• I am a huge fan of Intel's processors and NVIDIA GPUs. Both have really pushed hard on smaller nanometer processes creating chips that run faster on less power. I am biased, so take these items with that in mind. Same with EVGA for video cards, they do a great job in quality.

Here is Virgil's computer upgrade for his existing ATX case. I did have to get a power supply from Bestbuy because the one he had didn't have the correct connectors (or enough +12V amps I think).

Total Upgrade Price $700 (not including $50 power supply from Bestbuy) This is one kick butt computer (I have PC envy of my dad, his PC runs circles around my home machine)

If you want to get a better video card, the NVIDIA 1060 series was released just a few weeks ago… they have been out of stock for a while, I am tempted to make this my next card:

I currently have the one above, because I'm cheap and I like that it doesn't need an extra power cable and runs what I play fine… but… if you want more you can always spend more! (I am highly considering this as my next upgrade (along with a PC like the one above!))

• EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING, ACX 2.0 (Single Fan), 06G-P4-6163-KR, 6GB GDDR5, DX12 $259

Power supply, you just need an “ATX 12 V Specification 2.0 (or later version) and provides a minimum power of 350 W.” Just found one at Bestbuy that said that.

• CORSAIR CX series CX500 500W 80 PLUS BRONZE Active PFC ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply should work
• Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G 750W Digital TPG-0750DPCGUS-G ATX 12V V2.31 & SSI EPS 12V 2.92 or this

• Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan ← had one of these laying around, the new CPUs don't come with fans now!? Lucky I had one laying around in the basement lol (or is it sigh.. )

Thinking about sticker shock, and wondering if you could build something with a reasonable slot (PCIe 3.0) for not a lot of cash, you could go the AMD build. This might be a good first computer. It isn't future upgrade-able, this is older technology so it is a dead end, but with a modern new gaming video card (use the NVIDIA 1060), this could be quite a budget gamer.

• Total: $517
  • [Option] Cheaper CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k with AMD quiet cooler Quad-Core Socket FM2+ 95W AD860KXBJASBX Desktop Processor ← not sure what the difference is, this is the same GHz as the above black edition.. assuming the more expensive one is better somehow (-8 This is $30 cheaper
  • [Option] Different fan options: Compatible Cooling Fans ← link to Newegg with cooling fans supporting FM2 sockets
  • [Option] More and faster RAM: G.SKILL TridentX Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C10D-16GTX 16GB of the fastest memory this motherboard supports. Couldn't hurt, but is $60 more than 8GB.

• Russ told me about this link http://www.pcper.com/hwlb
• Scroll to the bottom of the above link, there is a build for any budget with suggested hardware.