Maximum PC

Hi, I've never built a PC before but I've done some research and think these parts will work with each other but I'm not 100% positive.

CPU (No air conditioning in summer so I can't overclock unless I want a damaged CPU lol)
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115073

Motherboard (Expensive but has PCIe 3.0 and I've read that 3.0 cards won't work on 2.0 boards)
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157271

RAM (Heat spreaders because of the no air conditioning, house can be 90 degrees in summer)
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

HDD (Went with blue: not as loud as black but faster than green)
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136769

Optical Drive (I assume any drive will do?)
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204

GPU (I believe there was a cheaper 7850 but all the reviews said the fans made a lot of noise)
SAPPHIRE 11200-01-20G Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102984

Case (Will the front fans be able to work with the front panel closed?)
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Cases CC-9011015-WW
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Obsidi...3550915&sr=1-4

PSU (I know to go 80+ but don't know how much power I need.)
??? (I don't know how many watts the motherboard, case, HDD, RAM will take up?)

Total should be around $1,200. I was hoping to go more along the lines of $800 or $850 but got worried that a GTX 560 would be underpowered when the next gen of consoles comes out so I went over on the GPU. Also the PCIe 3.0 made me go over on the motherboard thinking all cards in 5 years will be 3.0 only and won't work with a 2.0 motherboard.

Thanks for your help.

Blue Pill: Buy a pre-built system. You could get more for your money. Keep in mind that the parts they choose could be low-grade. The rig is already configured. They [should] have available tech support whenever you need help. It comes with the OS already installed free. Accessories are frequently thrown in.

Red Pill: Choose a custom build. This is perhaps the more expensive way to go. The parts are handpicked by you. Your computer hardware will come with a manufacture warranty. You will be the one assembling the rig. If something goes wrong, you are tech support. Microsoft Windows, OS X (Hackintosh), Linux distro, BSD distro and etc. must be bought or acquired then installed by you. In the end, you could end up with a much better computer.

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6200 3.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.50 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Mwave)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $851.42

(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-06 04:10 EDT-0400)

PCI-e is fully backwards compatible. If this is for gaming just get an i3 and put the rest toward a graphics card. But anyway

This motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 813131781R $85

This CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115077 $113

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820226191 $45

PSU: http://www.amazon.com/Antec-EarthWatts- ... _e_title_0 $60

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133094 $40

Graphics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150608 $260

Hard drive: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=65701& ... omoid=1101 $98

dvd drive- any one that is $20

Windows 7 64bit $100

$821 and it will beat any AMD build for gaming in the same price range.

You can get this card to drop you below the $800 range this has a $30 mail in rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130738 slightly lower performance.