So I'm building my first PC ever and its going to have to do a bit of everything: gaming, homework, work with my school's virtual machines, you name it. The goal was to keep it under $1,000. I have no monitor listed because I'm really not sure what to go with. Here's what I've come up with so far. Appreciate any input!
Edit: I took that recommended "bang for your buck build" and changed it a bit. The only thing I'm a bit wary of is the review on the motherboard. Would the Intel build run better?
Looks like a great build. I have the Hyper 212 EVO myself and I absolutely love it, as far as I'm concerned it's definitely the best budget CPU cooler out there. But I'm not sure about the motherboard though, I mean it's almost a hundred dollars but it has only two USB 3.0 ports, it's fine if you don't need more but I would look for another deal. I'm also not a huge fan of the way the case looks, I would go for something like the Fractal Design Define S: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcadefsbkw, but that's just my opinion.
Do you think the processor I've chosen can handle WoW on high-ish settings? I'm hoping for some decent frame rates and have heard its a processor intensive game.
Yes, I have an FX 8320 paired with a 7870 and get 60+ fps @1080p on WoW on Ultra settings. It does dip below that sometimes, but the 280x is better so you might not have that issue.
Went ahead and updated the options for the build with an Intel option. I just want the best option for my money and right around $1K is my budget. Thanks again!
Looking at both builds, unless you absolutely need the extra threads JUST for the sake of having extra threads on a CPU, clock speed or efficiency be damned, then definitely go with the Intel build. My personal experience with Gigabyte motherboards has largely been a negative one, though according to what I've read on MY situation that was to be expected (990FXA-UD3 Rev. 1.1, the board from Hell). That being said, if you wanted to go with something similar that gets a better rating, I'd suggest this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130813
I've had plenty of good experience with MSI motherboards, always a stable platform for me to work with, and that should do nicely for your use scenario. Also consider that IF you wind up NEEDING the extra threads later on down the line, there ARE Eight core Xeon options you could go with that will net similar (if not better) performance than any comparable eight core AMD chip, consume less power doing so, and will perform better in gaming-centric tasks where stronger individual cores matter more than just having a ton of them (in general).