I wanted to see how this would fare here, this is my own self-made guidelines that I have in my head when purchasing PC components and building PCs. This guideline is based on a perspective of building a PC for the purpose of gaming and gaming only. Video editing on the side and such but the main focus is for gaming. For video editing and such the list would look much different.
Also this is based on a perspective of building in the US and with US prices. Price difference can be a lot more severe in other parts of the world.
Also I make no mention of custom liquid cooling builds as I don't really have experience with one yet and it's more directed towards first-time buyers.
Anyways on to the guideline:
I build PCs with a very small budget so I can hit the sweet spot (getting more for my money).
If you give me a budget I can help you out with your planned build. Don't always have to go new, you can look towards used items as well.
This is normally the guideline I use when building a new PC (and to make sure not to spend too much on it):
CPUs = anything Intel Core i5 quad core and up from 2011 (Sandy Bridge) are good enough (today's 4.5th gen Devil's Canyon is literally only 10% faster clock-per-clock compared to 2011's 2nd gen Sandy and 4th gen Haswell and 3rd gen Ivy overclock worse in comparison to Sandy so gains can be offset)
Also worth pointing out:
Core i5 and i7 are same CPUs literally (when we are talking of a desktop i5 and i7 in the same generation). They are both quad-core, both same architecture, same die. The only difference is the L2 cache is twice more on the i7 and the HyperThreading feature. Both of these advantages are offset by the fact that the i5's 6MB of L2 cache is already more than what's needed by most games and the i7's HyperThreading does not always help in most situations. The extra $100 is simply not worth it, unless you are going for bragging rights. People saying the they need an i7 for there workflow or there field of work, anything a i5 cannot do, the i7 will not be able to do as well.
Do not overspend if you do not need to.
GPUs = anything high end from 2012 and up is good (so HD 7950/7970 and GTX 680 can be had for $150). At the current state of the market, there are two "high-end" segments, both of which have come to become very affordable (how times have changed)
1. there's the 280X/GTX 770 high-end "1080p HD Gaming" segment which are more than high-end enough for anyone using up to a 1080p display (which a large majority of PC gamers are). These cards can be had for below $200 as the GTX 770 is essentially just a rebadged GTX 680 and the 280X is just a rebadged 7970 both of which go for around the $150 range in the used market.
Essentially if you want a GTX 770's performance and want to save money try looking for it's older version, the GTX 680.
GTX 680 can be had for around $160-$170 easily while the GTX 770's stick more towards the $200 pallet. Why? because of the name. Yep ridiculous but that's how the market has worked for the past few years now. Also with more recent nomenclature names comes the greater guarantee of the card still having warranty (GTX 6xx came out two years ago while the GTX 7xx came out last year and some manufacturers only offer one year warranties). Nonetheless if you don't care about either (especially if you're buying used), these cards are both almost exactly same (with the exception of clock speeds which can be easily flashed over)
Same goes for the R9 280X, can be had for around $180 but it is essentially a rebadged HD 7970, which can be had for $150 so if you need to save that $30, look for the 7970 GHz Editions to guarantee core clock speeds of 1GHz as that's what the 280X are running at (280X = 7970 GHz Edition)
2. there's the 290/290X/GTX 780/GTX 780 Ti/GTX 970/GTX 980 "4K UHD Gaming" segment which is getting immensely populated. The fastest of the bunch being the R9 290X and the GTX 980.
R9 290 and R9 290X have received massive price drops in the retail department and can be had for as low as $240 for a R9 290 and $300 for an R9 290X. Very low indeed, there's a reason for that though, the R9 290 series run very, very hot and need to have their fan running at 90% all the time just to keep it optimally cooled. Even at 90% fan speed it will still overheat and throttle so aftermarket cooling is definitely necessary on these cards if you want to keep them both running quiet and at full potential. So you can see how it adds to the price when you have the necessity of having to buy a quality aftermarket cooler (Arctic Cooling Accelero IV or Hybrid II is recommendable). At full potential though the R9 290X can beat the GTX 980 in many situations (under 4K resolution) so it definitely still a steal at that price.
The GTX 780 and GTX 780 Ti have not really received price drops that coincide with the GTX 970 release which provide near 780 Ti performance at almost half the price ($350 vs $650) so I would stray far away from these if buying brand new and at the current moment, buying used as well as people seem to be over-valuing their GTX 780 GPUs (reselling them at $300+ when a brand new 970 can be had for just as much). Can't blame them, their GPUs were $450+ when first released.
The GTX 970 is the best bang for the buck indefinitely at the moment as you get $700+ 2013-early 2014 performance for just $350. The 980 is just a slightly faster card for those who really need the extra performance (3x 4K monitors anyone?)
