Seeking Guidance for a First-time build

[Kurtis the Red]

About 6 years ago, the family computer was custom built by a friend and through the years made its way to me. It served it's purpose, got me through college and then some. Now it's time to upgrade. Besides the glaring technological deficits of my current computer, My aim for this new rig would be to break into the world of PC Gaming, as well as doubling down on the Photo-editing I already do, perhaps Video as well. So I'm aiming high, while staying economical and on a budget.

I know little above the basics concerning Computer components. I know what RAM stands for, and what a Gigabyte is...but when I started researching about SATA connections, PCIe and all the other acronyms, I quickly got lost. I've learned a lot in the past week or so, shifting through different chips, motherboards and the like. But now that I think I'm getting close, I find I'm unsure about the whole thing.

Will the parts work together? Will everything go as planned?...How hard will it actually be to put all these intricately complex machines together in a large box, and not have it catch fire?

In any case, I wanted to take the PC I already own, take what will work and simply buy the parts I needed to bring the rig to a modern setting. Which as far as I can gather, would be Processor, Motherboard, Graphics Card, and RAM. I know the Hard Drive needs an Update, But if I can get a solid base started I can add pieces later on as my budget re-inflates.

Listed below is my proposed build, I've seen similar builds listed elsewhere so I know the processor and motherboard work together, and the Graphics Card and RAM shouldn't be an issue. All parts listed as Purchased are from the previous computer,

My question is, will the new parts work with the older components. Will my Power Supply be enough? I know the Hard Drive connection will be slow, 1.5 Gb/s, but it's still a SATA, so it should work, right?

At any rate, any response would be helpful. I'm posting here because I see a good community of helpful people, Words of encouragement, helpful hints...even alternative options would be awesome.

Looking forward to hearing from you all and sorry about the long post.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($169.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card ($152.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 ATX Full Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: Logisys 480W ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (Purchased For $0.00)
Case Fan: Masscool FD08025S1M4 31.7 CFM 80mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)
Other: ASPIRE CF12S 120 mm Cooling Fan (Purchased For $4.99)
Total: $587.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-09 00:00 EDT-0400)

 

[iron8orn]

I would recommend a new 550-650watt 80+ plus bronze. AMD FX builds are power hungry machines.

A 270 can get the job done but a 280 would serve you much better.

Such a slow connection to the hard drive would be slowing the whole machine down badly and i am unsure if it is backwards compatible.

 

[Outlander_04]

The logicsys power supply is poor quality . Do not use it again.
Look instead for an 80+ bronze [ or better rated ]unit . Minimum for your build is about 500 watt

The sabertooth is a great board but its overkill for most users .
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga990fxaud3
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a99xevor20
are cheaper and will work just as well

If you are going to overclock the processor [ AMD's software makes this easy ] you can also just buy an FX 8320 . Its the same part clocked a little lower . With the stock cpu cooler it will run at 8350 speeds and it saves you another $30 or so

 

[Kurtis the Red]

Iron8orn & Outlander_04, thanks for the info, Like I said above...I'm learning a lot, but still getting lost a lot too. In retrospect, the FX 8350 might be a bit overkill. I'm not looking to overclock...I'm not even sure what overclocking actually does. I'll look into the different motherboards, as well as adding a Power Supply and New Hard Drive...but as the price point gets closer to $1,000.00, a pre-build i7 tower seems alot easier.