First Gaming PC (On a budget)

[abkaflab]

So im new to building PCs, ive never built one before and I havent used one in 3 years as im a Mac guy. But anyways, I had what I thought was a pretty good build until amazon raised the price of the sapphire radeon 6950 2gb to $300. So now ive been looking at the radeon 7850, 7870 and the GTX 660 (non-ti) at the $200-$230 price point. Ive really been leaning toward the 660 though. But anyways heres my build with links to each part. I also have questions about the build which Ill ask after the links.

-AMD phenom 2 x4 am3 3.4ghz - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SRQ214/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
-gtx 660 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00966IREK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
-8gb corsair ram - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
-asus cd drive - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&smid=A1B16S9HEII11V
-cooler master elite 430 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003O8J11E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
-cooler master extreme power 600w - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NJ0CZA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
-500gb 7200rpm HDD - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00461G3MS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
-Asus socket am3+/ amd 970 mobo - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058G65UU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=A22WDFGR5I1U9E
-cooler master hyper 212 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&smid=A1HNC035CZ2MR5

So is everything compatible with eachother? Is the 660 the best of the 3 cards I listed in that price range? Is there a way I could make this build cheaper with the same performance? It comes out to about $670 for all the parts. But when I add the keyboard, mouse, mousepad, and speakers its $722. Which is already over what I wanted and I still need a monitor and a copy of windows.

Additional info: Ill probably be playing a lot of BattleField 3, Garrys mod, Team Fortress 2, CSGO, and Planetside 2.

Sorry im such a noob but thanks in advance.

EDIT: Forgot this

Approximate Purchase Date: Before 2013

Budget Range: Up to $700

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the web

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: Everything, this is from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Upstate NY, USA

Parts Preferences: not any

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Right now I dont have a computer for gaming and I really want to get into PC gaming

 

[PANZER4]

Have you heard of newegg? They sell pc parts and is where most people in the US get there parts
I'd say off the top of my head
i5 3450 ~180
Radeon 7770~120
Asrock extreme4 ~130
8 GB ram ~40
Case ~50
PSU ~70 (don't know much bout PSUs)
OS ~100
Monitor ~150 for a cheapy
DVD drive ~20
TBH I think you should save some more, and when you have ~900 for everything you should be gold

 

[PANZER4]

Could you maybe sell your current pc when you get the new one?

 

[abkaflab]

Have you heard of newegg? They sell pc parts and is where most people in the US get there parts
I'd say off the top of my head
i5 3450 ~180
Radeon 7770~120
Asrock extreme4 ~130
8 GB ram ~40
Case ~50
PSU ~70 (don't know much bout PSUs)
OS ~100
Monitor ~150 for a cheapy
DVD drive ~20
TBH I think you should save some more, and when you have ~900 for everything you should be gold

Would the i5 3450 be a big improvement over the phenom ii x4 965? Its a $100 more than the x4. And about the $900 I really cant $700 is my max.

Could you maybe sell your current pc when you get the new one?

Sadly not, I share the computer with someone.

 

[PANZER4]

Damn, ok.....
The i5 is a serious improvement on the phenom II, not sure how much though. I'm gonna do some sifting on the web for ya, and see if I can come up with something. Give me ~15 minutes and ill see what I can do.

 

[PANZER4]

Well, I've done some looking around, and it seems to me that your original choice of the phenom might work Fairly well with bf3 multi, and in that budget you probably won't have it bottlenecking the video card, so..
(I'm doing this on an iPad, so I honestly can't be bothered going through pcparpicker for your parts prices, I'm just going by close estimates)
Right off the bat u need a monitor and a OS
OS ~100
Monitor ~150 (being optimistic)
Actual pc
Phenom II X4 CPU ~100
7770 GPU ~120
4-8 GB RAM ~20-40
Motherboard ~70
Case ~30 (has to be bottom barrel, sorry)
PSU ~60 (can't have it fry you computer, can we?)
DVD ~15
Hard drive ~60

That's the best I think you could get right now, still a little over budget, but..

