I have just recently begun to dive into the money pit that is steam. After listening to bombcast after bombcast and the many accolades from vinny, I started looking into it and I have purchased roughly 30 games, only about 10 of which are actually playable on my work laptop. When it comes down to it, the value is ridiculous So this brings me to my problem. I don't know how to build a pc, but I'm willing to try, or just buy a desktop pc that can play a good range of current pc games that won't break my budget. I want to stay around $500 price range but i am realistic and will spend a little more if it means securing much better performance and a longer lifetime. I know this is common question and one of the most subjective ones I could ask, but i'm looking for a place to start or at least some leads. Thank you for any help in advance.

What games are on that list of games that you can't run yet?

It's been a while since I built mine so I'm not all up on more recent tech, but if you go to the public wishlists on newegg and just search for a price you can find some nice things to start from.

You should take a look at http://www.logicalincrements.com/ . It's an easy way to get a first look at a system around your price range.

Always remember to research each hardware component. Look for deals from different sites. Sometimes better alternatives are on a sale somewhere on the internets.

Also quite interesting to look at is http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html and http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html. These give you a more in depth reasoning behind some of the rankings and I highly advise you to look at those too.

The building part is quite easy. It's like lego for adults. Most of the time the connector ar even colour coded.

People interested in building should seriously take a look at this thread.

I have found that $750-800 is the sweet spot for building a PC.