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First Time Builder, Could you please check my current part choices?

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Hello. I have read a few how-to guides on building computers, but i'm still not certain that my parts are the
smartest buy or that they'll work together.
My general idea with building a computer: I want to build a desktop that can run Guild Wars 2(bet you haven't heard that recently :sarcastic:  ) and SWTOR on decent graphics for an affordable price.
Other than that I will mostly be watching tv shows, watching movies, and reading webcomics.

I tried to base my parts around this article: http://www.informatics-tech.com/build-a-cheap-400-dolla...
in which the author sets forth a setup that costs around $400.
I did however upgrade some things like the graphics card and tried to cut back on the power supply he suggested because I didn't think I needed 500W...(please tell me otherwise if i'm wrong)

before the shipping and a monitor and OS(going with 64bit Windows 7) the price comes to about 370, same as the author's estimate. Please review my specs and let me know what you think

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Rosewill R363-M-BK Black Ultra High Gloss Finished MicroATX Computer Case with 400W ATX 2.2 12V Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

BIOSTAR A780L3B AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (11192-22-20G)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Team Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model TED38192M1333C9DC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS USB 2.0 Black External Slim CD/DVD Writer Model SDRW-08D2S-U
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

AMD Athlon II X3 455 Rana 3.3GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX455WFGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Thank you for taking a look at this!

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the only thing I would change (and it will cost a bit extra) is swap the 6670 for a 7770 (newer, faster, requires less power, generally more awesome) and really make sure a 400w PSU is enough. I've always had a 750w (way overkill) just to be sure. someone will be able to get you closer to what you need though. also that Athlon II x3 455 will most likely unlock to a quad core so look for a motherboard that has an unlock feature!

For $400 that's quite a few low quality components there - especially the power supply. I'd suggest something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2120 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.94 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($60.96 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($106.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $481.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

A little bit more but all the components here are quality and they'll be far better in the long run than that setup.

My first suggestion would be to swap out your platform from an AMD Athlon to an Intel Pentium platform. You will get better performance from the start.
ASRock B75M-GL Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Pentium G630 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The RAM is probably ok, but here is my alternative for $2 more. Better known brand, lower voltage.
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I really would not go with that Power Supply that came with the case. The power supply is what feeds all your components. It's something you don't want to totally cheap out on. These are relatively cheap and the PSU is better. The case is pretty similar to the once you chose.
Antec VP-450 PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Rosewill FBM-01 Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Why the external DVD drive? I'd save the money and get a cheap internal
DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

That hard drive is fine, but I've come to love the Seagate hybrid drive. It is a laptop size 500GB drive with a 4GB SLC SSD. It can add some significant performance for $10 more. They are also very reliable. You may need a 2.5 to 3.5 mount kit or just drill some holes on the bottom level of the hard drive rack before you start.
Seagate Momentus XT HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The video card is fine, but for $40-$50 more you could get a 7750 which would help you out and the PSU I chose would run it fine plus some. Or better yet a 7770. It all depends what you want to spend.

My total came out to $384.92 + $17.22 Shipping = $402.14

A little more, for some better parts and performance. The motherboard is a B75 chipset so you could upgrade to an Ivy bridge CPU if you wanted to down the road. It also has USB 3.0 and SATA 3.

Quote:
My first suggestion would be to swap out your platform from an AMD Athlon to an Intel Pentium platform. You will get better performance from the start.
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157326
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819116406


For $10 more you can get H77 and the new Pentium G2120 - which will be far better. I think I am the only one here who really hates B75 for most uses.

Quote:


Why the external DVD drive? I'd save the money and get a cheap internal
DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151256


I wondered that as well - a cheap internal will be far better.

Quote:
That hard drive is fine, but I've come to love the Seagate hybrid drive. It is a laptop size 500GB drive with a 4GB SLC SSD. It can add some significant performance for $10 more. They are also very reliable.


I don't really see much of a point to the Momentus for desktop use as it's mainly meant for laptops where you don't have the option of secondary storage.

g-unit1111 said:

For $10 more you can get H77 and the new Pentium G2120 - which will be far better. I think I am the only one here who really hates B75 for most uses.

The difference was more like $54 from your mobo/cpu and mine. For a low cost build that is a bit of savings.

g-unit1111 said:

I don't really see much of a point to the Momentus for desktop use as it's mainly meant for laptops where you don't have the option of secondary storage.

True, but for a 500GB drive it's faster than most. Besides getting a boot SSD and a data drive it would be a nice option over a standard 500GB drive.
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