Okay, so I'm looking into building my first computer. I know the benefits to building my own computer versus buying a pre-build computer, I've just never done it before. My budget looks to be somewhere around $700. I know that with a budget like that, I'm not going to have the top of the line graphics card, I just want something that will handle WoW, Battlefield 3, Planetside 2, and stuff like that. I don't need a monitor, but I will need Windows. I'm not against using 8, but I'd gladly use 7 if it's cheaper. Thankfully I have a friend that's a IT guy that's more than willing to help me build it, but I'm not sure what the best setup would be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
$10-$20 more on a Z77 motherboard will allow you to get a overclocking processor down the road. The 3470 is perfectly capable of running pretty much any game at Ultra though, with a good video card.
If you can transfer the OS license and HD, that money can be freed up to increase the video card or cpu or both.
As a recent 1st time builder these helped me tremendously. Add that I made some mistakes beforehand too:
Thus my simple tips for the newb:
1) motherboard mounting screws - basically those little screw plates that go between the motherboard and the case to create separation. If you don't use them, you will fry your motherboard
2) order the right size of motherboard. Know what case you're getting and get the right size. Upon frying my 1st motherboard, I just ordered a 2nd one asap, and ended up ordering a micro-atx when I needed an atx... /sigh... /lol. Yup newbie moves, but that is the trial and error of a 1st time builder.
Definitely consider buying a thumbdrive 8gb for your windows 7 disk. It'll help it load a lot faster
Another thought: definitely get an ssd. It'll speed up your system immensely, especially for non-mmo's. It will definitely help with WoW load faster especially if you use add-ons.
I've been able to free up a few dollars and I've been looking around, and here's what I've come up with. If there's anything wrong, or any other suggestions, please feel free to help: