Hi, I was Planning on doing a DIY Computer build for the first time instead of buying a off the shelf computer, I was wondering if anyone here can give their opinions on it and help me choose parts. my budget is $300-400, I plan on getting some used part's from the Local Classifieds (http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/ ) to build it with for cheap. never picked anything up yet but this is what i could get:
AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz Quad Core + Cooler master 212+ Cooler + some Ceramic Thermal Paste for $60
OCZ 700W PSU + 8GB Set of Kingston HyperX 1600MHz DDR3 Ram + Seagate 500GB HDD for a 24 of Brava (~$33-35 after Taxes)
EVGA Nvidia 560 Ti 2GB for $150 off Kijiji: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z488798836
Antec P180 Case with 2 Year old Thermaltake 550W PSU for $30 off Kijiji (if I get it, I plan on selling the 2 year old Thermaltake 550W and using the OCZ 700W): http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z472426868
also plan on using the 2.5" 500GB (5400RPM I think?) from my Laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium, FSX, MWO and other games already installed on it.
Not 100% on what Mobo yet, must be AM3+ socket though for the FX-4100, was told to go with something with SATA 3 (6GB/s) for when if I go and get a SSD or high end HDD Later on, with that in mind a Budget Mobo with AM3+ Socket and SATA 3 on it would be $79+Tax after $10 MIR from ASUS for the ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_ ... _id=051994
for $85 I could get the MSI 970A-G46: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_ ... _id=046001 or the Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 (After $10 MIR): http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_ ... _id=042705

Edit: it will be used for FSX (Microsoft Flight Simulator X), MWO (MechWarrior Online), WoW(World of Warcraft), LoL(League of Legends), Maybe some other games i.e Minecraft, Kerbal Space Program, Faster Than Light, Doom 3, Halo, Would also be used for surfing the internet, looking things up and watching videos on Youtube.

Doghouse Systems. Look no further.

http://www.doghousesystems.com/v/systems.asp

They have a model that will fit your budget, The machines are UNBELIEVABLE, and the customer service is, by FAR, the best I've ever received from ANY company... EVER.

If you don't buy a doghouse today, you'll just be another year older when you finally do...

I would start off finding the biggest processor for your budget. Then get a motherboard for it and then the RAM. All the other stuff i.e. Case, Drives, Sound and Vid cards you can get used at cheap prices.

What Frank said.

CPU is the biggest priority for FS-X.

as I listed in first post:

Processor: AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz Quad Core (Can be overclocked, was planning to test it it stock first but may do a mild OC to 4GHz, maybe 4.2GHz or so if it could handle it)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 212+
Could get Above for $60 with some ceramic Thermal Paste

PSU: OCZ 700W PSU
Ram: 8 GB 1600MHZ DDR3 Kingston HyperX
Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB HDD
I could get PSU, RAM and Hard Drive for a 24 of Brava (About $33-35 after Tax), plus I was planning on using my 2.5" 500GB Hard Drive From my laptop as a secondary or something

GPU: EVGA Nvidia GTX 560 Ti 2GB
Could get used for $150: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z488798836

Case: Antec P180 Case with Thermaltake 550W PSU
Can get used for $30, PSU is 2 Years old, plan on using the OCZ 700W though so i would be selling the PSU that comes with it to get most, if not all the cost back from buying the case: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z472426868

Mobo, not 100% sure yet, but thinking of spending $85+Tax for a MSI 970A-G46: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_ ... _id=046001

I could get a old CD/DVD Drive/Burner for free or Cheap so that likely won't be a problem, and got a old cheap Wireless G (IIRC) USB Wi-Fi adapter that I could use if I can get it to work.

Edit: Video of FSX with FX-4100 OC to 4.2GHz, Radeon 7850 2GB, 16 GB of 1333mhz RAM and 1TB of 7200 rpm HDD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpqTNLXr_Vk
not sure of settings he was using in the Vid Though (All I know is FPS Limit set to Unlimited and some .CFG Tweeks), and here's a comparison of the Radeon 7850 Vs. the GTX 560 Ti: http://www.hwcompare.com/12054/geforce- ... n-hd-7850/

Looks good, but I would go with a good SSD if any changes were made. All the best with it.

just thought I'd Give a Update: Got the OCZ 700W PSU, RAM and 500GB Seagate HDD Wednesday, PSU is a OCZ 700W GamexStream PSU (OCZGXS700) that was Lightly used for 1 year before system upgrade, Ram is 2x4GB Sticks of Kingston HyperX 1600MHz Ram (KHX1600C9D3K2/8G) and the HDD is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB (9SL142-302, ST3500418AS), Cost me $30 alltogeather
Got the GPU Today, EVGA 560Ti 2GB GDDR5 VRAM, Cost me $120

So I'm $150 into the build so far, will be getting the AMD FX-4100 + Coolermaster 212 Evo Cooler + Ceramic Thermal Paste ($60), Case (Thermaltake Armour Aluminum gaming case, $30, Likely to Change, We'll See) and likely will be picking up a copy of Window's 7 Home Premium 64 Bit ($105+Tax) Next week, Last part will be a Mobo, will be getting a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 (New or Refurb, Was RMAed, Still Sealed) for $90 Delivered on Saturday July 27th.

Got the FX-4100 today (Can OC to 4.4GHz) along with the the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus today with some Arctic Silver Céramique 2 Tri-Linear Ceramic Thermal Compound

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Just came, $85 Delivered

Update: Build complete, done test boot and got Ubuntu 13.04 installed and it's done, wiring is a mess though due to all the cables from the PSU (not a modular sadly). Next step IMHO is to get another HDD (SATA is a must due to the motherboard) to put the Windows 7 Enterprise 90 day trial on till I can afford Windows 7 Home Premium and figure out how to duel boot from 2 different HDDs with a different OS on each (if possible).

Parts:
Gigabite 990FXA-UD3 (Rev 1.1)
AMD FX-4100 (OC to 4.2-4.4GHz on Stock Voltage)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
OCZ GamexStream 700W Power Supply
EVGA 560 Ti 2GB
2x4GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz Ram
Seagate barracuda 500GB 7200.12 HDD
Bitfenix Outlaw Case
Startech DVI-I Male/VGA Female Adapter to use a normal VGA Monitor with my 560 Ti