First time building a new PC, thought it would be too risky, so I am building it with my pro friend. Since I've never done it before, I am anxious that I might over-spend on computer parts. Any tips how to buy a excellent computer parts for decent price? Looking forward to spend maximum of $800 and minimum of $600, because my pro friend that's helping me, made his PC just a month ago and it is fantastic for gaming for just the cost of $800. Thanks
Core i5 5750 or 5770 2x2 GB Corsair Dominator or G.Skill Ripjaws MSI,Gigabyte,or Biostar mobo Corsair PSU 500 Watts or more
LG or Pioneer DVD burner. Seagate or WD hard drive...500GB should be plenty for a gaming rig; or just about any system not being used for video editing. Gigabyte or evga mainboard (if you include MSI and Biostar, you also should include DFI...all three are tied for second place in quality while gigabyte and evga seem to be tied for first place for the most part.) Core i5 (there is only one i5 desktop processor) ATI HD5770 2x2GB corsair; does not need to be dominator. Corsair PSU is the best...the 550W unit should be overkill for this system. Arctic silver 5 thermal compound - if your friend does not have any, get a tube and give him the remains as a partial thank you for the help with the build. Also, you might be tempted to blow 1/5 of your budget on some pretty case...DONT DO IT. Get yourself a basic sub-$50 case with good cooling; your parts don't care how the outside of the case looks or if the edges of the metal are not perfectly rounded. If it happens to come with a power supply, this is neither advantage nor problem...just toss out the included power supply when you get the case...or sell it to some moron on ebay. As for general buying tips, all I can say is to look around. Some places might charge $1 more per part...but if you can get 4 parts from the same place, then the $4 is much less than what you have saved on shipping. newegg.com tigerdirect.com amazon.com pricewatch.com
i5 750 and HD5770 sounds like a solid bet to me. Alternatively you might be able to fit an HD4890 into that budget.