650 dollar budget gaming build

[TheScarecrow97]

I'm fairly new to the whole computer building thing and I am looking to build my first pc. (I will use it primarily for gaming) I'm hoping someone will look over each of these parts and confirm their compatibility and that I'm really getting the most bang for my buck.
The area in this build I am most concerned with is the motherboard. It is pretty cheap as motherboard's go, and doesn't have many reviews. The reviews not complaining about DOA (doa doesn't overly concern me since I can send it back and get a new one and then be covered by a three year warranty) said it was great, had a lot of nice features and was good quality (for the price)
Anyways, here it goes. I'll just start with all the general information I'm supposed to post when asking for help.

Approximate purchase date: Yet to be determined. Probably in about 3 months, once I do more research and take apart an old computer

Budget Range: 600-650$ after rebates. Pretty strict on the budget. I still need an OS which will put it up to 750$

System Usage: Gaming

Parts not required: Speakers, mouse, monitor

Preferred website: Newegg

Overclocking: For now, no. When I upgrade the processor later, I will overclock.

SLI/Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Not 100% sure on the motherboard. Unfortunately since my budget is pretty tight, I can't afford to go much higher than the one I will list. I have some questions about it, primarily, is it compatible with the IvyBridge processors?

Now that I've got all that out of the way, I'll give you the build itself:

Case: Cooler master Storm Enforcer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

GPU: Sapphire Radeon 6870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

PSU: Seasonic M12II 520 bronze 520W (80 plus Bronze certified)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233180

Motherboard: BIOSTAR B75MU3+ LGA 1155 Intel B75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138357

CPU: Intel i3 2120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

 

[lhikary]

your build is good but wont get you on ultra settings
i dont think your cpu is overclockable
yes your motherboard does support ivy bridge

 

[TheScarecrow97]

Really? I had heard that the 6870 was capable of maxing some games (not BF3 or Skyrim, of course, but still). Is the cpu bottlenecking it in any way? And if it is, would the phenom x4 965 bottleneck it as well?

 

[TheScarecrow97]

bump

 

[stickg1]

Don't bump that gets you in trouble on this forum. That is a good build for $600. Probably the best you're going to be able to do. Except for the Biostar motherboard, I can't stand Biostar products. If something goes wrong, and trust me it will. (I've had to return 4 out of 5 Biostar boards to the manufacturer to be fixed and everytime they send me another board it is also defective within weeks, sometimes immediately) Their customer service is horrible, but not as bad as their products. That being said, here is a better board, slightly more expensive, but leaps and bounds over the Biostar.

ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297

 

[oddlyinsane]

Yep stickg1 gave some good advice. Get that asrock z77 pro3 - it is great and more than sufficient for your needs.

Plus, the 6870 can max pretty much every game @1080p (except BF3 of course). But it will play BF3 @45+ on a mix of high/ultra and maybe no AA. There really wont be much of a quality hit between ultra and high, so yeah.

The CPU is not bottlenecking - that CPU will even keep a 570 fed with data. Its just that a quadcore CPU may provide more futureproof - except if your upgrading to Haswell next year

Regards

 

[TheScarecrow97]

Okay thanks everybody! That motherboard does look a lot better. The extra 30 bucks is kinda stretching my budget, but I suppose it will have to do. And sorry about the bump. I'm kinda new here : /

 

[TheScarecrow97]

Best answer selected by TheScarecrow97.

 

[need4speeds]

build "A". It is a bit overbudget at $707.97. But comes with dirt3 and BF3 coupons.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883157344
HP Pavilion p7-1267c (QW785AAR#ABA) Desktop PC Intel Core i5 2400(3.10GHz) 8GB 1TB HDD Capacity Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit $469.99 $23.14 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045
Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply $37.99 $3.99 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987
SAPPHIRE 11188-22-20G Radeon HD 6950 2GB (OC Edition) $199.99
$189.99 after mail-in rebate card Free Shipping Free BF3 & Dirt3 coupons

Build "B". A bit under budget at $601.96

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.956692
A6-3670K/A75/4GB/1.5TB SuperCombo $333.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus $29.99 Free Shipping $19.99 after mail-in rebate
(so you can overclock the A6-3670K)

Same antec 450 watt and hd-6950 as above. (no i don't trust the raidmax 450 watt)