$650-$800 Budget Gaming Build

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next month

Budget Range: $650-$850 total.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: No. (Although I wouldn't mind basic guidelines for when I do upgrade.





Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon and Newegg. NCIX and Microcenter were a pain for me the last build I did, I can be talked out of this if necessary.

Location: Olympia, Washington

Parts Preferences: I just built a 600 dollar intel build. Not sure if "familiarity" plays any part after only one build.

Overclocking: Maybe. I've never done it before, don't know what it entails. I could leave it open for the possibility but I don't know if I'll do it.

SLI or Crossfire: Don't even know what it means  

Additional Comments: I play games like Minecraft, Arma II, Skyrim, Fallout etc. I'd like a rig that has a reasonable shot at not being outdated in two weeks. Also, the case I got my little brother when I built his was a Cooler Elite 430. While I loved the look of it, something a little nicer would please the snob in me.








So to elaborate more, I built my little brother a rig thought up on this site by someone very helpful. It was incredibly fun to build, and now I'm jealous that my gift to him blows my computer out of the water. I admittedly do not know the practical differences (in building the computer) between intel and AMD. And I don't know where the best bang for my buck is.

I'll also say this, I don't enjoy flying blind. The last build I really just took everyones word for everything. While that worked out great, I'd sure like to know the why's and why nots of the things that I'm doing. I'm a well read person, but starting in on system building is a bit overwhelming. If anyone has any useful reading material to throw in with the builds, I'd really appreciate it.