Budget Gaming Build

[liebejr]

Its my first build. Was looking to stay under $500. This is what I have.
Let me know what you guys think and if you have any suggestions.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

MOBO - ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231438

HD - Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

GPU - GIGABYTE GV-N430-2GI GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 2GB 128-bit DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125411

Case - Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

PSU - COOLER MASTER GX 450W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171060

Marked up at around $460, was looking to save some money still, but didn't see many options.

Basically just going to be playing Diablo 3.

 

[azeem40]

Looks OK, but I highly recommend the i3-2120.

 

[liebejr]

Looks OK, but I highly recommend the i3-2120.

I see that its a pretty popular chip, but why over the phenom quad?

If its just for future upgrade potential, then I'd prefer to stick with the AMD chipset

 

[azeem40]

It is because it is an overall faster Processor.

 

[liebejr]

Bump

 

[liebejr]

bump

 

[sneasle]

azeem, what mobo would you pick with that i3 to still make his budget?

 

[mildgamer001]

the I# is a better chip than the phenom quad, unless you overclock, the i3 will outperform almost all phenom IIs in gaming. actually a pentium g860 can out-game a phenom II x4 955 usually.

 

[liebejr]

I was told that the AMD build would be cheaper. Better bang for my buck. Im not really worried about future upgrade

 

[mildgamer001]

no. AMd USED to be bang for the buck, now a 80$ pentium g840 outgames every athlon II and almost all phenom IIs, and you can even get the motherboards with similar features for the same prices now too. and ther eis still room to upgrade to better cpu later, and you may not care now, but man will you LOVE having gotten the sandy bridge pentium later down the road when you want to upgrade. but no spending 120$ on a AMD cpu and a 60$ mobo that doesnt out perform a 80$ intel CPU and a 60$ mobo is NOT better bang for you money.

 

[liebejr]

Best answer selected by liebejr.