I'm making a new living room gaming rig for Steam's Big Picture. I'd like your input on parts and some help picking better things, while keeping it well under $600. The whole thing is based on being small, so I've picked a barebones system that I think should run it all the way I'd like it. The games don't have to run at full detail 1080p 60fps, thanks for any advice. Also, I'm slight;y computer-tarded when it comes to building them.
Well first off dont spend $230 on a enclosure when going for a sub $600 build also consider getting a APU and a 6670 thats what my current HTPC is running its a A8 and a 6670 in dual graphics with 1866mhz ram on a Mitx board and it runs great.
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/xIGZ
that is almost my exact setup for my HTPC/Gaming pc. also consider removing the optical drive if you want it to be under $600 its not important unless you need it
Wow, thanks for all the input guys :D you've been a great help! My only worry with an AMD card is that on my previous one I had some driver issues, it's been a while since I used one though, has that all been fixed?
AMD is pretty good with drivers now for example the 7000 series of gpu's got faster with the new drivers sometimes even faster than the 600 series form nvidia
yes, the amd APU (5800k) + 6670 is a great set up, you can run dual graphics for low price and still play most games in medium to high settings. using 64bit OS will help, as you can run more than 8 GB DDR3 1600+
for something light, a 430w power supply will be good enough, and a cheap case. i run an SSD for OS, and an HDD 7200rpm for games. I SAY YES TO THE COOLER MASTER HYPER 212!!! stock AMD coolers are trash, mine is a nice paper weight :)