Hey guys and gals of GOG. Graduation is over and now I have moneys for a new computer I so desperately need. I found a thread for a decent looking rig on Gamers Nexus that for the price sounds powerful (But I am specs illiterate and wouldn't know a motherboard's specs whatsoever) and am looking on building off this computer. I could easily upgrade the actual parts I would be using from this one for about $80 but I also have to include Win 7 and a monitor. My main concern with this computer is that it has to run Guild Wars 2. ABSOLUTELY must. The parts are:
Video Card: XFX 6850
CPU: AMD X3 455 Rana CPU
Memory: 4GB AMD RAM
Motherboard: ASUS M4A77T
Power Supply: Rosewill HIVE 550W
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM Hitachi
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Optical Drive
Case: Rosewill Future

Total cost is around $487. I have about $600 to use. I need to also buy Windows 7 for the build but I have been told by my mother's boyfriend to get a OEM of Win 7 (Which I know nothing about) and have found several cheap monitors. Any help guys? :D

shit, nevermind, i'm blind.

Though I can be of no help, congrats on graduation!

Sounds like a decent rig (and at that price you're not going to want a fancy case or a tricked-out CPU cooler anyway), but have you priced out the components at other places like NewEgg? You don't know about the difference between OEM and retail copies of software?

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/01/8730/

Oh, and you might be interested in Ars' Bargain Box System Guides for further ideas on how to build your system: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/04/ars-bargain-box/3/

The price is from Newegg (They actually link all the parts to Newegg) and i have found several guides and a decent PC Gamer magazine on how to build a system that I am currently reading as well. Any thoughts?

Since you're not going to be bothering with integrated graphics, I'd personally go with Intel for the CPU, unless you really want to save money. It'll cost more but the large performance delta between Intel's Sandy Bridge chips and the AMD competition is well worth it, IMO. I'd also think about putting some sort of SSD in there too, or failing that, a hybrid drive. A potentially interesting option for someone like you on a budget would be Corsair's Accelerator SSD Cache drive.

Also, even though you say you're mainly after Guild Wars 2, I think it's also worth looking at other future games in the pipeline to help futureproof your build as much as possible.

Here's a build I dug up a while back, out of curiosity. I'm pretty sure there are cheaper options but here's something to start with:

windows 7: $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

motherboard: $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130638

ram: $25(4gb) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220571

harddrive: $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299

case: $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129181

cdrom: $15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

video card: $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150540

PSU: $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182199

processor: $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
About $560 total.(not sure about shipping)

I'm PRETTY sure that Gcard + processor can run Battlefield 3 on medium settings (1920x1080) so it should be able to run Guild Wars 2 just fine. However, feel free to change around any of the stuff I got there. I'm sure 40 bucks won't get you a monitor so there needs to be changes. Either way, good luck!

You may want to see if you can still find that MOBO because the Newegg link says they aren't selling it anymore. I would recommend trying to bump slightly up on the CPU, but you would probably add about 40-50$ to get the FX quad core or similar. I love the Athlon II's for general use people, but they might end up being a little frustrating for "gaming." Unfortunately I don't think you really have much wiggle room if you need to buy a copy of windows.

An OEM can still set you back a 100$ or so and it can come with some conditions. Namely being tied to your motherboard. In other words if you replace that you are supposed to buy a new copy of windows.

You may just want to make sure you buy a AM3+ motherboard that will take an FX series CPU down the line. That way you at least have the option down the line.

All good considerations. i am not interested on BF3 on this PC anyways (Colonel Star 1 on PS3) but as i said before, Guild Wars 2 is a priority :D

I think he was just making a comparison saying if it ran BF3 then Guild Wars for you should be OK.

Yeah, I figured, just felt like bragging a tad. :P

Any reason to buy the build listed a few post above us?

A question about hardrives; Does it matter what kind I use (Compatibility-wise)?

Kil3r 's list? Um I would say its fine, but all the pricing I see in the links list things as quite a bit more expensive than he lists next to the link. For example the vid card is +20$ and the CPU I think was 10$ more. That $30 alone has you knocking on $600, but to tell you the truth its about as conservative as you can get without making painful cuts.

I would say you would probably be happy with it. So would I. I wish I could drop an FX chip in my rig, but it doesn't look like they make a BIOS upgrade for my board.

Side note: when did HD prices spike? A couple of years ago they were falling like crazy and I picked up a couple of 500GB for 45-50 dollars. Now that sets you back $70+? I was surprised by that.
If you mean traditional vs SSD, I don't think it does. Generally speaking people are still buying both as SSD sizes aren't as cost effective. SSD's are finally coming down, but I would still consider it a luxury buy. If you are going cheap its not really a viable option.

I read somewhere about a flood in Taiwan. Not sure myself. Anyone here want to tell me what AGP is on a motherboard cause my mother's man keeps insisting on it.

I hope he doesn't mean Accelerated Graphics Port, because the days when AGP>PCI are long long gone.