Best bang for the buck in this 4K segment : GTX 970 and R9 290X
Buying anything below the "1080p HD" or "4K HD" gaming segment is a waste of money as the 1080p segment already touches near the $100-$150 mark.
Motherboards = most Z77s (LGA 1155) and Z87/Z97 (LGA 1150) are within $100 range nowadays, try to stick to it and not stray to far
PSU = Don't cut corners on this, get a good 750W or higher PSU at least. Anything around $70+ and 750W with 80+ rating will guarantee a good combination PSU
DO NOT BUY ULTRA PSUs that are always on sale at TigerDirect. There is a reason they are $30, they work fine but they are extremely inefficient.
RAM = Since RAM prices are up now, newcomers will be feeling a big blow to their pocket just buying RAM (unlike before where 8GB DDR3 RAM can be had for $50). If you have old DDR3 RAM laying around try re-using that. If not, try sticking towards $80 budget at most for a 2x4GB DDR3 1600 kit (8GB)
P.S. there was a explosion in the factory where a large majority of RAM was being produced as to why the prices have skyrocketed
SSD = Most 128GB SSDs are going for $70 range, some even $60, so they are well within the range of affordable now.
HDD = Try to aim for at least a 1TB 7200rpm HD as they are going for $50 range now and can store most games you'll need in the future.
CPU Cooling = To be honest, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO does just fine for most overclocking needs at $30. For more serious overclocking though, an H80i or Noctua NH-D14 will more than suffice at $70, and stay quiet at that too.
Case = that is completely up to you. Can't go wrong with your purchase as this depends on your personal taste and needs. Me personally, I tend to stay on the $50-$100 range when buying a case.
Following these guidelines, you can easily build a beast PC for around $600-$900 range.
For those more limited in budget, I would still follow the guidelines (specifically GPU) but change these out in order to build a near $450-$500 range gaming PC
CPU - either an FX 8350 used for $120-$130 range (remember, they are $150 brand new, great CPU for the buck btw at their current price point) or Pentium Dual Core G3258 Anniv. Edition unlocked for $60
EDIT: If you can find an FX 8370E, it would be a great alternative as well as the 8370E is a revised 8350 with lower TDP (can attain same clock speeds as the 8350 at much lower voltages, thereby lower temps and also possibly higher threshold room for OC since you won't be hitting a TDP or temperature ceiling as fast)
Motherboard - either a cheap 970 board for $50-$70 range used or a Z87/Z97 board for $80 range (there are a lot, you'll be surprised). I would not go B85 as you will not have much in terms of upgrade path later on (and you're only saving what, $20-$25?)
RAM - Get a 4GB kit for $50.
THINGS TO STAY AWAY FROM
FX 9590 or any FX 9000 series - RIP OFF, literally just hand-picked FX 8000 processors that can run at 4.6GHz and up. Along with that comes the heat issues it brings as well. So that extra performance doesn't just come for free, you're gonna have to add an expensive cooler's cost on top of that. All on top of nearly $100 more above the 8000 series prices. If you want really want a 5GHz FX, just try your luck and pick up an 8350/8370E and get a good cooler, most will reach 4.6-4.8GHz so you'll be well in the margin of performance.
FX 6000 and 4000 series CPUs - You will literally be getting the same performance as that $60 G3258 Anniv dual core processor for more and be locked into a more inferior platform as well at that (no offense AMD fanboys). Say goodbye to a meaningful upgrade down the road especially at this point in time (only upgrade path you have is 2012's FX 8300 series). If you're going FX, either go FX 8300 or go Intel. THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE OR EXCUSE!
R9 270 series - They retail for $130 and you are getting mid-range 2011 performance. At this point , think about going used.
Anything below R9 270 - you are throwing you're money away, you cannot afford a GPU yet and you are better of staying with integrated and keep saving until you can afford to spend at least $100 on a GPU. If you really need a GPU below $100 range aim for a GTX 560 Ti from 2011 or Radeon HD 6850 those can be had for around $70 easily and will provide you with good performance (not best bang for your buck as $30-$40 more you can easily have 3x the performance with the HD 7950 but this is only if you're strictly under a tight budget)
Hackintosh potential users - If you are in any way or form interested in getting involved with the hackintosh community, stay away from AMD, go Intel as Apple uses Intel inside all their current computers and almost everything is natively coded for Intel. The kernel from Apple works natively with almost any Intel processor vs having use a custom kernel in order to use AMD. Very big plus when it comes to resale value as well is having full hackintosh ability
DO NOT FLAME ME FOR THIS!!!! PLZ CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY
Admins, didn't know where to post this to be honest so posted in the most general CPU related section I could.
