Better card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202125&cm_re=r9_280x-_-14-202-125-_-Product

CPU I always recommend: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&cm_re=amd_fx_8350-_-19-113-284-_-Product

One bad ass board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514&cm_re=gigabyte_fx-_-13-128-514-_-Product#top

for the love of god, get an SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820721107&cm_re=kingston_ssd-_-20-721-107-_-Product

Water cooling isnt needed unless you are doing like crazy ultra gaming/and or streaming. I have 10 fans in my case, keeps everything nice and cool. If you want to overclock, i would then also recommend some type of water cooling. If you dont want a custom loop, a h100i wouldnt be a bad pickup.

I wouldnt use stock heatsink, or the thermal paste. Low quality stuff, spend a little more if you go the heatsink route, and get a better heatsink and some $15 thermal paste, lasts a lot longer.

I've added the graphics card to my cart, for sure that is an amazing card and thank you very much for listing it!

The CPU is much better for sure, but by switching from Intel to AMD am I going to see any compatibility issues with the rest of my components? The last time I built a computer was in the early 2000s and it was A LOT easier back then.

That SSD seems like a reasonable price with good reviews, thank you for link it! A lot of the others that I read had problems where the harddrive failed so I was worried about picking one.

The original post has been updated with your recommendations Madster, the change to AMD seemed to save me a little bit so it made it easier to squeeze in the heatsink and SSD.

For the love of God, if you want to have a decent build for what you're wanting, don't. You can get FAR more performance out of a 3.5GHz Intel Processor (or a crap load more with the 4.0 i7 you had picked out) than a 4.0GHz AMD.

You can get an i3 or i5 to get you through until you can afford an i7 then replace it, but if you get an AMD board, you're stuck with AMD upgrade paths unless you change your board along with processor, which means you'll have to reinstall OS if you ever want to change (Due to driver changes from using a different mobo).

I build two/three computers every month, I know from experience. Don't do AMD if you want performance. Also, if you're budget minded, you DON'T need an SSD. It's nice to have but not absolutely necessary.

The SSD listed was pretty cheap, I shouldnt have issues buying it. The major concerns are the costs of the Mobo, Processor, Vid Card, and Monitor which are the 4 major items that cost the most. Is there really a major difference between AMD and Intel?

Very. Intel's chipsets are far more streamlined and efficient, you can get so much more performance from an Intel than an AMD. AMD processors are great for budget (and by budget, I'm talking about $400-$500) builds. Video Card can be upgraded later, and like I said, you can get a middle of the road iX series processor and upgrade later, but if you get an AMD processor and you're not satisfied, you can only spend more money on AMD processors that generate more heat and are less efficient.

The processor Im running on my laptop right now is an AMD A8-4500M with 1.9 GHz performance, one thing that I'd spend half of my budget on is the processor so I don't have to upgrade it again for a long time.

It's up to you, but AMD just can't compete with Intel's I series. That being said, AMD's new Kaveri chips look good on paper so far, but they're mainly for APU use (where you're not running an independent graphics card). I'm just warning you, your money is better spent on an Intel processor. If you can't afford it right now and you don't want to have to upgrade, it will be worth it to wait a little while until you can afford it.

I removed the post I made about adding Kudos, I figured it out. I know I CAN spend the money on the i7 processor combo, but in getting it I'll end up having to change a few other items in an attempt to keep around $1000