Advice on Budget Machine ($700 to $800 range)

[skewedview]

Hey guys,

I am hoping I am posting this in the right place. I have been out of the PC building gig for about 10 years. I am looking to build a machine which will be hooked up to my TV for use as a gaming rig as well as as a media center.

I am not necessarily looking to play all of the latest games at max resolution or anything of that nature, but I would like to be able to "keep up," if you will.

Here's my build ... any and all suggestions welcome, especially if you notice something incompatible:

Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX Case (FD-CA-NODE-304-BL) - $54.99 (Newegg)
MoBo: ASRock 970 Extreme4 AM3+ - $51.99 (Amazon)
CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5 GHz Six-Core (FD6300WMHKBOX) - $119.99 (Newegg)
Gfx: Radeon HD 7770 2GB 128-bit Video Card - $134.99 (Newegg)
Mem: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3-1600 SDRAM (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) - $79.99 (Amazon)
Power: Corsair CX Series CX600 600W ATX12V Power Supply - $69.99 (Newegg)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache (ST500DM002) - $51.99 (Amazon)
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech Wireless All-in-One TK820 - $79.99 (Amazon)
WiFi: Belkin F7D212 N300 USB Wireless - $22.22 (Amazon)

Total: $666.14

Thanks in advance.

 

[duhmentia]

Everything looks good to me, a nice solid build. The only thing I would change is the gpu for a couple more dollars you can upgrade to the 7850 which will be much better than the 7770.

 

[skewedview]

Oh, thanks so much for the advice, duhmentia. If I were to splurge anywhere else, where would you recommend it be? I pretty much know what to expect from the memory and HDD, but I haven't been an AMD user in a long time. My everyday computer is an Intel i7-2600K. I've been out of the game so long ... I no longer understand the primary differences in CPUs. Especially, the usage of the cores. Having a hard time understanding why a 3.5 GHz six-core is one third the price of a 3.4 GHz quad core.

 

[duhmentia]

If you wanted to you can put in about $70 more and get an fx-8350 which will last longer than the 6300. And about the price differences between the intel and amd cpu's. For example the i5-3570k is more expensive than the 6300 by over $100 because it is a little bit better in single and multi threaded use and doesn't need as much power as the fx 6300. But you can even get an fx 8350 for cheaper than the i5-3570k for some reason that is unknown to me because the 8350 blows the i5-3570k out of the water. You can fiddle around with this site and just compare the cpu's and just see what i am talking about.
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/437/AMD_FX-Series_FX-6300_vs_Intel_Core_i5_i5-3570K.html

 

[skewedview]

Ok, great. After doing some research, I think I'll take your advice on the graphics and the CPU.

I plan on making this purchase today. Does anyone else have input or other suggestions?

 

[duhmentia]

Actually if i was you i would wait a little until the black Friday deals start rolling out, then you might be able to get these parts for cheaper or even get better parts.