No, no, no. People keep suggesting stuff, ignoring the $500 budget. Go with the following:
FX 6300: $110 (Sales on newegg for this price all the time)
Radeon HD 7870: $175 (Generally sales for this price all the time)
Windows 8: $90 (Either newegg or tigerdirect will have for this price or cheaper)
8 GB Ram: $60 (Don't go with a crazy off brand, get corsair or kingstom or something that is on sale for around 60)
MSI G43 Motherboard: $60 (Generally can be had on sale for around $60)
Total so far: $495
As it is, you hardly have any money left for a hard drive, but should be able to get a 1tb 7200 rpm drive for about $30-$40 on sale online.
You have no room to go with anything more (but there really is no huge need to...besides the hard drive, this is the same as my computer, and mine is fast as hell)
Money can't buy happiness. Just video games, which make me happy.
