I suppose another option would be to go with an i3 of some type since they seem pretty reliable.
And my TV is 1920x1080 at max.

Hrm.
Sounds like a pretty good plan.
With my board, I could always upgrade my CPU to a better AMD chip in the future, as well, if needed (shouldn't since the 965 BE seems like a really solid CPU from a lot of the stuff I've been reading).

EDIT: So I'm looking at this as my current build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xmFp

Plus, I added that to my first post so people don't have to dig through me debating what to get.

If there are any more recommendations from anyone, I'm still open. I probably won't be able to get the parts for this till the end of the month anyway, so I've got time.

Yes, this is actually the only critisism I have against Intel, as they constantly change sockets for every generation of cpu's which made upgrading impossible.

edit:

Wow, that videocard is REALY fancy. :P

I've been using them for years and have never had any problems with them. The kits are basically just most of the parts you need. They come individually packaged as if you had selected them yourself. You then will add whatever they haven't included.

They generally have several different sets to choose from and the prices are usually quite good.

It's a really good way to get started as they pick components that work together so you don't have to worry about getting the right processor to go with the mainboard and that the RAM is compatible with the board.
I wouldn't waste money upgrading a processor. AMD is great in that they'll use the same socket for a long time, but I've never found the added performance to be worth it.

If you buy a good processor now, you shouldn't need to upgrade for probably 4 or 5 years. GPUs OTOH...
The only reason to do that is because not all processors handle the overclocking as well. In general you just stated thermal resistance, the processors peak power consumption and the hottest the house ever gets.

I started off with a 7850.
After that I went, "well, if I'm going to get that, I might as well get the 7870."
And then I looked at it and went, "well, the 7950 is only a little more. Maybe I should just get that."

Thankfully my wallet hasn't the spare cash to push further. :P

Maybe I'll have to sift around their site to see what they have.
Sounds like a nice way to, at least, familiarize myself with what I'm doing.

That said, I can't help but feel that just outright getting the parts and doing it myself will teach me more in the long run.

Alright.
I'll stick with the 965 BE as originally intended.
I was worried it might have a negative effect on my build, but it seems that's not the case.
Unless I'm worried about losing marginal performance or intensive video editing, but neither of those are an issue.

Thank you.

if you buy a CPU retail then you get a stock cooler. Back in the day this was an issue, they never worked well enough. Now they're fine unless you plan to overclock. The most important thing is a good case and airflow.

You don't want 2 120mm fans in the back with only 2 80mm in the front you'll tax the system, gotta make sure the air flows well and across the motherboard, ram, and CPU. The GPU can take care of itself with built in exhaust.

Well, with the way my current case is, if I've been reading correctly online, it comes with two 120mm fans (one in front, one in back).
Do you think that'll be enough?
I'm not quite sure what constitutes as good air flow, honestly.

My case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018&Tpk=corsair%20200r

Airflow is pretty difficult to predict, to be honest, because turbulence (side fans) or obstacles (wiring and what have you) can mess it up pretty effectively. Some people prefer high inflow on the basis that high pressure in the case will take care of exhaust, whereas others prefer loads of exhaust fans, and some try to have about equal intake and exhaust flow. It seems to be more about guessing and being able to talk better than others about a subject the theory of which you don't really know. I'm sure you'll be fine, though; a friend of mine has a gaming rig in a BitFenix Shinobi with two 120mm fans (it comes with one, I think) and it's not even close to exploding.

One thing you might want to consider is the potential uselessness of side panel fans. I once stuck a 120mm fan on the side of my HAF 912 Plus and it rattled like hell until I set the fan speed to 700RPM. Other fans make the side panel rattle as well, so the fan wasn't defective or anything. I seriously doubt this is just the 912's problem. I actually recommended the Shinobi to the previously mentioned friend on the basis that it was within his budget, large enough for his needs, looks cool in a restrained kind of way, and it has plenty of fan mounts with none on the side.

EDIT: Also, water cooling is not worth the hassle, but it's not all that viable in your budget either so I'd be surprised if you had given it any serious thought.

Considering what I've been reading on my case, while it'll be a bit hot, I think it'll be fine like you said.
Nothing I've read seems to lead to my case melting into oblivion.
I'm very thankful for the information, though, and I'll certainly keep it in mind for the future.
If need be, I think my case does have a side mount for fans, so I could always stick one on like you did if I need more cooling.

