Gaming rig, $900 CAD budget

[RTWinter]

This is my first time building a computer. I'm honestly kinda lost so any guidance would be helpful. This first build is one I put together after talking to a person on a forum. I didn't do all that much research into it, aside from what I could gleam from the various store's websites. I didn't include the cost of any peripherals, as I already have them and will upgrade them at a later date. The optical drive I don't see as big of a deal, as I most likely won't be using it that much anyway. The price of the case is not factored in yet as I plan on buying the case in person, I'd rather get a good sense of how it goes together and what it is physically like before purchasing.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6100 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($136.55 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($107.99 @ Computer Valley)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($129.51 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $602.52
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

I posted this build on another site, and got a terse response by another member who recommended this one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.39 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-VS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.60 @ DirectCanada)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.88 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($406.64 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Antec 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $769.49
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

So, are either of these any good? How far off base was I when I made the first build?

 

[jmsellars1]

I would go for something similar to the Intel one but spend less on the GPU and more on the motherboard. A H77/Z77 motherboard and a GPU like the HD 7850 would make it a bit more balanced. It would also mean you would only need 400W+.

 

[nekulturny]

The Intel build has a serious balancing problem. It could be corrected by using an i5 processor (quad core).

Since you're talking about a dual purpose computer w/ productivity work I would suggest a quad core at minimum. Not only will the productivity software prefer a quad, there are is already at least one game on the market that can use more than 2 cores (Battlefield3 in multiplayer), while its certainly not the standard currently, games may come out like this, in which case, the powerful GTX 670 cannot compensate for lacking CPU muscle.

So if you have to, for balancing the build on a budget you'd be better off going a little cheaper on the video card (Maybe a GTX 580, in favor of a quad core Intel i5)

an i5-2400 or a i5-3450 paired with the Intel build While the motherboard that is with the Intel build would not be my favorite choice to use, its probably adequate.

Edit, apparently 580s are not cheaper than 670s. Oh well, 7850s/7870s are pretty powerful video cards and much cheaper.

 

[RTWinter]

Thanks for the quick reply. After reading both of them and doing a bit of snooping online I came up with this build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2380P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.17 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.60 @ DirectCanada)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.88 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($264.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Antec 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $752.62
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

As for the PSU, I really don't see the harm in overspending on it a bit. If it is a bit more powerful than I need, then I figure it would make potential upgrades down the road easier - especially considering from most of the build videos I've seen, aside from the motherboard, the PSU is probably the biggest pain in the ass to remove.

 

[nekulturny]

As for the PSU, I really don't see the harm in overspending on it a bit. If it is a bit more powerful than I need, then I figure it would make potential upgrades down the road easier - especially considering from most of the build videos I've seen, aside from the motherboard, the PSU is probably the biggest pain in the ass to remove.

I don't disagree with you there, actually if you had any desire to go with a 2nd 7850, I'd suggest a 750 watt power supply for that. A Corsair TX750 like I have would be great. The other thing is a good PSU can easily last you many builds (10 years or more sometimes)

How about this CPU? Little more, little better.
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/intel-cpu-bx80623i52400

 

[RTWinter]

I'm not sure if I'd plan on doing 2 graphics cards any time soon. Soon after this I have to pay my tuition for the year so I won't have much money for quite a while. I'm also kind of afraid to mess with this rig because I live really close to a store that sells almost all of the components at the best price. No shipping? I like it!

What are the differences between the two CPUs other than the integrated graphics? So far as I can tell everything else is basically the same, unless I'm missing something obvious (which, honestly, is very likely to be the case.)

 

[nekulturny]

Nothing really, they're the same architecture, same clock speeds but the integrated graphics is nice to have as a backup should there be any issue with the video card, although its pretty rare for a video card to fail. When faced with the option, I'd take the integrated graphics even if I'm never going to use it.

 

[RTWinter]

Yeah, good point. Especially if there is no price difference. Thanks for the tip.

Otherwise, does everything else look all right?

 

[nekulturny]

Yes. I think it will work out very well for what you're looking for.