She's too old for you bro.

Nobody could of guessed this blog is about laptops.

Cheers for sharing.

When you're putting together a rig yourself, here's some basic advice.

1. First things first, if you have a preference, decide if you want an AMD or Intel CPU. Intel is generally a little more expensive. Decide on a model, speed, number of cores. For light gaming, an Intel Core i3 540 should be more than enough.

2. Once you've got a CPU, find all motherboards with the right socket and start crossing off the ones that have too much stuff on them. Do you really need 7.1 sound if you only have stereo speakers? Do you really need 10 SATA ports? Once you've narrowed it down to a few boards that meet your requirements, make a decision based on user reviews. Where possible I would go for a board that has 3 x DDR3 RAM so you can expand easily in the future.

3. Videocard really depends on the games you want to play. But unless you want to play Crysis 3 on max graphics, most games should be able to cope with a cheaper/older card. I play most of my games on an HD Radeon 4800, which runs everything just fine. More expensive cards have more power, but do you really need it?

4. 6GB RAM minimum would be my advice. Like you said, it's dirt cheap these days.

5. Don't cheap out on the power supply. I've seen people fry their entire system because they got the most high end components they could and powered them with the cheapest PSU they could find. Also, don't go overboard with the PSU. An average gaming system does NOT need a 700 watt power supply. You can easily get away with 450 - 500, and even that is overdoing it, really. And where possible get a PSU that is 80+ certified.

6. Cooling is a matter of preference. Stock coolers on CPU and GPU are often quite noisy but get the job done as long as you don't plan on overclocking. If you want to lower the noise or increase your performance, invest in a decent cooling solution. Some of the more advanced ones involve taking your motherboard apart a bit, so be sure you can install what you buy.

7. Finally find a functional case that is able to fit it all in and offers a decent airflow (front to back) so all those shiny new things stay cool. Doesn't have to be super expensive, but an intake fan and an outlet fan are a must in any gaming system.

Good luck

Get a Mac.

I kid, follow Havoc’s advice.

I was thinking of only going for a minimum of 400 watts or so based on the GPU's requirements (The GTX 560 ti should be around 576W and 48a), I can clearly see how people can go wrong with a PSU.

I don't want to Overclock a system... EVER!

I was aiming towards 4GB of ram minimum but 6GB could be a good step in the right direction.

Also I would probably go towards an i3 since I've seen them go for $60 I think. The highest would near around $200 so CPU's are a bit good on price so far.

I would want to get at least a 500GB hard drive, it's all the space I need at the moment.

If you buy a computer like that now it will be outdated really quickly. The computer will last exponentially longer if you wait and save more money.

Yeah listen to Havoc and Phylum. If you aim to buy a lower spec machine 'cause you feel you can't afford it, do what I did and at least buy parts with the aim for upgrading them later.

For example my first proper computer was very powerful when I bought it - It lasted a total of 7 years until the graphics card died and I couldn't find a replacement that was worth spending money on, and even by modern standards it was still a moderately powerful PC even if it was very dated.

I upgraded to a new PC this time last year, have a 6 core AMD CPU, 4 GB of RAM and an old graphics card that I'm borrowing from a friend, but there's space for more RAM and I aim to buy a new graphics card soon. I'm hoping this PC will last me for another 7 years in total (or more) like my old one did. It works out cheaper in the end rather than having to upgrade every 3 years like most people do.

One thing though - If you intend to keep a PC for as long as I do, AMD processors are a bitch to replace the thermal paste on since you risk breaking your motherboard each time you have to take the fan off. Intel processors apparently don't have this problem.

She's barely even fourteen years older than me. What are you saying?!

My aim when I bought my PC was to build something to last. My old desktop lasted ~11 years, although it was a piece of crap by the end of it.

I have a quad-core i7, 8gb of ram and a 1TB hybrid SSD. I don't even have a graphics card and I can run everything. Diablo 3 isn't playable unless I turn graphical settings off, but it runs.

So have vision. Don't build a computer that will be apiece of crap in a year.

Isn’t Intel’s Ivy Bridge on its way out soon as well? You might be better off waiting for that before you start building.

Those will just be stupid expensive when they are released and won't provide any advantage over an older processor in this case. Gaming rigs don't age as quickly as they did a few years ago, because due to console limitations, the graphic advancement of games has almost grinded to a halt, give or take a few exceptions like Crysis 3.