And I certainly wasn't considering water cooling.
I remember the horrors a friend of mine had trying to put together water cooling.
It just seemed like a big waste of resources and time.
I'm sure if you had a rig that could justify it, I guess it would be alright.
But for general usage, it doesn't seem like something somebody should throw into a computer.

Thank you again.

120mm front and back sound great... I would say open it up and give it a good cleaning every month or 2.

HWmonitor is a great tool to watch temps and its decently light weight.

Every other month seems overkill to me; I clean my desktop once a year (air filters twice a year) and even that might be excessive even though my apartment seems to collect dust unusually quickly.

Temperature monitoring software is pretty nice to have, though, I grant that. I use Core Temp with the small desktop app for no other reason than that a friend of mine had it as well.

Due to something that came up, my budget will be right around what I first said, and, as a result, I had to lower the computer.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xHFZ

The only real difference is that I dropped the RAM down to 4GB since I doubt I'll need the full usage of 8GB, and I switched the video card to a GTX660 since the only thing near the price range of it is a HD7870 (Which is only a few dollars cheaper, and from what I've been seeing, the 660 performs better).

I think everything will be compatible, but I mostly just want to see what you guys think.
Is there another budget CPU that I should go for or will the one I have be the best bet?
Likewise, is there another GPU I should be springing for the in same price-range?

My current price is $673.01 on NewEgg (that's including shipping).
I'd prefer not to go above that if I can, but I could stretch to $700, at max.

Thank you all again for all of the help you've given me.
This will probably be the last set of questions for a while.

EDIT: I also asked around on Tom's Hardware, but they actually ended up increasing the price of my build into $900 due to changing the board and CPU over to the i5, as well as increasing the GPU. I specified otherwise that I couldn't increase in price, but the few people who responded wouldn't bend, so I just gave up. Should I look for a better CPU, though? Something in Intel's library? Mind you, I would like to do somethings that could be considered CPU intensive; enough so that I'm not sure my current CPU would be enough without overclocking, but I think I could deal without them.

EDITx2: Something a little bit different, but should I worry about getting a controller for this? I am use to consoles and I do think that some types of games work better with a controller. I already have a PS3 controller and, IIRC, it can be set to emulate the functions of a 360 controller, but I should I just bite the bullet and get a 360 pad? I don't know how the 360 pad emulation works with the PS3 controller since all of the games I play with the PS3 controller work just fine without the emulation. That said, I know some games are kind of picky about what controller you use.

Looks good to me. It's a real tough one to try and stay on the budget because it's always just a bit more to get something better, one way or another.

That's a fine enough CPU, i5 is faster no doubt, but there's always something and then you're at $1000.
GTX650 or AMD 7850 would serve as well if you want to save, 660 is faster though.

Only thing is, I think you will see the benefit of going from 4GB to 8. I'd pick that one upgrade if I were you,
though it's easy enough to swap in bigger sticks later on if you feel the need.

I have a bit weaker CPU + GPU now and I can run any game just fine, so you'll be fine as well.

---
Edit. Controller. Well.. think about it. You're in no hurry there, no need or benefit to get it right now is there?

I managed to finagle my build around a bit and came up with this.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xHSR
I ended up switching out the motherboard I had for a ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX AM3+. I've heard that, generally, ASRock makes decent motherboards, and going with this would drop my price down quite a bit. In doing so, I was able to go with the FX-6300 like I originally intended (More juice for what I may need) and got my RAM up to 8GB. I ended up with a price of $674.94, not even $2 more. I suppose the main thing I'm worried about is the motherboard since I know from a friend of mine that my previous one is quality.

I'm a bit iffy about going down from the GTX 660, so I think I'll stick with that for now, though. I did look at those cards previously, but I don't think their performance is quite what I want. The 2GB 7850 was a strong contender for a while, though.

I wasn't too worried about a controller right away either. Mostly just wanted to see what people's experiences were with running the 360 pad emulator with the PS3 controller. Since I already have a PS3 controller, if need be, I'll probably just try that out first. Worst case scenario: I have to actually use the keyboard and mouse, which definitely isn't the worst alternative.

EDIT: I might go with this board since it seems better overall. It'll boost my price up a bit more, but not too much.

ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+

Making my build this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xI44

Sorry if it seems like I'm changing my mind a lot on this.
I've been researching pretty heavily, even then I'm not 100%.
This stuff isn't a good thing for an indecisive person to do.
That said, I think this will meet my budget, set me up with 8GB of RAM, a decent CPU, a good mobo for possible upgrades, and a decent video card for gaming.