Looking to build a low budget Gaming Computer

[-Nort]

I have little experience with building computers but I wanted to try my hand at building one. I went to PCPartPicker and this is what I ended up with:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KFu9

The parts I chose to put together are probably laughable at best, but I was going off what little experience I have.

I have a few questions:

I was aiming for around the $550 range, as you can see I went over by around $175. Is there any way I can reduce the price without while still being able to use it to play games on medium to high settings?

Is the video card I picked going to be good enough to run newer games at medium to high settings?

Is 8GB of RAM too much?

Is the i5-3350P a good processor? Would it be cheaper to go AMD?

Is the 450W PSU too much? PartPicker estimates the wattage for the system to be 187W.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shockeray]

Ok, not bad for a fist try.

I would remove the CPU cooler, as the CPU will come with a stock cooler and you really only need a better one if you are overclocking.
I would change the RAM to...
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl10s8gbxl
Get rid of that Video Card, as the CPU will have better integrated graphics.

You can also remove that sound card because the Motherboard already has better Audio.

Replace your case and fan with this case and fan...
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210001
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cougar-case-fan-cfv12hb
(I would install this extra fan on the front of the computer, drawing air in)

Here is my suggested build with all of these changes...
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KFZl

Since this build has no GPU, I would suspect that you will get medium performance on games, but don't expect to be able to run Crysis.

 

[-Nort]

I've played around with it and managed to bring the price down a bit. Changed mostly everything and upgraded the CPU to a 3750k:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KPYt

Any suggestions?

I'm also interested in suggestions for a decent video card that'll run games like BF3, the new Sim City, etc. This is what I'll be using for a monitor: http://store.sony.com/p/24%22-PlayStation-3D-Display-Bundle/en/p/PS398078

 

[Shockeray]

Unless you need a Mini ATX MoBo, go with the full size, it will be able to be upgraded more than the minis. This is the Motherboard I would suggest you get, but it isn't in the PCPartpicker database...
MSI ZH77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel H77

And what video card I would recommend you to get, really depends on what price your wanting to pay, with the integrated graphics on the CPU, You're only going to get a worthwhile gain in performance from a card over $100.

And I would still get the G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB RAM, it's only $5 more.