So my friend got his tax return back, and is looking to build a PC for $800 (will got $5 or $10 over, thats it), When talking to him he wants it for games like Diablo 3, Guild wars 2.

Now he also prefers amd (Ive mainly built Intel) so not entirely sure whats good/bad in that area. I put together a wishlist on newegg and was hoping you guys (and girls) might have some suggestions or swap outs you might do. And only thing he insists on having is the case.

1. Why are you getting a 6850 for $180 when you can get a 6870 for $160? The extra memory isn't worth it for anything up to 1920x1080, and neither of those cards are good for anything above that.
2. The power supply is a bit much for this build. You don't need a TX750 to run this.
3. I would consider going for an i5-2400 build at this price point.
4. You can probably find memory with similar specs cheaper than the XMS3.
5. Get a WD Black drive instead of Blue. Black are the performance Caviar drives.

1. Why are you getting a 6850 for $180 when you can get a 6870 for $160? The extra memory isn't worth it for anything up to 1920x1080, and neither of those cards are good for anything above that.
2. The power supply is a bit much for this build. You don't need a TX750 to run this.
3. I would consider going for an i5-2400 build at this price point.
4. You can probably find memory with similar specs cheaper than the XMS3.
5. Get a WD Black drive instead of Blue. Black are the performance Caviar drives.

I was just on Amazon, you can get a 6870 for less than that 6850.
Spend a few extra bucks for a WD Black. 
Ditch the optical drive if you can.
Pick up two Noctua fans for the case if you're going for a quieter build. 
 
I always suggest people never skimp on the power supply and the case. They'll last you the longest, so why skimp? Sure, you could drop the TX750 to something smaller, but if he wants to upgrade in the future, it'd suck having to replace the power supply as well.

My two cents:

• Cut the budget for your case in half and buy a GeForce GTX 560 Ti Right now it's 200 on Amazon with rebate.
• I would keep the optical drive for DVD ripping needs, But if you Cut that out as well you can buy a Caviar Black 1 TB and be a little bit over your budget. (this works out with the lower budget case.)

I'm not a fan of AMD, but i'll respect his opinion of it.

@SeriouslyNow said:

Modern games often need more CPU grunt than AMD can deilver

Any specific example you would care to share? Keep in mind we are talking about building a $800 pc here.

I second the notion of Intel over AMD, the i5-2400 sandy bridge is only $30 over your AMD, and you can afford it if you drop your power supply to a 550 or 600.

Note: the i5-2500 sandy bridge is 209, and seems like a good jump over the 2400, but thats me.

I'd recommend getting a SSD. It's the last thing I upgraded in my PC, and it's made the most noticeable difference. Games load faster on higher settings, windows loads up much faster etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005MYFHYS/ref=asc_df_B005MYFHYS6838856?smid=AL5ZDEB3RRF6X&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22242&creativeASIN=B005MYFHYS

That's the one I got. Been pretty good so far.

@haffy: While SSD's are awesome, the other parts that you would have to sacrifice to keep it withing the $800 price range aren't worth changing simply to get one.

get a 650 Watt power supply its about 80$-60$.

You don't need that much power for that build. I have an overclocked i5 and a 6870 running on 600w wonderfully. Also, I used to think I was an "AMD guy" as well, and then I got my i5 ... if you can transition that into an Intel build, you won't regret it. Trust me.

Want to thank everyone who made suggestions. Really helped out! Convinced him to go Intel with the i5-2400. This is what it looks like now.