Need Help $400 Budget

[RubyRoks]

To those who clicked to view, thanks

I'm trying to get a better gaming experience from PC
My dad is too broke to pay for Xbox Live and i don't have my own PS3, so i decided to buy a "Better" graphics card for my Acer Aspire M5100 desktop i had laying around.
My specs on this are in my profile

Anyways, i'm unable to play damn near any game, and the few i can, i can't play decently on anything but low settings(TF2 as an exception) at 1280x1024

My big problem is deciding between and APU from AMD, Haswell, or Ivy Bridge
An APU would allow for more money towards RAM and discreate cards over Intel, but I want to go Intel if possible
I would like to know the pros and cons of Haswell and Ivy Bridge, and your opinions of my situation

My other planned parts include a Corsair CX 430
A AMD HD 7770
and from 4 to 8 GB of G Skill CL 7 1333Mhz RAM

[miyabwah]

To be honest, there's no way you're going Intel on a $400 budget.  < $1000 = AMD

[Retro Gaming]

AMD Athlon X4 750K Processor: http://amzn.to/16BboCC

MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Motherboard: http://amzn.to/18gKQx8

XFX Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition Graphics Card:http://amzn.to/139Kfc6

4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM: http://amzn.to/15EjmOe

500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue Hard Drive:http://amzn.to/1bytfj5

NZXT Source 210 Case: http://amzn.to/13ZbiIR

430W Corsair CX430 Power Supply: http://amzn.to/18UZKsr

[nsyedhasan]

If you want to game now then APU is better than most. I'd say wait and save up for a better build.

[WoodenMarker]

Your plan looks fine to me.

[dizmo]

XBL is only $3.50/month...might be worth spending the money there if you already have a huge gaming library and saving for some better components.
Just another route you can take.

[Guest]

AMD Athlon X4 750K Processor: http://amzn.to/16BboCC

MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Motherboard: http://amzn.to/18gKQx8

XFX Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition Graphics Card:http://amzn.to/139Kfc6

4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM: http://amzn.to/15EjmOe

500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue Hard Drive:http://amzn.to/1bytfj5

NZXT Source 210 Case: http://amzn.to/13ZbiIR

430W Corsair CX430 Power Supply: http://amzn.to/18UZKsr

I wish ram was still cheap 

[Retro Gaming]

I wish ram was still cheap 

Ahh, the good old days.

[TheSLSAMG]

XBL is only $3.50/month...might be worth spending the money there if you already have a huge gaming library and saving for some better components.

Just another route you can take.

I know of a 100% legal way of getting it for free.

[dizmo]

I know of a 100% legal way of getting it for free.

Do share.

Mine expired and to be honest I have no desire to renew it until they have some decent games out. Aka q3.

[Retro Gaming]

Do share.

Mine expired and to be honest I have no desire to renew it until they have some decent games out. Aka q3.

Decent games, huh. Oh Half Life 3 was confirmed yesterday.

[TheSLSAMG]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory:  A-Data XPG Gaming Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card:  XFX Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  ($135.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case:  Gigabyte GZ-P5HB5C (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($23.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply:  Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ Microcenter) 

Total: $373.94

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-15 19:51 EST-0500)

 

Take the 500GB drive out of the Acer and volia! I know, you will probably have to use Vista for a while. It should be fine though.

[CoolBeans]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ TigerDirect) 

Motherboard:  MSI A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 

Memory:  GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 

Case:  Zalman ZM-T1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($27.99 @ Mwave) 

Power Supply:  Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Microcenter) 

Total: $357.93

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-15 19:53 EST-0500)

[dizmo]

Decent games, huh. Oh Half Life 3 was confirmed yesterday.

The Division, Destiny, Watch Dogs, TitanFall. All games I'm looking forward to

[TheSLSAMG]

Do share.

Mine expired and to be honest I have no desire to renew it until they have some decent games out. Aka q3.

It seems they patched it. Basically, there was a specific link that would bring you to the Xbox renewal site and it would have this choice.  and you could select it, provide the requested info and then turn off Automatic Renewal

 

Sorry for getting your hopes up.

[CoolBeans]

XBL is only $3.50/month...might be worth spending the money there if you already have a huge gaming library and saving for some better components.

Just another route you can take.

It is 8$ a month

[dizmo]

It is 8$ a month

Depends where you get it. BestBuy and FutureShop often have it on sale for $39.99/12 months. You can also buy them on CL pretty often for $30 or less.

 

[RubyRoks]

Thanks SSSSOOOOOOOOOO much for all of the replies

Here's how i'm thinking of doing it
 

MSI A55M-E33 FM2+ / FM2

CORSAIR CX series CX430 

AMD A10-7850K Kaveri

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133

I'm also going to be scrapping my case, hard-drive, and disc drive from my Acer
Thanks again for the help and suggestions