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I'm looking to put together a new desktop in a month or so that I'm wanting to spend about $600 on, give or take.

Been around 6 years since I've PC gamed and I'm out of the loop on hardware. I've been stuck in console land since.

My plans are to have something I can pretty much play any type of game, at decent settings. I don't plan to overclock and I'm not too fanatic with maxing things out (obviously, since I'm only looking to spend $600). I'm also looking to use this for light word processing.

I spoke with Flying Penguin briefly, and he pointed me to this guide http://elitegamingcomputers.com/good-ch ... puters/#21

Having said that, any suggestions on what that guide recommends? Any alternatives?

only thing I can think of is maybe squeeze up the vid card to a 4gb 960 ~ $225. not sure how it compares toe to toe with the amd one listed but the nv drivers tend to be much more reliable.

I would add a 256 GB SSD like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148945 for a boot drive and for the games you play the most. I'd also upgrade the stock fan to the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099.

Neither of my recommendations are essential though. You'll be able to run the majority of games at moderate to high settings with the components listed at elitegamingcomputeres.com

750ti is a great card for the money. I ran one up until about a month ago and I upgraded to a 2GB 960. It's also a very good card, but I do wish I had the extra VRAM, but I picked it up on sale at Best Buy so what can you do. It was a very good upgrade to the 750ti in the game I am currently addicted to (ARK: Survival Evolved), so it was worth it to me, but the 750ti is a good all around, low power, 1080P gaming card. I was able to run near all of my games on med-high settings with no issues.

If you're not planning on overclocking, as long as the case you pick has good air flow, then stock cooling on the CPU shouldn't be an issue.

Biggest favor your can do yourself is getting an SSD as your main boot drive. The one Err linked is good, and there are many options, including OCZ, Samsung, PNY, etc. I am running a PNY CS1211 SSD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product) that you can sometimes find on sale as low as $70, and it's a great investment. It makes your computer so much quicker, or at least feel like it is.

Also can't stress enough to check Newegg's daily deals and weekly deals they have on their homepage. Sometimes you can find awesome deals like a 240GB SSD for $60. Or good deals on video cards.

Same suggestion as WVJohn, keep to nVidia. AMD drivers are always a little hit and miss, but when they do work, you can't beat their price to performance ratio. I'm still an avid nVidia fan at the moment, though.

Stock cooler works fine if money is tight. I have always used stock coolers, but I don't overclock. Only time I ever replace a stock cooler is if I want something quieter.

I also already gave Xman my opinion that performance memory is not worth it unless you intend to overclock, and there is little to no benefit in overclocking a CPU nowadays except for bragging rights. Performance memory usually doesn't work without tweaking the timing, and that can be a real headache. I recommend plain-jane Crucial memory (not their performance Ballistix memory) - you just drop it in and it works with the default timing. Yeah, you might actually find performance memory on sale slightly cheaper at NewEgg, but it's not worth it if you have to spend a couple of days fiddling with the timing to get it right.

For the ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 mobo in that $600 build article:
8GB RAM kit for $44:
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/m5a78l-m-usb3/CT3731262

16GB RAM kit for $84:
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/m5a78l-m-usb3/CT4237906

Shipping is usually free.

8GB is adequate. It's always nice to have more, but it's all you really need. Save the extra money for an SSD which (as others have noted here) really IS worth it as a boot drive, or to get a better 3D card.

WvJohn just posted this deal on a 256GB SSD in the sizzling deals forum. It would be fine for a boot drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820228135

can someone post a link to a nVidia comparable card?