To put simply, I don't mind having a "mainstream" laptop. In fact, I find it has worked for a bunch more stuff than I thought. What is my current setup?

HP Pavilion g7
Windows 8 (64bit)
AMD Radeon HD 7640G (This uses 512MB of my system RAM at the min, and can draw in 3.5GB)
AMD A8-4500M APU Radeon HD Graphics 1.9GHz
4GB DDR3 RAM


Yea, looking at those specs wouldn't seem so promising of being able to game on...but I am.
Even though I don't meet the min requirements for Elite Dangerous which is...

Quad Core CPU @ 2GHz
4GB System RAM
DX 10 Hardware GPU with 1GB Vid RAM (Nvidia GTA 260/ ATI 4870HD or better)

I dont't have enough RAM for everything there by 1GB, i also believe my IBG should probably also be better. When I cut back on the graphics settings, and it works alright.

However, I know for certain I won't be able to run Star Citizen, as I am no where near the min requirements. Even if I was to kill every program I don't need, such as explorer, Overwolf, VoiceAttack, etc., I wouldn't have enough RAM to run the game.

So it is time to build a real machine....within my sad budget.

What I hope to build...

ASUS Z87-A (LGA 1150)
Intel Quad Core i5-4460 (or 4570) (LGA 1150)
8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 RAM (to start, 32GB to end)

with of course...
an ATX Full case. (DIYPC Skyline-07-R)
HDD (WD 500GB 16MB Cache) (upgrade it later)
530W ATX 12V (Enermax Revolution X't ERX530AWT)

and when I can....
ZOTAC ZT-6021

This will cost around 670 before tax, and may take me a couple months.

I have built quite a few computers before, but it has been some time. I was wondering what thoughts you may have. I will read your posts, and I am open to all inputs.

-Wise Bear