First new build

[Silurian]

Hi guys, I'm a complete novice with pc building and would just like some advice on whether or not these are decent components and if they're compatible with each other. It'll be my first time building a pc, well I'll leave the actual building to a friend who knows how, but I basically want to know if 1. the components will work together and 2. are they suitable for what I want my pc to be used as

I want to use the pc primarily for university work, surfing the web and general everyday use, but also be able to hold it's own whilst gaming and to a decent standard. Here are the components I've chosen so far.

Case : Corsair carbide 300r
http://www.ebuyer.com/351501-corsair-carbide-300r-case-cc-9011014-ww

PSU : Corsair 650W V2
http://www.ebuyer.com/257232-corsair-tx-650w-v2-psu-80plus-bronze-certified-cmpsu-650txv2uk

Motherboard : Asus sabretooth 990fx
http://www.ebuyer.com/270699-asus-sabertooth-990fx-socket-am3-8-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-sabertooth-990fx

From what I can tell, that motherboard may be overkill though? If so, any recommendations would be welcome, I'd like to spend no more than 130 (including VAT) though anything cheaper would be a bonus! I've noticed the Gigabyte ga-990fxa-ud3 seems to be pretty similar, but at £30 less - would this be a viable alternative?
http://www.ebuyer.com/271789-gigabyte-am3-amd990fx-4xddr3-raid-gbe-lan-4xusb3-0-dolby-atx-motherboard-ga-990fxa-ud3

CPU : Amd phenom II x4
http://www.ebuyer.com/186428-amd-phenom-ii-x4-965-black-edition-3-4ghz-socket-am3-6mb-l3-hdz965fbgmbox

HDD : WD 1Tb
http://www.ebuyer.com/241718-wd-1tb-blue-desktop-drive-wd10ealx
Do you think 1Tb is necessary, or would 500Gb be fine for what I'd like to use it for?

RAM : 8Gb Corsair Vengeance
http://www.ebuyer.com/262580-corsair-8gb-ddr3-1600mhz-vengeance-memory-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9b
- I noticed this runs at 1600mhz, would i be better off going for slower RAM?

GPU : xfx hd 5450 1GB
http://www.ebuyer.com/279583-xfx-hd-5450-heatsink-1gb-ddr3-vga-dvi-hdmi-pci-e-low-profile-hd-545x-zch2
I know this is a pretty low-end graphics card, and I'm fine with that because like I said it's primarily for uni work. At the moment I'm more interested in getting a pc that I can use for day to day use, and buy a better graphics card for gaming in the future, so would this be ok for the forseeable future? Originally I wasn't going to buy a graphics card at all for the time being, but noticed that the motherboard doesn't have integrated graphics so I assume I HAVE to buy a graphics card, or would it somehow work without one? (Probably stupid I know, but like I said I'm a novice )
Also, would I NEED to buy a sound card?

With regards to the monitor, I don't have a particular one in mind, and I'm looking to get a fairly cheap one for the time being (around £60-£80) but what I want to know is what things should I consider when buying a monitor? I've noticed there seems to be different types of cables like VGA and HDMI etc, but I think the graphics card I've mentioned is compatible with those two as well as a DVI-I cable...Can I therefore buy pretty much any monitor? And does it need to be a certain ratio to be used with the gpu?

Right, I think that's everything, sorry for the long post and if I've not explained anything properly but any advice would be much appreciated

 

[unRaveled]

500gb hard drive would be fine for your university works. Just make sure to get a good branded hard drive as to you wouldn't want a hard drive failure wiping out all of your data.

For the motherboard, you can get the gigabyte motherboard. Your primary usage is for your university works so you wouldn't need a sabretooth.

It does not need to be a certain ratio. Just pick out a monitor and we'll verify if it is compatible with each other.

 

[obsama1]

Mobo is overkill. If you downgrade the mobo, you might be able to get a better GPu or Intel CPU.

 

[Silurian]

Thank you both for your replies! unRaveled, are there any particular brands you could recommend for a hard drive? hard drive failure would be pretty devastating
I probably will go for the gigabyte motherboard, as everyone and everywhere seems to say the sabretooth is just way above my needs and would be wasted

Obsama1: I'm thinking of getting a better gpu over switching to an intel cpu, as they are quite a bit more expensive and (I'm assuming) I'd still have to upgrade my gpu at some point as the integrated graphics might not be good enough?

I'd also like to know if buying a soundcard would be necessary?
In regards to the monitor, I'm still not entirely sure but I may go for this one if it's compatible as it's the cheapest 1920x1080
http://www.ebuyer.com/275767-acer-v223hqvbd-lcd-tft-21-5-dvi-d-monitor-et-wv3he-021

^^^ forgot the link first time, woops!

 

[obsama1]

Soundcards are unnecessary.

 

[unRaveled]

Western Digital Caviar Black, Samsung Spinpoint series, and Seagate barracuda (from my own experience) are all good choices.

 

[Silurian]

Brilliant, thank you