Budget gaming PC recommendations

[GhoSt]

So me and a bunch of my freinds having been playing a bunch of old pc games lately (AOE3 ect.), anyway one of them is always lagging out the games with his ancient laptop. So he wants to get a new computer for gaming, i suggested he built it himself rather than buying another laptop. Since he knows next to nothing on the subject, I offered to scout him out some parts for a budget build.

Anyway this is the hardware I picked him, what I would like to get is any recommendations you guys can make to save money or boost performance.
MB: asus m5a7l am3+
CPU: amd fx-4100
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 1333MHz
HD: WD black 1tb
PSU: corsair tx-650w-v2
GPU: asus hd 6770
OPTICAL: ASUS DRW-24B3ST

To put things in perspective, he is currently running intel integrated graphics.

[cyberboy109]

I built a nice budget system using the following (itx)
Amd A8k (black edtion) over clocked 3.8ghz
XFX 6850
G skill 2 x 4gb ddr3
asus fm1 board itx

Now the A8k is nice budget APU and paired with  a 6670 for hybrid cross fire does some nice gaming,...I obv already had a 6850 and I get some nice frame rates in games...the A8 in some cases can keep up the fx 4100 and in other cases beat it wich is pretty shocking....The A8K can happily run with a 6970 and on youtube linus had it paired with a 6990 and was able to play games maxed out on a full hd monitor obv not all games reached 60fps...

failing that
I3 2120 set up with a 6850 would be a another nice choice meaning later on he could upgrade the i3 to summit such as a I5 if he feels like it.


The reason I said the 6850 is 1 its a nice game and can play some newer games at decent frame rates, 2 it can be crossfire if motherboard allows it and 3 the prices have started to due to the 7000 popping up

[frenulem - No.5417]

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU:  AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($119.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2P Micro ATX  AM3 Motherboard  ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory:  Patriot Sector 5 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($14.99 @ Microcenter)
Hard Drive:  Western Digital AV-GP 500GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.78 @ Compuvest)
Video Card:  Diamond Radeon HD 6770 1GB Video Card  ($106.97 @ Newegg)
Case:  Antec SONATA III 500 ATX Mid Tower Case w/500W Power Supply  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive:  LG GH22NS90B DVD/CD Writer  ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $520.68
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-02-08 13:09 EST-0500)

Just a quick build with everything but KB+M and monitor and OS, what is his budget?

[GhoSt]

his budget is under 1500nzd, including monitor and os.
Everything will be purchased from local sites, and things are a little more pricey here. Also the phenom 955 is more expensive than the fx-4100 here, due to 955 becoming obsolete. Only advantage 955 has is the larger l1 cache, 4100 has larger l2 cache and a l3 cache, plus it has a lower power consumption.

fren you do bring up a good point with the ram, dropping it to 4gb would be a nice saving, plus it would have little effect on gaming. I must have over estimated because I need loads of ram in my own pc's since AE eats that stuff like an obese man.

I was hoping to get by with the stock heatsink, since he won't be overclocking, CM 212hyper+ is a great cooler using it on my own pc. Btw didn't put it up the top but he already acquired a antec 100 case.

[COREGAMER]

I was thinking if your friend really needed that 1tb of space. From my point of view 500gb is sufficient and it would help him reduce the cost.
Also since you won't overclock try getting a Phenom ii x4 975. Its a good chip.
HD6670 is good enough and I would recommend it

[frenulem - No.5417]

Just This site it's got an Australia version if that helps, a really good site because it only shows what is compatible when you select certain parts, like if you select a CPU it will only show the MoBos with the right sockets