Need some advice on building my 1st Computer

Hey all,
I am a young man who is looking to build my 1st computer. I am currently a flight simulator tech, so I work on a wide variety of computer systems a electronics, so the actual labor shouldn't be a problem. Finding the right parts seems to be a bit different. I am looking for a complete desktop that should be able to handle a wide variety of tasks, from word processing and web browsing, to casual gaming (Fallout 3, Oblivion, etc.) What would be the best bet for me to buy, without breaking the bank? (I'm trying to keep it relatively cheap, i.e. less than 800.)

Thanks in advance

Here goes:

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz - $119.00
DFI LP DK 790FXB-M3H5 - $139.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM - $79.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W - $69.99
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB - $154.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690 - $69.99
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB - $74.99

Grand Total - $708.94

This leaves you with enough to select a decent DVD burner and be done within $800. However, I've assumed that you are not considering a monitor / keyboard / mouse within this budget.

You could get good 22" LCD monitors for $100-$180, and a keyb/Mouse combo shouldn't cost you above $40 (if you're not looking for fancy keyboards & mice). Ritwik's suggestion is a good place to start

I will second Ritwiks build....oh wait , third it...sorry X, didn't see ya there like that MB choice Rit . if you really have to squeeze the budget, you could do this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

and a HD 4850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

do you guys like dfi boards i havent heard good things about them and i wouldnt recommend them.

My friend had a DFI board, it stopped working just like that one day. It took him 2 months to get a RMA number and form. Nothing but hassle and trouble, he just got a new board, Gigabyte this time, works better then the DFI from what he tells me and overclocks better. As soon as he gets the new board back hes selling it.

I'll add fourths to the Ritwik build but not for the motherboard, go Gigabyte or Asus

well I for one am a huge fan of DFI boards. I use them very frequently in my builds and in builds for others. read some reviews on them, they are high build quality and one of the top OC boards out there

i dont know im partial tp gigabyte and asus never had problems with there boards

only thing i see here is the psu there are better choices for the same price imo. like this imo it will allow for more upgrades and future proofing.

dont get me wrong the only three boards i will use (given a choice) is Asus,Gigabyte, and DFI.

ok red i was just wondering because ive never used DFI just heard bad stories about them i also had a foxconn board that actually wasnt bad.

yeah, you notice I said" when i didn't have a choice", I have used foxconn a few times and had nothing but success with them, after reading some unflattering things.

lol i saw that same here my good man my wife is always like wtf why do you want to spend more money on that computer lol i just look at here and say cause i want to and it never ends the way i like lol.

I recommended the DFI as it was the only 790FX board at that price point. The 790FX is the best chipset for OCing.

i see your point rit ill keep DFI in mind when people ask me to build them computers

Between the corsair 450 and the OCZ 600, I would choose the corsair, I think. Not much of a difference.

The Corsair 450VX is a good choice for a "casual" gamer (the OP). It will run the HD 4870 just fine. Anyway, the card is a very powerful one and unless the OP plans to play Crysis at resolutions above 1680x1050 with all settings maxed out he should do fine. So for a casual gamer he is quite future proof.

I spent 801$ on this rig, the first rig I ever built, however I used my old dvd drive, power supply, keyboard, mouse, monitor(my brothers) and I do not have a floppy disc.
Link to rig
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic135092.html

+ I bought a 3$ back fan. Just some food for thought(also I like to mention my new rig whenever I can)

My mobo\cpu combo is 300$, but you get a quadcore 3.2 cpu. Pretty nice upgrade for a mere 40$. I can run crisis age of conan on 1920x1080 res max settings. Well that is most likely do to the video card but anywho goodluck with your rig .

Thanks for the advice

Thank you all for your advice. I think I will use the build as suggested, with an ASUS motherboard, as I have some experience with Asus (they make some of the parts for our simulator, and I have an Asus laptop that has treated me well so far...) I have been looking on Newegg and Tigerdirect, any other recommendations that any of you have? Thanks again

@ treetops - The OP wanted to keep his system under $800. I presume that would be with the PSU included.

Note: The DFI board is now listed as $169.99 on newegg. That is $30 more on the system. So no price advantage with the DFI.

@ir0nli0nzi0n - Since you would prefer ASUS you could go with either of the two boards:
1. ASUS M4A79T Deluxe - More expensive. Better overclocking capability. $178.99
2. ASUS M4A79XTD EVO - Cheaper. Would suit you fine with your requirements. $119.99

With the first board your system cost increases to $747.94.
With the second, it decreases to $688.94.

Now, your choice.

You also haven't mentioned anything about your monitor / mouse / keyboard.