Checking one last time before I start ordering

[Scorpini]

Getting a budget build. My budget is $800 and this comes to about $815 with all the taxes and shipping, since Canada Computers never has anything in stock and PCPartPicker rarely calculates taxes or shipping. Its purpose will be mainly for gaming, I may do some video encoding as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($109.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock 770iCafe ATX AM3 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($24.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($64.34 @ Amazon Canada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS70 OEM DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($105.92 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Total: $651.77
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

Approximate Purchase Date: 3 weeks to order all the parts, not ordering all at once.

Budget Range: ~$800 WITH TAXES AND SHIPPING, after rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, video encoding, schoolwork

Parts Not Required: monitor, keyboard, speakers, mouse, nothing that isn't on the list.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: DirectCanada, NCIX and Newegg, anything on PCPartPicker that isn't TigerDirect

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: ASRock mobo, a budget AMD cpu, XFX HD 6870 DD, everything I have on the list. If something is off then keep the same brand.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024 before I get a monitor in the future, 1080p once I do

Additional Comments: Price has to include taxes and shipping

 

[Patflute]

I would strongly suggest the i3-2120. Don't be a fanboy and get a weak processor for no reason. The i3-2120 is only $15 more.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

Performance: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

If you decide to get the i3 I'm sure you can find a H61 motherboard for a similar price.

Why is the price so expensive? Canadian tax is 13% so the price is $736.50 with taxes and your shipping shouldn't be over $60 lol. I live in Canada btw.

I have that case

 

[Proximon]

If you are dead set on AMD that's fine. You are missing out on performance but OK. The absolute only reason to use AMD would be to aggressively overclock though. Without that, you are better of with a less expensive Intel CPU.

You really need a board that is capable of USB 3 and SATA 6GB/s though.

 

[Scorpini]

I would strongly suggest the i3-2120. Don't be a fanboy and get a weak processor for no reason. The i3-2120 is only $15 more.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

Performance: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

If you decide to get the i3 I'm sure you can find a H61 motherboard for a similar price.

Why is the price so expensive? Canadian tax is 13% so the price is $736.50 with taxes and your shipping shouldn't be over $60 lol. I live in Canada btw.

I have that case

It isn't fanboyism, I've checked other benchmarks and there's usually a difference of like, 1-4fps in games, except it's better at video. I was just wondering if it was valid. And the price is expensive because of the shipping and taxes together, you said $736.50 with taxes and that my shipping shouldn't be over $60, so with shipping that comes to $791.50, the total isn't that far over.

 

[Scorpini]

If you are dead set on AMD that's fine. You are missing out on performance but OK. The absolute only reason to use AMD would be to aggressively overclock though. Without that, you are better of with a less expensive Intel CPU.

You really need a board that is capable of USB 3 and SATA 6GB/s though.

I agree with the board thing, yeah. I just will be probably doing as much video encoding as gaming and I thought the AMD was better at that, since it's a quad core.

 

[Patflute]

Do you have a Canada Computers store near you? If you do that'll cut down on the price since you don't have to pay for shipping.

 

[Scorpini]

Do you have a Canada Computers store near you? If you do that'll cut down on the price since you don't have to pay for shipping.

I think there's one about an hour and a half away, but the parts I've chosen that are listed on canadacomputers aren't in stock at it. I would use DirectCanada but they only have two of the parts in stock, but I'll still order those from them.

 

[Proximon]

Check a few reviews. There are not cherry picked, they were the first 2 I clicked on from a google

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/44339-intel-core-i3-2120-core-i5-2400-lga1155-processors-review-12.html

 

[Scorpini]

Check a few reviews. There are not cherry picked, they were the first 2 I clicked on from a google

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/44339-intel-core-i3-2120-core-i5-2400-lga1155-processors-review-12.html

..Well then.

i3 and H61 chipset it is, updating pcpartpicker.

 

[Scorpini]

This is the final setup here;

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/aHMz

(Hopefully)


EDIT: nevermind. hate canada computers, only place it's supposedly available at and it isn't.

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/aHNP

 

[Proximon]

I really think you should consider a little better board. SATA 6GB/s and USB 3
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10520BD3300&vpn=H77%20Pro%204-M&manufacture=ASROCK
Better specs here:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157301
4 DIMM slots
Internal USB 3 header
SATA 6GB/S for when you decide to add an SSD

You can get a deal with a slightly better case and a PSU of similar quality this way:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.976593

Also here
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.976513

Follow these suggestions and you'll have an operational USB 3 front port also