Going for my first mid-range build. Suggestions?

[falkon114]

Hey everyone. Tax return is all upons, so I'm looking to build a decent computer. I'm not doing any ultra-rendering video or audio work or anything like that, and i'd like to keep my budget between 500 and 700 (find some good deals, perhaps?)
Here's what I have so far. I'd like suggestions on how to get better components or get equivalent components for cheaper. That kinda thing 😀

Motherboard. $79 at Newegg
MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

PSU. $85 at Newegg
Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550-M 550W

RAM. $75 at Newegg
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

CPU. $125 at newegg
AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core

Heatsink. $25 at Newegg
XIGMATEK LOKI SD963 92mm HYPRO Bearing CPU Cooler

SSD. $110 at Newegg
OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G 2.5" 128GB SATA III

Still looking for a GPU card anf looking at NZXT Phantom 410 for the case.

Ideally would like to play games equivalent in power to Skyrim on Ultra. Other than that, the only real game I've played on the PC for a while is League of legends, not the most graphically intense or resource intense game out there.
Thanks!

 

[mgsfreak]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB mSATA Solid State Disk ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $851.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 14:15 EST-0500)

 

[falkon114]

Couple things mgsfreak.
1, My range is 500-700. 850 is above that.
2, I prefer AMD. A slower i5 is not worth extra money. I won't be buying Intel CPUs.

 

[michxymi]

COUGAR Solution Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 12cm COUGAR TURBINE HYPER-SPIN Bearing Silent Fan and USB 3.0

LEPA N Series N500-SA 500W ATX12V Power Supply

AMD FX-6300 FX-Series Six-Core Processor Edition, Black AM3 FD6300WMHKBOX

ASRock MB-970EX4 Socket AM3+/ AMD 970/ AMD Quad CrossFireX& nVidia SLI/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

Patriot Memory Viper 3 Series Venom Red DDR3 8GB 1866MHz (PC3 15000) Memory Kit PV38G186C9KRD

Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT with Boost 2GB DDR5 HDMI / DVI-I / Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 11199-20-20G

Samsung 840 Series 2.5 inch 120GB SATA III internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7TD120BW

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX

SUM ~750$

 

[konverge]

Still just a busta

 

[falkon114]

So much helpful!

 

[compnewb_12]

Couple things mgsfreak.
1, My range is 500-700. 850 is above that.
2, I prefer AMD. A slower i5 is not worth extra money. I won't be buying Intel CPUs.

I agree with the price range, but really? The i5 3570k is probably he best cpu for gaming. AMD chips don't come very close to the perf of an i5, especially the 3570k. Most games will only make use of 4 cores max, never 8. Also, Intel is much more efficient at processing, and uses less power. Just a few things to consider b4 you say no to Intel completely.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Mich's build is really good for that price point. If you have to shave another $50 off, can drop the SSD but I'd scrouge the $50 to keep it, if it was me.

 

[konverge]

I agree with the price range, but really? The i5 3570k is probably he best cpu for gaming. AMD chips don't come very close to the perf of an i5, especially the 3570k. Most games will only make use of 4 cores max, never 8. Also, Intel is much more efficient at processing, and uses less power. Just a few things to consider b4 you say no to Intel completely.

compnewb_12 has a good point. I like AMD better as a company, but the i5 3570k is a really good processor. Of course an overcolocked quad core AMD will still be just fine for most games, your gpu will still be the most important.