Looking to build a gaming pc on about a $750 after rebates budget help

[krannurak]

Hey guys, i'm a college student on a budget, i just got into pc gaming and my laptop just doesn't cut it, what parts can you guys recommend for my build?

 

[krannurak]

oops sorry i don't need a monitor or mouse/keyboard

 

[smorizio]

http://www.microcenter.com/product/323929/V3_Black_Edition_ATX_Mid_Tower_Computer_Case
19.00 case.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/399983/Builder_Series_CX600_600_Watt_ATX_12V_Power_Supply
54.00 power supply.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/400847/1TB_7,200_RPM_SATA_60Gb-s_35_Internal_Hard_Drive_DT01ACA100_-_OEM
60.00 hard drive
http://www.microcenter.com/product/407512/24x_Super_Multi_Internal_SATA_DVD%C2%B1RW_DL_Drive_-_Bare_Drive
17.00 cd-rom burner.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/401769/Z77A-G41_LGA_1155_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
85.00 motherboard.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/400664/Core_i5_3470_32GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor
150.00 cpu
http://www.microcenter.com/product/382101/Ballistix_Sport_8GB_DDR3-1600_%28PC3-12800%29_CL9_Dual_Channel_Desktop_Memory_Kit_%28Two_4GB_Memory_Modules%29
52.00 ram..with 5.00 off with cpu or mb purchase.
437.00 no os or gpu card.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/399843/GV-N660OC-2GD_NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_660_OC_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card
209.00

http://www.microcenter.com/product/405812/HD7870-DC2-2GD5-V2_AMD_Radeon_HD_7870_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card
229.00

http://www.microcenter.com/product/373900/Hyper_212_EVO_Universal_CPU_Cooler
after market cpu cooler if the intel cpu cooler runs hot during games.

 

[jtenorj]

That's all well and good if you happen to live near a microcenter. If not, here are some alternatives:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 970 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($102.82 @ Compuvest)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.57 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.17 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($91.17 @ Amazon)
Total: $735.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-09 19:13 EST-0500)

CPU is listed as a basic oem part(w/o cooler), but it's an unlocked black edition. You'll use another cooler, anyway.
Cooler is a penny more at amazon or newegg with free shipping.
Mobo will let you push that unlocked cpu on that cooler. Overclocking will help you avoid a cpu bottleneck.
High quality ram. A tad slow, but decent latency and heat spreaders. You won't notice a lack of speed while gaming.
Good quality HDD with decent speed. Not a ton of capacity, but plenty for OS/apps/a bunch of games.
Great bang for the buck graphics card. Should do 1080p with high to max settings in most games at a playable frame rate.
Great features on this case for the price.
Excellent power supply for this rig.
A dvd burner for installing windows and games/programs on disk. If you can get an OS on a flash drive and download the apps you'll use and games you'll play, you don't need this part.
A new copy of windows(if you need one. College students may be eligible for a free copy).

Total is a little over 750 before rebates and a little under 750 after rebates.

If you don't need to purchase a copy of windows, you can sink that money into something like a Sapphire hd7970 for 359.99 or more storage. You could even spring for an ssd like a samsung 840 120GB. These parts are what I'd get on this budget(if I already had a decent monitor. Already have a decent keyboard and mouse). Make what you will of it.