Build Opinions - A Budget< $900 CAD Do It All Reasonably Well PC

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Looking into building my first PC. I am hoping to be using this computer for gaming, streaming console games (using a external card (elgato) , doing work (arcGIS, a bit of AutoCAD and sketchUP), and general multimedia.... music,movies, netflix all that jazz. The components I have found seem to be compatible (according to PC Part Picker). Here is the component list: Proposed PC Build

What are you opinions of the build.... am I getting decent value for the money? Any Compatibility issues, bottle necks etc? If you could improve upon this build without pushing current price what would you do?

Budget. How much are you willing to spend? -$800 CAD is budget... will go over by $50.

Where do you live (what country, don't post specific details) - Canada

and what currency do you use? -Canadian Dollars (CAD)

Is there a retailer you prefer? -Yes, NCIX (free shipping) and Canada Computers

Do you need or already have peripherals? - Already have.

What will you be using your Glorious computer for? Gaming? Rendering? Mix of both? Or is this a home media PC or SteamBox? - I mentioned what I wanted to do with this build in first paragraph.

Do you overclock or want to get into overclocking? -No.

Do you plan on going for custom watercooling now, or in the future? -No.

Operating System. Do you need a new one? -No.

If you Game-

What kind of settings do you like or what FPS do you want to play at? - Looking for High settings (medium high on newest titles), looking for some smooth FPS (40ish)

What resolution will you be playing at? -1080p.

What kind of games do you like to play? Battlefield, Diablo, Skyrim, GTA, upcoming Fallout. A bunch of other steam games...

What application do you use to render? -Some 3d Rendering with AutoCAD 3D, ArcGIS. Nothing really intense though.

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Ughhhh... You win the internet today for making a thread asking for help where you actually give us the info needed to help you. Holy spaceballz.

If you've seen my comments on other threads, you know I'm not impressed by the i5s because of price to performance. If you can afford a 6 core i7 for insane power to do all that production work, knock yourself out. On a budget? Get a FX-6300 or 8350, a ~$45 aftermarket cooler, and start overclocking; it does far. I'll never not recommend that till Zen comes out or Intel reduces prices. Either of those AMD chips will do well in games, especially with a good GPU and DX12 on the way. And a lot of production software these days is multi core capable. Been 3 years since I've used CAD though, so look into that before taking my advice. Someone with more knowledge about the specific programs you use might have better to say about the whole i5 vs FX debate in regards to your needs.

Speaking of GPUs, I recommend the 390. But since you're on a budget, the 280 can do for now.

Double that SSD size. My 12GB SSD is almost full from OS and all the utility programs like media players, browser, antivirus, blender, benchmarks, etc. No room for Adobe Suite or CAD, so I'm upgrading. 250 should do it.

A 4x4GB RAM kit is best for production. Again, budget may not cover it.

I'd say get the cheapest case you can find that still fits your needs to save as much as possible.

My absolute, listen-to-this advice, wait till black Friday. not sure I'd that'd help in Canada. But if so, wait. SSDs and GPUs fly off shelves at reduced prices.

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Yea, waiting till Black Friday/Cyber Monday, or Prime Day coming up may be a good choice (although I doubt that a 390 will be on sale). I've never actually considered OC'ing, just because I've thought for a first time builder it may be a bit much to optimize. Would a Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor be a better price/performance value?

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No. It has a good stock speed, but a dual core? Plenty of things would tank it and I just checked its price. $100??? I won't even buy less than 6 cores these days (granted I typically go AMD so getting a six core is cheap and easy). As far as OCing, you couldn't ask for an easier start than with an FX chip. Overclocking them is super simple and there are plenty of guides besides. Just get a stable mobo with a good reputation (which is a must anyway).

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Here, built for everything you asked for and even more http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Feba/saved/YHyBD3

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That's in USD and over budget... will cost be approx $1300 Canadian so it will not be feasible. I appreciate the input, but that seems above and beyond my needs and most importantly my budget. Thanks anyways.

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You'd still need a larger SSD anyway. But that CPU/mobo combo is reasonable. A 6300 would be even more affordable than the 8370. And waiting till black Friday will help on some things of course.

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How about this : AMD Build

I'm going to change the RAM and SSD (like you said look for black friday (maybe Prime Day) sales on these components. Is that PSU enough if I opt to OC?

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The i5 build was better honnestly.

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ugh... so confused.... Being a first time builder I just don't know what to do, where to go...... I've tried looking on forums to get the most info I can but seems like there are soo many possibilites with my budget and needs, which means so many potential mistakes haha.

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It's that in Canadian? Last time I checked the 6300 was only $90 U.S. and you can get a 750w PSU with a cert and good reputation pretty cheap, just shop around. Im unsure if that PSU could handle it. Since you're already at 1080p, at least get the 280. If you don't mind waiting, save up a bit more and get the 390 instead of getting any GPU now and replacing, which would be more expensive. That RAM is solid. Double it when you have the money to bring it up to 16GBs.

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

This is what i have trow together, its slightly over $900,- unfortunatly.
But you could do some tweaks if you like to.
I choosed for the Xeon E3-1231-V3 this is basicly a locked i7 without igpu, but it does offer 4 core 8 threads, which will be handy with streaming.
The nice thing about this particular cpu, is that you dont need an expensive Z97 board, cause its not overclockable anyway, and you also dont need to invest in an cooling solution right away either, since the stock cooler is basicly good enough.

I choosed for a 280X, its basicly the best gpu i could find in this particular budget.

I did not choose to put an SSD in it just yet, the reason is simple, if you are on a tight budget, its more important to invest in the parts you realy need.
An SSD is not an essential part you need.

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The cheapest 390 is over $400 CAD. Since they just came out I doubt that they will come down in price soon to fit in budget (the R9 280) just dropped to $200. Again... my budget expands uncontrollably hahaha.

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A $320 4 core CPU you can't even OC? Hyperthreading is nice and all but it's not the same as having 8 cores. If you're worried about software not being able to tap into more than 4 chores at all, I wouldn't be. A lot of games do just fine on 4, Intel or AMD, and some do use more than 4. And a lot of editing software already can, or is getting there. Especially with DX12 making GPUs more important ink the future games. I just can't recommend that much money being spent on a CPU. Especially when you can match it or beat it with an FX chip or an unlocked i5. It's cutting into other things like the SSD as it is.

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i also did a little tweak to my build, to let it fall into your price range.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/kPw2wP

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In that case the 280 is a solid choice to next year. By then things should be marked down and you may have more to spend.

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its for gaming and streaming.
The Xeon E3 is one of the best bang for buck chips you can get for that.
Also for autocad it will be a damm good chip

FX cannot beat this chip atall.

Honnestly i cannot think of any better bang for buck chip, for his needs, then a Xeon E3.

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The OP had said they will do some editing work, CAD being one. And even if it's better, I still don't see a need for it. Especially in a budget build. My wording was bad, but my point is there no reason to spend that much on a CPU when FX or the i5 i personally wouldn't get would do the job at 1/3 or 1/2 the price.

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The i5 can be a good chip aswell yes, you can use the igpu for streaming with Qsync.
BUt the quality will be less.

FX cpu´s dont make that much sense at all now days.
They are not bad, but they just start to show their age.

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You can use the iGPU specifically for streaming while the actual GPU renders the game? If so, that's news to me and finally a reason for me to recommend an i5 specifically to streamers (i don't stream, I FRAPS record).

But saying the FX chips don't make sense doesn't make sense.