I wasnt sure how many gigabytes the OS takes up so I suggested a small one just for the OS and main programs. I didnt notice it was SATA II though, cheers for that.
I know you are new here too, I don't mean to be rude but you aren't very good at this spec'ing lark. You really should know what you are suggesting and be able to give a decent explanation as to why you went for it. You are definately getting better though, you are not spec'ing the old AMD kit anymore.
YOUR BASKET
1 x
Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x
MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x
MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.38
1 x
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £38.39
1 x
BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £31.99
1 x
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £413.77 (includes shipping : £11.75).
That would be what I would build for the budget. Obviously i'm taking my own advice and would use the Windows 8 developers copy.
The i3 is an excellent bang for buck CPU. It has hyperthreading which basically means that although it's a dual core CPU it performs as well as AMDs quadcore CPUs. It's only real downside is that it can't be overclocked
The Z77 mobo has some nice tech in it. It allows overclocking of K series CPUs, if you upgrade much later you can exploit this. It also has four RAM slots (the h61 mobo for example only has two). I've spec'd 8GB of RAM which is more than enough but it's nice to know you could have bought 4GB of RAM and be able to add more later.The mobo also makes very clever use of the CPUs internal graphics, Lucid MVP it's called. The mobo will switch between the AMD GPU or the IGP depending on what's needed (saves power). When you are gaming it will use the IGP to boost the performance of the 6850 or if you are encoding videos it can use (quick sync) the IGP to greatly speed up the process
The 6850 may well be overkill for your gaming needs but none the less is a great budget gaming GPU, it can infact be overclocked to nigh on 6870 performance (£120 GPU). If you want futureproof on a budget this is the GPU to aim for.
The PSU is a decent brand and 550W is the minimum you want to be using really if you are using dedicated graphics cards and are toying with overclocking. Dropping to 500W or lower doesn't save you much cash and you did say you want the system to be futureproof as much as possible.
I've waffled on a fair bit but since Kay said she knows nothing about hardware I thought it best to explain the tech. Hopefully she can make a better informed decision as to what to buy now.
If a retail OS is a must with the system, I think I would prefer RJCs second build (maybe use this cheaper MSI Z77 mobo though). It does have the 6670 GPU rather than the 6850 but remember lucid MVP is going to boost it a lil for you (the next xbox was rumoured to use that 6670 GPU)
Hope this helps, any questions or god forbid problems come build day you know where to find us
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