$800 AMD Build - Opinions Wanted

[pheroh]

I've been lurking around for quite some time now and I think I got an idea on the best components for my needs. I'd like to hear your opinions about this build. It will be mainly for gaming and some development (Android).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($136.48 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($83.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.53 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($60.67 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.48 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($64.80 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($93.92 @ DirectCanada)
Other: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($222.00)
Total: $752.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-26 00:34 EST-0500)

Please note that I will be using a 1080p monitor (my 40" TV actually) and I know that the 7870 LE is more than capable for that resolution to max things out and keep a 40+ fps. I don't think I'll need to overclock the CPU any time soon (never did that before) but I've chosen a reasonably priced 970 mobo just in case I wanted to slightly push things up.

Now I did fill some carts here and there to see the "real" final price and it boils down to around $820 CAD (shipping, taxes, rebates) not considering the 2 games value. Is this reasonable?

I would have considered the i5 way but in all combos (even with the i5-3350p + H77) it is more expensive by at least $30-40. If you go with the Z77 (for a "K" series i5 upgrade later on), things just blow out of proportion here in the Canadian market.

Finally, I would have loved to get a micro ATX AM3+ mobo but those things don't exist any more! At least not using the latest chipsets with moderate overclocking capabilities

 

[Outlander_04]

Im suspicious of the MSI motherboard . That model replaced the G45 which had a habit of melting or catching fire .
There are some Newegg reviews of burning smells etc despite the problems being supposedly fixed

ASUS , Gigabyte and Asrock make better boards with 970 chipsets IMO
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872
$80 after rebate


The rest makes perfect sense to me

 

[butremor]

Good build, and yes, asrock, asus, gigabyte mobos are usually go to nowadays

 

[pheroh]

Thanks both. I was leaning more towards the ASRock 970 Extreme 3 as I could save around $20.

BTW, can the 970 overclock GPUs? I intend to do that and I just wanted to know if I could.

 

[Outlander_04]

AMD graphics card software lets you overclock graphics cards

 

[pheroh]

Figured as much. Had to confirm. Thanks.

 

[pheroh]

Best answer selected by pheroh.

 

[pheroh]

Ok! So I ordered the build above + a LiteOn optical drive.. My question is, both HDD and optical drive are OEM so do I need to buy any cables or other things? If so, what should I get?