16GB is sufficient. You may wish to consider getting 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB. This will allow you to easily upgrade to 32GB in the future if you want. I doubt you'll notice a performance difference between 2 vs 4 DIMMs.

Storage: I understand the Intel 750 series is supposed to have some newfangled faster tech, but honestly, I think I can live without it. Probably going to err on the side of more SSD storage since as I mentioned I like to keep games around. I've read the Samsung 850 Evo is respectable, this one offers 500GB of storage for 150$.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147373

Here's my GPU. It has handled everything I've thrown at it over the past year excellently. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487076

Your model (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487088) is almost identical. For $10 more you get slightly more/faster cores. Will you notice? I don't; almost certainly not. You'll note that the ports on the cards are slightly different. Yours has 2 more DisplayPorts in exchange for 1 fewer DVI port. Moving forward, I would say that's a fair trade, so I would go with the one you suggested.

That's the same SSD I have. I've been happy with it. It looks like some new technology has come out, but for the added cost, I'm not sure you'd see any performance improvements for your use-case.

I do highly recommend you get a 1 or 2TB Seagate Barracuda. I know you don't think you need the space, but it is so cheap and in addition to keeping your SSD full of clutter, you can use it to back up your entire SSD in case anything happens to it.

Link to the Barracuda: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840&cm_re=seagate_barracuda-_-22-148-834-_-Product

Also, a 2.5" SSD drive will not fit properly in a 3.5" bay. If you're a rebel without a cause like me, you could just bolt one side of the drive to the bay and let the other half hang freely (it is solid state, after all). To do it properly, you'll need an adapter, such as this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W02NM4854

Razer BlackWidow is the best gaming keyboard. Mind is 3.5 years old and still going strong and clickety clacking like a boss. Cherry Blues ftw

I don't know, I think I might just cave to The Man and buy the adapter.

Well, its off to bed for me. Things look good so far, we'll see how the budget holds up once I start looking at the other components.

I'm not sure how to go about picking a motherboard, other than that I definitely need to make sure it's compatible with the CPU and RAM I choose. Let's take these two examples. The first is a 130$ piece, and seems adequate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132287&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=ASUS_motherboards-_-13-132-512-_-Product

The second is 200$, has some extra USB ports, and what seems to be a better array of PCI slots. My understanding is that the uality of these effects how well my components can communicate with the motherboard and thus each other.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132507&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=ASUS_motherboards-_-13-132-507-_-Product

Will I notice the difference between these two as a casual gamer? Can I get everything I need out of the first model, or an even cheaper version? I read up on USB 3.1(something the first example lacks) and it sounds like the speed of that new tech wouldn't have any practical use for me.

Ports are one thing, but more importantly are the chipsets the motherboard uses. Also, be sure you're looking at ATX not mini or micro ATX. I can look at these in more detail when I get home, if someone else hasn't helped you already.

Also, if j had to choose between buying a mobo that was maybe too good vs one that was maybe not good enough, I would err on the side of too good, because replacing a mobo is not particularly enjoyable.

When it gets to the point of needing a new mobo I just go with an entirely new PC. I bought my mobo (ASUS Rampage IV Extreme) with years of planning in advance.

And I assume you mean PCI-E slots? PCI slots are rather outdated now. The more x16 slots is of course, the better. Having the possibility to run GPU's in SLI can be handy in a few years when your PC is getting old. So an empty PCI-E x16 slot isn't a bad thing to have.

Agreed with Abge that getting a 2TB HDD is just the most sensible thing to do here. Having anything of remote importance backed up on the SSD and the HDD is very handy.

Also, are you going for a one screen or two screen setup?

One screen I think. Will I need a fast refresh rate for my games to look smooth? Or can I afford to go for a lower refresh rate and a screen with better viewing angles for home theater purposes?

The latter is not my priority, but, it would be very nice if I can get away with it.

To spend a thousand dollars on a gaming PC and then skimp on a monitor is not a great use of your money.

Not a lot of great mobo choices. It looks like everyone is starting to switch over to 1151 for Skylake. I looked into it a bit, but I don't think it's worth it quite yet. Prices are very high and stability is questionable. Sticking with 1150 will somewhat limit your ability to upgrade, but not enough that I think it will matter.

With that being said, I think the one you linked is good. Would I pay $10 extra dollars for USB 3.1? Yes.

So everything so far is going to be little over 1,000$. Can I reasonably get power supply, case, keyboard, monitor, optical drive and OS for 500$ or do I need to look at cheaper parts?

Maybe. I wouldn't redo anything you've already done, though. Finish the build and if you are over budget then go back and reduce some items.

Some other things.

You'll want a surge strip if you don't already have one. At some point, I'd recommend a UPS, but that won't fit into your budget. This one seems nice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107193&cm_re=surge_strip-_-12-107-193-_-Product

Before you buy everything, sign up for newegg premier free trial. You get free 2 day shipping and some other cool things iirc. Just make sure to cancel before the trial ends.

And if you're looking for good icebreakers to pick up women at parties, you could read through this guide on picking surge protectors: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/

Stephee? Seriously?


:-)

Yeah I don't know the user personally but I recall a stephee got some advice here. Do you now this stephee? How did things work out for xir?

To choose a PSU, I found a page that calculates roughly what I need. Should this page be trusted? If not, how shoyuld I decide how much power I need?
http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?name=Power-Supply-Wattage-Calculator

The site gave me an estimated 668 watt requirement. I was not able to tell it that I will be getting a HDD in addition to SSD, so I might need a little more.

Newegg tends to be very conservative in their power estimates. I have a 750W PSU, which is quite overkill but it does allow for upgrades and also just gives you peace of mind.

Huh another site http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator gave me an even lower quote of 409 watts. So you think I should be going for 700watts to be safe?

Is there any chance I need to be concerned about my apartment's ability to supply this power?

Assuming you don't live in a crackhouse that is stealing power from the mains, you'll be fine. It's less power than a hair dryer.

I think 650W should be fine. I will confirm when I get out of work, but use that as your price point for now.

I tried out a few calculators, most of which came out with ~400W. I'd suggest 650W for several reasons:

1) A PSU under less load will last longer (not really an issue, as a PSU will likely outlast all your other components, but still...)
2) It allows for future expansion (most likely if you want a 2nd/newer GPU)
3) You're absolutely sure your PSU can handle your load (it's a really big issue if you overload your PSU)

Fiddlesticks internet kicked out for a sec and I lost what I was writing. Should have used word processor.

Anyhow, looking at this PSU, has favorable reviews, so do other PSUs from the same company. Middle of the road price wise for the wattage and fan size.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182299

With prices adding up fast, I've looked into some builds around the 1,000$ mark. In the last couple of days I've leaned enough to almost understand what the designers are talking about. This one looks to be built along similar lines to what we've devised. I might switch to the PCU they have, but I'm reluctant to move away from an ASUS motherboard, both because of our recommendation and because I've read ASUS tends to build reliable mobos.
http://techbuyersguru.com/1000-gaming-productivity-pc-build

You'll note their build is for the new Skylake, Z140, DDR4 build. This would require you to start over pretty much. Which you can, but I think prices will be better with this current gen with no real drop in performance. You'll also note they have 8 instead of 16 GB of RAM, which is where they are saving some money.

That PSU looks fine. Rosewill has a good reputation; I've never had a problem with them. I prefer to buy a PSU with a higher Efficiency (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus), but that's completely up to you if you think it's worth the extra money.