New Gaming System for Around $500 U.S

[ZANIESXD]

Hey guys, I'm attempting to build the best gaming system possible for about $500 (more or less). I plan on playing Battlefield 3 for the most part. Are these parts compatible? Do you have any recommendations? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4 GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

ASUS Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit PCI Express 2.1x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442

Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Cooler Master Black Mid Tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Rosewill CAPSTONE series 450W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240 Pin DDR3 1600 Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

ASUS Black SATA 24x DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

 

[djosbun]

Everything you have listed will be fine.

 

[nix327]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/twzC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/twzC/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/twzC/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($48.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $519.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-21 13:58 EST-0500)

 

[ZANIESXD]

Can the Dual Core processor keep up with the 2gb video card? And is it better to buy a cheap motherboard and invest more in things like the cpu and video card? I really appreciate the replies guys!

 

[nix327]

Can the Dual Core processor keep up with the 2gb video card? And is it better to buy a cheap motherboard and invest more in things like the cpu and video card? I really appreciate the replies guys!

The dual core will not bottleneck the 7850..but it will not perform as well as a quad core in CPU intensive games..the h77 mobo will let you upgrade to a better cpu in the future..

 

[geofelt]

If you are playing BF3 single player, then a modest cpu and gpu are OK.
If you will be playing multiplayer, then you need a strong cpu.

You might look at this tom's $500 build as a starting point.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-gaming-do-it-yourself-computer,3364.html

 

[Kamen_BG]

First things first I'll just say this.
A CPU's performance isn't measured by the number of it's core or the frequency at which they are running.
And secondly a graphics card's performance has almost nothing to do with its memory's capacity.

The PC i made you is far better than the one you made yourself or the one nix327 made you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (1 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($8.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (1 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($8.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $531.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-21 15:45 EST-0500)

The only minus is that it's a bit more expensive although it is more than justified.

 

[nix327]

Well i did say that the h77 mobo will let him upgrade in the future..when haswell comes out the prices for ivy and sandy bridge will come down as well..I have nothing against an AMD build though..This will give you a general idea about how the phenom II will perform against the pentium (its a g850)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=404

 

[DeusAres]

Here's another option with the i3. If you need an optical drive, just buy a cheap $15 one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Apex SK-393-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $481.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-22 13:22 EST-0500)