Also this is based on a perspective of building in the US and with US prices. Price difference can be a lot more severe in other parts of the world.
Also I make no mention of custom liquid cooling builds as I don't really have experience with one yet and it's more directed towards first-time buyers.
Anyways on to the guideline:
I build PCs with a very small budget so I can hit the sweet spot (getting more for my money).
If you give me a budget I can help you out with your planned build. Don't always have to go new, you can look towards used items as well.
This is normally the guideline I use when building a new PC (and to make sure not to spend too much on it):
CPUs = anything Intel Core i5 quad core and up from 2011 (Sandy Bridge) are good enough (today's 4.5th gen Devil's Canyon is literally only 10% faster clock-per-clock compared to 2011's 2nd gen Sandy and 4th gen Haswell and 3rd gen Ivy overclock worse in comparison to Sandy so gains can be offset)
Also worth pointing out:
Core i5 and i7 are same CPUs literally (when we are talking of a desktop i5 and i7 in the same generation). They are both quad-core, both same architecture, same die. The only difference is the L2 cache is twice more on the i7 and the HyperThreading feature. Both of these advantages are offset by the fact that the i5's 6MB of L2 cache is already more than what's needed by most games and the i7's HyperThreading does not always help in most situations. The extra $100 is simply not worth it, unless you are going for bragging rights. People saying the they need an i7 for there workflow or there field of work, anything a i5 cannot do, the i7 will not be able to do as well.
Do not overspend if you do not need to.
GPUs = anything high end from 2012 and up is good (so HD 7950/7970 and GTX 680 can be had for $150). At the current state of the market, there are two "high-end" segments, both of which have come to become very affordable (how times have changed)
1. there's the 280X/GTX 770 high-end "1080p HD Gaming" segment which are more than high-end enough for anyone using up to a 1080p display (which a large majority of PC gamers are). These cards can be had for below $200 as the GTX 770 is essentially just a rebadged GTX 680 and the 280X is just a rebadged 7970 both of which go for around the $150 range in the used market.
Essentially if you want a GTX 770's performance and want to save money try looking for it's older version, the GTX 680.
GTX 680 can be had for around $160-$170 easily while the GTX 770's stick more towards the $200 pallet. Why? because of the name. Yep ridiculous but that's how the market has worked for the past few years now. Also with more recent nomenclature names comes the greater guarantee of the card still having warranty (GTX 6xx came out two years ago while the GTX 7xx came out last year and some manufacturers only offer one year warranties). Nonetheless if you don't care about either (especially if you're buying used), these cards are both almost exactly same (with the exception of clock speeds which can be easily flashed over)
Same goes for the R9 280X, can be had for around $180 but it is essentially a rebadged HD 7970, which can be had for $150 so if you need to save that $30, look for the 7970 GHz Editions to guarantee core clock speeds of 1GHz as that's what the 280X are running at (280X = 7970 GHz Edition)
2. there's the 290/290X/GTX 780/GTX 780 Ti/GTX 970/GTX 980 "4K UHD Gaming" segment which is getting immensely populated. The fastest of the bunch being the R9 290X and the GTX 980.
R9 290 and R9 290X have received massive price drops in the retail department and can be had for as low as $240 for a R9 290 and $300 for an R9 290X. Very low indeed, there's a reason for that though, the R9 290 series run very, very hot and need to have their fan running at 90% all the time just to keep it optimally cooled. Even at 90% fan speed it will still overheat and throttle so aftermarket cooling is definitely necessary on these cards if you want to keep them both running quiet and at full potential. So you can see how it adds to the price when you have the necessity of having to buy a quality aftermarket cooler (Arctic Cooling Accelero IV or Hybrid II is recommendable). At full potential though the R9 290X can beat the GTX 980 in many situations (under 4K resolution) so it definitely still a steal at that price.
The GTX 780 and GTX 780 Ti have not really received price drops that coincide with the GTX 970 release which provide near 780 Ti performance at almost half the price ($350 vs $650) so I would stray far away from these if buying brand new and at the current moment, buying used as well as people seem to be over-valuing their GTX 780 GPUs (reselling them at $300+ when a brand new 970 can be had for just as much). Can't blame them, their GPUs were $450+ when first released.
The GTX 970 is the best bang for the buck indefinitely at the moment as you get $700+ 2013-early 2014 performance for just $350. The 980 is just a slightly faster card for those who really need the extra performance (3x 4K monitors anyone?)
