayZ, BF3, Minecraft), School work, some light editing in the future

Are you buying a monitor: No, have an ASUS V242H

Parts to Upgrade: None

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: a combination of Newegg, Microcenter (in store pickup offers work for me), and Amazon

Location: New York City

Parts Preferences: I'm leaning towards Intel CPU with a Radeon GPU but i can change if it would make a noticeable

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the far future

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Here is what i was thinking on:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/enP9
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/enP9/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/enP9/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.46 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($23.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $739.38
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-11 15:00 EDT-0400)

 

[ScrewySqrl]

looks decent

 

[azeem40]

If you are dead set on CF/SLI, keep the motherboard. Otherwise, get the H77 Pro4/MVP.

 

[bigcyco1]

It looks good to me but i agree with azeem40 and if there is anyway you can afford it ditch that 7850 they ain't all that people make them out to be get a 7870 or wait for 660 TI

 

[azeem40]

ditch that 7850 they ain't all that people make them out to be

What? Please provide evidence so I can digest that one please.

 

[bigcyco1]

What? Please provide evidence so I can digest that one please.

What evidence would you like to see ?

 

[azeem40]

I need to know where you are getting that from. How is a 7850 not worth it when it can OC close to the levels of the GTX 580 without effort?

 

[bigcyco1]

I need to know where you are getting that from. How is a 7850 not worth it when it can OC close to the levels of the GTX 580 without effort?

Well if you OC it then i would say it kinda worth it but there is no guaranteed oc to close to 580 level though it's possible but the fact that a two year old card such as the powerhog 480 mop the floor with it doesn't make it sound to good for me

 

[azeem40]

It is pretty much guaranateed. 1 GHz is easily done on stock settings.

 

[bigcyco1]

It is pretty much guaranateed. 1 GHz is easily done on stock settings.

Well i still rather have a 7870 or better that card just don't impress me is all but to each his or her own.

 

[DeusAres]

I'd go for this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: MSI Z68A-G43 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $749.96
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-11 18:10 EDT-0400)

If you can afford to step up the GPU, grab the hd 7870.

I highly recommend you give overclocking a chance. There are plenty of tutorials out there. It's very simple. It can increase your computer's performance by around 25% or more.