Well, I went back to the drawing board and tried to see what we could do on price. I can get it lowered, but 700$ is not do-able at current specs. The first moves we'd be making is going to the 560 TI since its a lil cheaper (dual fan model though.), or possibly down to a regular 560 / HD 6870, neither of which are bad cards. They'll certainly perform well at 1080p. After that it'd be moving the CPU to a dual core and getting a lower series motherboard, or going the AMD route which we could still keep to quad and cut the price quite a bit. Not sure if you have your heart set on Intel / Sandy Bridge though. I managed to keep the current specs and drop the price to $795.76, and maybe there's another 20$ to be had in promo-codes / price hunting, but honestly, 700$ isn't going to make a build of these specs happen comfortably.
On a Phenom II X4 / 970 motherboard route, the price is down to $723.36. So your call, either more money, less specs, or AMD.
Also, I wouldn't trust any build to be kept cool in a case that wasn't right for it. So I don't think your old case is an option.
Not sure if you have your heart set on Intel / Sandy Bridge though. I managed to keep the current specs and drop the price to $795.76, and maybe there's another 20$ to be had in promo-codes / price hunting, but honestly, 700$ isn't going to make a build of these specs happen comfortably.
Honestly I don't have my heart set on anything other than performance. If I can get an AMD processor that will perform the same, then so be it. However, my brother may chip in, depending on some IRL factors, and if he does that then we'll end up doing your original proposed build.
Also, I wouldn't trust any build to be kept cool in a case that wasn't right for it. So I don't think your old case is an option.
Well that's good because I already stole the fans and turned them into a DIY air filter XD.
Overall, how much performance am I going to lose (if any) by going with AMD components?
None.
About 25-30%. Granted that's at 66% cost reduction, but when you think about it, paying 150% more for 130% performance is the smart choice unless you really can't afford it, in which case you should get everything recommended, but get an i3 2100 instead to save $100.
Stuff you shouldn't change:
Case: k58w dropped to $65, making it worthwhile for me to recommend.
PSU: $70 with $20 MIR means a $50 650W psu on the Antec earthwatts ea650d. Pretty good.
HDD+DVD: $75 with shipping for a spinpoint f3 and dvd drive. Only tax in CA.
Stuff that doesn't matter, and should be bundled in any way possible:
RAM: $50 for 8 GB right now
Motherboard: I think the decent ones are around $120.
If your budget is $700, you have $320 left, unless you're including taxes. it's not quite enough for the optimal build.
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