Best bang for the buck in this 4K segment : GTX 970 and R9 290X
Buying anything below the "1080p HD" or "4K HD" gaming segment is a waste of money as the 1080p segment already touches near the $100-$150 mark.
Motherboards = most Z77s (LGA 1155) and Z87/Z97 (LGA 1150) are within $100 range nowadays, try to stick to it and not stray to far
PSU = Don't cut corners on this, get a good 750W or higher PSU at least. Anything around $70+ and 750W with 80+ rating will guarantee a good combination PSU
DO NOT BUY ULTRA PSUs that are always on sale at TigerDirect. There is a reason they are $30, they work fine but they are extremely inefficient.
RAM = Since RAM prices are up now, newcomers will be feeling a big blow to their pocket just buying RAM (unlike before where 8GB DDR3 RAM can be had for $50). If you have old DDR3 RAM laying around try re-using that. If not, try sticking towards $80 budget at most for a 2x4GB DDR3 1600 kit (8GB)
P.S. there was a explosion in the factory where a large majority of RAM was being produced as to why the prices have skyrocketed
SSD = Most 128GB SSDs are going for $70 range, some even $60, so they are well within the range of affordable now.
HDD = Try to aim for at least a 1TB 7200rpm HD as they are going for $50 range now and can store most games you'll need in the future.
CPU Cooling = To be honest, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO does just fine for most overclocking needs at $30. For more serious overclocking though, an H80i or Noctua NH-D14 will more than suffice at $70, and stay quiet at that too.
Case = that is completely up to you. Can't go wrong with your purchase as this depends on your personal taste and needs. Me personally, I tend to stay on the $50-$100 range when buying a case.
Following these guidelines, you can easily build a beast PC for around $600-$900 range.
For those more limited in budget, I would still follow the guidelines (specifically GPU) but change these out in order to build a near $450-$500 range gaming PC
CPU - either an FX 8350 used for $120-$130 range (remember, they are $150 brand new, great CPU for the buck btw at their current price point) or Pentium Dual Core G3258 Anniv. Edition unlocked for $60
EDIT: If you can find an FX 8370E, it would be a great alternative as well as the 8370E is a revised 8350 with lower TDP (can attain same clock speeds as the 8350 at much lower voltages, thereby lower temps and also possibly higher threshold room for OC since you won't be hitting a TDP or temperature ceiling as fast)
Motherboard - either a cheap 970 board for $50-$70 range used or a Z87/Z97 board for $80 range (there are a lot, you'll be surprised). I would not go B85 as you will not have much in terms of upgrade path later on (and you're only saving what, $20-$25?)
RAM - Get a 4GB kit for $50.
THINGS TO STAY AWAY FROM
FX 9590 or any FX 9000 series - RIP OFF, literally just hand-picked FX 8000 processors that can run at 4.6GHz and up. Along with that comes the heat issues it brings as well. So that extra performance doesn't just come for free, you're gonna have to add an expensive cooler's cost on top of that. All on top of nearly $100 more above the 8000 series prices. If you want really want a 5GHz FX, just try your luck and pick up an 8350/8370E and get a good cooler, most will reach 4.6-4.8GHz so you'll be well in the margin of performance.
FX 6000 and 4000 series CPUs - You will literally be getting the same performance as that $60 G3258 Anniv dual core processor for more and be locked into a more inferior platform as well at that (no offense AMD fanboys). Say goodbye to a meaningful upgrade down the road especially at this point in time (only upgrade path you have is 2012's FX 8300 series). If you're going FX, either go FX 8300 or go Intel. THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE OR EXCUSE!
R9 270 series - They retail for $130 and you are getting mid-range 2011 performance. At this point , think about going used.
Anything below R9 270 - you are throwing you're money away, you cannot afford a GPU yet and you are better of staying with integrated and keep saving until you can afford to spend at least $100 on a GPU. If you really need a GPU below $100 range aim for a GTX 560 Ti from 2011 or Radeon HD 6850 those can be had for around $70 easily and will provide you with good performance (not best bang for your buck as $30-$40 more you can easily have 3x the performance with the HD 7950 but this is only if you're strictly under a tight budget)
Hackintosh potential users - If you are in any way or form interested in getting involved with the hackintosh community, stay away from AMD, go Intel as Apple uses Intel inside all their current computers and almost everything is natively coded for Intel. The kernel from Apple works natively with almost any Intel processor vs having use a custom kernel in order to use AMD. Very big plus when it comes to resale value as well is having full hackintosh ability
DO NOT FLAME ME FOR THIS!!!! PLZ CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY
Admins, didn't know where to post this to be honest so posted in the most general CPU related section I could.