Will someone help me with my first build?

[ApocalypticCows]

This is my first time building a computer, so excuse me if my build makes no sense, or if I ask stupid questions. I plan on using my computer for gaming on (hopefully) max settings. This is what I have so far:

Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

Sorry if the image is a little small, I can't figure out how to make it bigger. It should be readable if you zoom.

I have a question about the tower and the motherboard. In the description of the case, it says, "NOTICE: Please make sure your motherboard equipped with on-board USB 3.0 socket before purchasing".

Why is that? I don't think my motherboard has a USB 3.0 onboard (I'm not even sure what it means), but it does have USB 3.0 in other locations.
Will these not work together?

Also, does anyone have any advice for my build? I appreciate any input. Will the parts I picked work together, and will they be any good?

 

[PP Mguire]

I can already tell I'm going to say no on both the CPU and PSU as it stands. You want a decent brand PSU for the quality, not so much how much wattage it has. The 965 even though it is good, for the price you can probably get better because I'm assuming that is a combo price. I'm going to have to say that's a negative on the HDD too. Blue drives are budget and you'll want something a bit speedier. Only real good thing I see linked is the GPU.

As for your USB thing, they probably have a USB plug in instead of the header for the front ports. As in, the front ports just have a cable that goes to the back of your board. Doesn't surprise me being Rosewill.

 

[ApocalypticCows]

I can already tell I'm going to say no on both the CPU and PSU as it stands. You want a decent brand PSU for the quality, not so much how much wattage it has. The 965 even though it is good, for the price you can probably get better because I'm assuming that is a combo price. I'm going to have to say that's a negative on the HDD too. Blue drives are budget and you'll want something a bit speedier. Only real good thing I see linked is the GPU.

As for your USB thing, they probably have a USB plug in instead of the header for the front ports. As in, the front ports just have a cable that goes to the back of your board. Doesn't surprise me being Rosewill.

Would an AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core CPU be better?
I know the memory and PSU are a bit sketchy, but I am near the top of my budget . Do you have any suggestions for a relatively cheap HDD that's at least 500 GB?
Also, do you have a suggestion for a PSU with enough wattage to power my build that is under $100, if possible?

 

[PP Mguire]

PSU here.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

As for the drive I would spend the extra 10 for this.
Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Black WD5003AZEX 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Honestly, if I was you and your goal is strictly gaming then get an i3. Dual core is still very plenty and speedy for games. That wont change for the next 3-5 years.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i33220
Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

These with the 670 will be plenty to max all games at 1080p.

 

[ApocalypticCows]

PSU here.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

As for the drive I would spend the extra 10 for this.
Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Black WD5003AZEX 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Honestly, if I was you and your goal is strictly gaming then get an i3. Dual core is still very plenty and speedy for games. That wont change for the next 3-5 years.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i33220
Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

These with the 670 will be plenty to max all games at 1080p.

If I tried to bring the price down on the motherboard by going with this:
(It also comes with the free RAM)

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

would you recommend it? Are there any AMD processors I could get with that saved money that could match the i3 3220? While my primary goal right now is gaming, I never know what I may want to do with it later... I'm hoping this will last me a while
I am going to go with the Corsair PSU and Black HDD though.
Thanks for your help.

 

[jasonalwaysready]

if you get to a point where you need something more than the dual core, then you can upgrade just the cpu as the mb allows you to upgrade to the i5 or i7.

the i3 is more than you need right now for just gaming. it's better to buy good components now that will last and serve as a base to upgrade the gpu only later to stay on top of gaming.

 

[PP Mguire]

If I tried to bring the price down on the motherboard by going with this:
(It also comes with the free RAM)

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

would you recommend it? Are there any AMD processors I could get with that saved money that could match the i3 3220? While my primary goal right now is gaming, I never know what I may want to do with it later... I'm hoping this will last me a while
I am going to go with the Corsair PSU and Black HDD though.
Thanks for your help.

You can think of the FX4100 like a dual core with HT except lower performance, you really want the i3 3220 for your budget as it does have HT still and that will help with anything "CPU" bound.

For further explanation if you need it read my article. It is stickied for a reason.
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/your-cpu-modern-games-guide-those-building-261626/

To answer your original question, I do not recommend Gigabyte motherboards anymore due to poor CS experiences.

 

[ApocalypticCows]

So this is my updated build now. Will this be a good build for under $1,000?

Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

I'm going to buy Windows 7 64 bit from a different source. Will I need any other wires or anything? The only wire I have is an HDMI that I'm going to connect my moniter to my GPU with. One of my friends told me I should be getting thermal paste as well. Is that necessary?

Anyway, all of this works together and such? Will all of this fit in that case? Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, I just really don't want to mess this up.

Again, thank you loads for your help.

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea looks fine. TIM isn't necessary as the stock HSF comes with some on it. All the cables you need should be bundled with the products.