Please Help with First Build

musicmelody

Honorable
Nov 5, 2012
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10,630
Budget: up to 600 USD, although less wouldn't be bad. I will be buying one item at a time over the next two months, one item per paycheck. All I can afford.

Parts not needed: HDD, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Optical Drive. (I also have a GPU, 5450 1G, and a PSU, Thermaltake TR2 with Dual 12V rails, and about three or four case fans laying around that I can re-use if recommended or needed).

Resolution: 1650 x 1080

Crossfire: No, I would prefer one GPU with a lot of power, rather than two.

Overclock: Not right now I don't but I would like the motherboard at least to be able to, and maybe the CPU, although not necessary, since I can always keep the MoBo and upgrade CPU.

Uses: Gaming, video and audio editing, usual stuff.

Location: MS, US.

Preferred Sites: All I've heard of is newegg.com but I'm open to others.

Other notes: I want to be able to build upon this, keep it for up to 4 or 5 years max, and enhance it, etc. So lots of options and ability to upgrade in the case and motherboard would be nice. Cooling is also important to me because of the little alcove/cubby my tower will be sitting in.

Preferred Brands: I have only used AMD, never used Intel. Nothing against them, just haven't used them. Whatever gets me best performance for the dollar. I am also curious about the AMD-FX series with the onboard GPU's, heard about this, it may not even be true.

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I was all for the Bitfenix Prodigy and I had even done some build ideas around it, but after realizing the odd placement of USB ports, lack of other peripherals, small ability to upgrade, etc. I put it on the back burner.

So, essentially I need, CPU/Motherboard, a GPU, RAM, a case, and possibly a PSU.

Please respond. This is my third post in the past three days and I've trimmed this one down and left the power in your hands. I am open to learning and suggestions.
 

monstersti

Honorable
Oct 4, 2012
88
0
10,640
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rY3M
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rY3M/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rY3M/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($162.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $599.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-11 05:07 EST-0500)
 

musicmelody

Honorable
Nov 5, 2012
89
0
10,630
Well now i got two replies to my different posts, I'm comparing this build and

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Solution (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $534.93

I like the corsair PSU, a little more wattage gives room for expandability. How do the processors match up, and the motherboards, for upgrading and expanding?