First Time Build-$750 Budget

[Happs]

Approximate Purchase Date: In between now and Monday.

Budget Range: $750 after rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming first and foremost, with some light video editing (and of course browsing).

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg/Amazon/NCIX (no Microcenter or Fry's nearby).

Location: US

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Not now, potentially down the road.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Basically, I've been looking to build for a couple months now and decided Black Friday/Cyber Monday would be the best time to get the most bang for my buck. I've already purchased a case, so it can be excluded from the build. Also, if necessary, I have an older monitor that I could use for the time being if the saved cash can be used to improve the overall build significantly for the long run.

It's probably worth noting that I will mainly be playing WoW on this rig, so perhaps ~$800 is a bit overkill to max that particular game out, but I'd like to be able to play GW2/BF3/Civ 5, etc on high-max settings with 30+ frames as well. If that's possible on a lower budget, the cheaper the better! heh. But at the same time, I'd like a relatively future proof rig that can easily be upgraded over the next several years.

Any recommendations for a good deal on a nice keyboard would be appreciated as well.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Tired of "uncomfortable" PC gaming... yeah.

 

[Happs]

Any help?

 

[aznshinobi]

I would have to say, you should think about AMD. I know your preference says Intel, but in most graphically intensive games or gaming at 1080P in general, AMD chips aren't that bad and are more affordable, specially since you can overclock with any of them.

Proof: Borderlands 2: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2055/6/
BF3: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2055/5/

So, what's more important is the GPU, not the CPU is what I'm getting at. With an AMD build you save enough on a decent cpu like the FX-6300 that you can afford to get a 7870 when your budget is only $650.

Check out my $650 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore#module146695821
OS (Don't worry, their BBB A rating approved): http://www.softwaresupplygroup.com/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-oem-branded.html
Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009421
Total: $800

 

[Happs]

Bit of a change of plans here, but I've upped my budget to $800 not including a monitor. I'm thinking i5 with maybe a 7870/7950 if the budget allows (the free three games on some of these AMD cards is pretty nice, but I haven't closed the door on Nvidia)? Not sure beyond that. Would like an SSD for Windows/WoW, but not necessary.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[aznshinobi]

Should that be the case, I'd get a better GPU as I stated again, not a better CPU.

Check out my $650 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore#module146695821
OS (Don't worry, their BBB A rating approved): http://www.softwaresupplygroup.com/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-oem-branded.html
Swap the 7870 to the 7950 (+$70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006
Trancend 64GB SF-3xxx SSD $65: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208779
Total: $825

Again, better GPU will result in better performance, not the CPU. Also you should keep in mind that the Trancend SSD, although not the best well known name, performs just as well as the big boys. Review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/240gb-256gb-ssd-review,3313-12.html
Same model, smaller size.