Beginner Gaming PC help

I know what makes up a computer but I don't know technical terms such as the random numbers at the end of CPUs and hard drives. I have a general knowledge about computers but nothing in depth.

I would like to "kill my console" but I am having trouble getting started.

1. Is there any resource that would explain to me what all these numbers mean?????

2. What are the best brands? AMD or Intel? for graphics cards? hard drives?

3. Can I build a good first gaming PC for less than $600?

4. I will beswitching from Mac to PC so any help would be great!!!

5. Can I build a PC with no prior knowledge or experience without breaking things?

Thanks so much!!!!!!!! (I live in the US and like to play things like BF4) - I'm sure the PC version crushes the PS3 version.

1. YouTube

2. It depends on what you want to and what games you plan to play.

3. You can get a fairly kick-ass system for $600, hell you can still get a nice PC for $500

4. Download the drivers from here if you're using Windows 7, or here for Windows 8.1

5. Yes, easily.

You are asking a lot of questions, i think you should read some forum and you will start to get the idea of building, try PCPartPicker.COM it wont let you pick the wrong compatibility mother board with a cpu, and yes you can and should build cheap for your basic knowledge you have so you don't over spend on components.

TechQuickie has a lot of good information about "Those Numbers"... 

The AMD Athlon x4 II 750k is about the equivalent of an i5 4670k. Austin Evans does a good job of explaining this, I would get a AMD R9 270 or 270X for a GPU, and Western Digital Caviar Blue HDDs

A $600 AMD based PC could play BF4 on High settings, Intel on the other hand, not so much.

Its pretty hard to damage PC parts, its like putting together Technic Legos.

i wouldent say they are equivalent, obviosuly the 4670k is superior but for the price the 750k puts up some fierce comptetion.

 

Also im currently about to build my first PC, it seems to me that the most dangerous factor of "breaking" something is static electricty. Is this really rampant as people make it seem?

 

To avoid static electricity im going to be building my PC in my kitchen on a granite countertop while standing on a wood floor with nothing but basketball shorts on, therefore i shouldent really generate any static electricity, or atleast i think

Thanks to all who replied so fast! This should give me a great start!

Do you have anything you can "reuse" such as monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, HDD, ect?

Not a thing :) How much will all of these things cost? I am not familiar with gaming monitors, keyboards, etc.

im not to sure since i got my monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers for free but altogether it would probably take a decent chunk out of the budget which will lead to a slightly worse PC. I would suggest waiting until your budget is a little higher so you can get a mid range PC instead of a low end.

Ok. Thanks for the advice! How did you get them for free? Was it a bundle or a rebate?

I got my speakers as a gift, and mechanical keyboard and monitor both used for pretty cheap.