 

[PANZER4]

IF you buy the phenom you gonna need a Big cooler, iF u get the intel u dont need a cooler... 7770 is a ok graphics the ´power supply cooler master is not too great"
I find that http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Current-HCG-620M-BRONZE-Modular/dp/B006TVQTFE/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1351947011&sr=1-7&keywords=power+supply+antec

and with hd 4000 for use with vsync and max fps virtu mvp http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Current-HCG-620M-BRONZE-Modular/dp/B006TVQTFE/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1351947011&sr=1-7&keywords=power+supply+antec

Why would he need a big cooler?

 

[PANZER4]

Ok then, 20$ extra

 

[abkaflab]

Well, I've done some looking around, and it seems to me that your original choice of the phenom might work Fairly well with bf3 multi, and in that budget you probably won't have it bottlenecking the video card, so..
(I'm doing this on an iPad, so I honestly can't be bothered going through pcparpicker for your parts prices, I'm just going by close estimates)
Right off the bat u need a monitor and a OS
OS ~100
Monitor ~150 (being optimistic)
Actual pc
Phenom II X4 CPU ~100
7770 GPU ~120
4-8 GB RAM ~20-40
Motherboard ~70
Case ~30 (has to be bottom barrel, sorry)
PSU ~60 (can't have it fry you computer, can we?)
DVD ~15
Hard drive ~60

That's the best I think you could get right now, still a little over budget, but..

Can anyone link a good motherboard for around $70? Im not to good with this stuff. Also the only cases I could find for $30 were "mini" cases.

 

[PANZER4]

Man, Its so hard not to reiterate what i said earlier, but 700$ for just the pc = gold. Add monitor and OS =.....not so much. My advice stands. Save a little extra so you can hit the sweet spot for a budget build. You'll end up regretting it if you must have it NOW. Anyway, isn't 200$ like 4-5 weeks of being a little conservative?

 

[PANZER4]

Asrock 970 DE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157305
Cases
You could probably try out any of these case, just make sure your stuff fits and it looks ok to you
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%204093&IsNodeId=1&name=%2410%20-%20%2425

 

[PANZER4]

It's too bad were about a generation off the golden APU AKA "kaveri"

 

[mousseng]

Well, assuming you've already got a keyboard and mouse, and are willing to go a little over budget, you could get yourself a really nice computer even at that budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card ($124.23 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: BenQ GW2250 21.5" Monitor ($123.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $725.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Just a heads-up, the memory kit listed here has another 10%-off coupon on Newegg, making it total to about $31.50, not $35. Also, that 560ti is far better than a 7770, and is (for some reason) about the same price as one. Edit: Forgot to mention that there's $30 worth of rebates in there, too, so if those come through that'll pull the total down to $695.

 

[abkaflab]

Asrock 970 DE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157305

Thanks, I will build the PC with all the new parts and see what it adds up too.

 

[abkaflab]

Well, assuming you've already got a keyboard and mouse, and are willing to go a little over budget, you could get yourself a really nice computer even at that budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card ($124.23 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: BenQ GW2250 21.5" Monitor ($123.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $725.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Just a heads-up, the memory kit listed here has another 10%-off coupon on Newegg, making it total to about $31.50, not $35. Also, that 560ti is far better than a 7770, and is (for some reason) about the same price as one. Edit: Forgot to mention that there's $30 worth of rebates in there, too, so if those come through that'll pull the total down to $695.

Wow :O thanks a lot. This looks like an awesome PC. But can I ask why you didnt add windows 8 as its the newer OS and its only $9 more?

 

[PANZER4]

The build mousseng has suggested is excellent. If you us that you should do fine

 

[PANZER4]

Removed due to fail post

 

[abkaflab]

Best answer selected by Abkaflab.