In need of opinion of 1st time Budget Build ($750-$800 Range)

[DraikRoan]

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Steel - $60
CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz Quad-Core - $105
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ Motherboard $85
Video/Graphics Card: GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB $240
PSU: Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - $60
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaws 2x 4gb (8gb) - $45
Hardrive/Storage #1: Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB $105
Hardrive/Storage #2: WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB $50
Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $20

Total: $770

The prices above are listed according to how much I snagged them for (rebates/discounts included). I'm upgrading from a retail-bought Compaq Presario 1625nx (which I upgraded to the max of what the Mobo can handle) and I'm aiming towards a sufficient gaming PC that is able to play Skyrim, Dragon Age: Origins, Sims 3, and WoW smoothly and without any hiccups. Is everything compatible? Is there something I could've purchased that would've performed better without breaking an $800 budget? (P.S. I'm a fan of AMD) If it helps, I'm not interested in overclocking at all, and my monitor's res is 1360/768.

Also, sort of off-topic question's: Let's say my OS is Windows 7, can I install my old HDD with Windows XP on it so I can transfer files from that onto another HDD? If it's possible and once I snag everything off it, could I reformat that WinXP HDD and continue using it even though it's an older HDD? (I know I'll lose XP ^_^)

 

[stevydinho]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xlKi Couldn't squeeze the SSD in budget, but you have AMD's best CPU, a better mobo and a modular PSU in there

 

[Outlander_04]

You are just not going to need a 7870 at that resolution

FX 6300
Asrock 970 Extreme4
2 x4 gig of RAM
7850
Samsung 830 or 840 SSD
500 watt psu
would more than cover your needs and use less power doing it

Yes once you have installed an operating system you should be able to install your old hard drive and the new windows install should be able to read the files and let you copy and paste them to the new hard drive .

You can also do this very easily with a Belkin USB file transfer cable

 

[DraikRoan]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xlKi Couldn't squeeze the SSD in budget, but you have AMD's best CPU, a better mobo and a modular PSU in there

That CPU looks sexy, but it's a little much compared to a Zambezi listed above. When purchasing Mobo's for a gaming rig, what exactly should I be looking for as far as performance wise compared to other mobo's? It's not as concrete for me to tell unlike Video/Graphic Cards and CPU's.

You are just not going to need a 7870 at that resolution

FX 6300
Asrock 970 Extreme4
2 x4 gig of RAM
7850
Samsung 830 or 840 SSD
500 watt psu
would more than cover your needs and use less power doing it

Yes once you have installed an operating system you should be able to install your old hard drive and the new windows install should be able to read the files and let you copy and paste them to the new hard drive .

You can also do this very easily with a Belkin USB file transfer cable

Cool. Thanks for the HDD answer. Is there much difference between the 4100 and 6300? If so, I might have to return the 4100 and save up a little again.

 

[Swordkd]

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

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Agility 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($98.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.41 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $767.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-13 04:27 EST-0500)

Pretty much what Outlander_04 said. The 6300fx is a decent cpu for the price. The 6300fx is a piledriver 6 core cpu(refined version of Zambezi), the 4100fx is a 4 core, zambezi cpu. If you do some searching you can find reviews comparing the piledriver cpus vs. the older ones. It's really worth the extra money.

 

[g-unit1111]

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

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Agility 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($98.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.41 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $767.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-13 04:27 EST-0500)

Pretty much what Outlander_04 said. The 6300fx is a decent cpu for the price. The 6300fx is a piledriver 6 core cpu(refined version of Zambezi), the 4100fx is a 4 core, zambezi cpu. If you do some searching you can find reviews comparing the piledriver cpus vs. the older ones. It's really worth the extra money.

The FX-6300 is a pretty decent CPU - it's definitely better than the FX-4300. The OCZ power supply you linked to is OK - better would be to get from Antec, Corsair, or Seasonic. But the OP would be very wise to avoid Ultra. Good case choice on that build though.

This would be a better build for $750:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $714.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-13 16:28 EST-0500)