Which build is better?

I'm looking to pull the trigger on a new PC, but I'm honestly stuck staring at these specs and having no clue which direction to go.
Which one of these two setups actually holds more water?

What are you actually looking to do with it? Like, what's the end goal? And more importantly, what kind of budget are we talking about here?
For the amount of cash you'd probably drop on one of those pre-built rigs, you could honestly put together something way more solid and high-quality yourself. My advice? Just stay away from the pre-builts.

Pick the lesser of two evils, which means going with the Future build. That Autronic one was put together by someone who clearly wasn't thinking—pairing an overclocking motherboard with a CPU that can't even be overclocked... I mean, seriously? It makes zero sense to pick a board like that if you aren't even using a chip that supports it 😁.

It’s honestly always better to just spec out your own rig from scratch, but hey, if you need a hand, we're here

We’re looking at a gaming build with a budget of $1667, and honestly, what they suggested is just junk. Every pre-built configuration is usually garbage, so here is what you actually need:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz Processor, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x 8GB DDR3 (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0, FLGG
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, 28nm
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
1 x Fortron 500W Hyper Power Supply, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case, 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm, ATX standard

$1659 reddit.com

In short, everything here is better. From a faster processor to a GPU that's several times more powerful. You could potentially throw in an extra 6 GB of RAM and swap in an Autronic's Core i7-4770K or some other tinkering, but this is, in my opinion, the most optimal and balanced setup. 😉

EDIT: If you push the budget just a tiny bit, you can fit in an Autronic's Core i7-4770K and 8 GB of RAM.

Intel / Nvidia combo:

i5 3350P
MSI H61M P20 G3
CRUCIAL 8GB 1600 MHZ
SEAGATE 3.5" 1TB SATA 3 BARR.
EVGA GTX 960 2GB DDR5 OC
ANTEC VP 400 PC 80+
XIGMATEK MACH MIDI ATX

= $1683 includes assembly and shipping.

Adam Moore3 said:We're looking at a gaming rig under $1667, and honestly, what was suggested is just junk. Same goes for those pre-built setups, so here:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0, FLGG
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, 28nm
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. ATX standard

$1659 admin_us

Basically, everything here is an upgrade. Stronger CPU, way better GPU. You could toss in another 6 GB of RAM to hit the Core i7-4770K level or some other tinkering, but this feels like the sweet spot for balance. 😉

EDIT: Even if you push the budget slightly, you can fit the Core i7-4770K and 8 GB of RAM.

And don't forget $27 shipping if you aren't local to NYC, which puts you already around $50 over budget.

I was actually out by Mount Rainier the other day, and I honestly started wondering if Autronic had gone under 🤔

I actually took fadedorca66's advice and placed my order through Future. 🙂

Look, I’m fully aware that buying parts individually is usually the smarter way to go, but let's be real—I have absolutely no clue how to build a PC myself. If I tried to buy everything separately, I'd just end up paying some technician a massive premium to put it together for me anyway. And honestly, here in San Francisco, finding anyone willing to touch a build without charging you upwards of $150 is nearly impossible.

My current rig is about eight years old. Back then, it was a serious investment; I dropped about $3,000 on it. This time around, my budget is significantly tighter.
It’s been a reliable workhorse for all eight years, but lately, it’s started to struggle.
Out of nowhere, it just starts shutting down on its own. And once it goes dark, getting it back up and running becomes a total nightmare.

Trying to power it on has become genuinely stressful. I get this sinking feeling that if I turn it off one more time, it’s going to stay dead forever. That fear, combined with the technical headache, is exactly why I need a pre-built configuration rather than tinkering with parts.
I need a new machine urgently—like, within the next few days. My old computer is basically on life support at this point.

If I have any regrets, it's having to part ways with my old case. Even after eight years, it still looks pretty slick—it’s got that built-in LCD screen that tracks temperatures, CPU load, and all those little details. It was a high-end piece of gear when I bought it.

Most of the standard cases available now won't even come close to looking that good. 👎

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer by any stretch, but I really want a system capable of running modern titles smoothly whenever I feel like playing something. 🙂
I'm really crossing my fingers that the setup from Future hits the mark.

neondriver7 - Look, you get free assembly and shipping, so the only real difference is that with this second option, you have to manually click every single item into your cart and process the order

Adam Moore3, their downtown location doesn't even carry half of that stuff (at least not the MBOs and GPUs)

Timothy Kim60 said:neondriver7 - look, you get free assembly and shipping, so the only real difference is that with this second option, you have to manually click through every single item in your cart and process the order one by one.

Adam Moore3, they don't even have half of that stuff in stock at the local Best Buy (at least not the motherboard or the GPU).

Ugh, I totally missed the point.👎
It's too late now, though—I already pulled the trigger and paid for the order through Future.😵

It doesn't really matter; even coming from the future, this setup is more than solid enough to crush basically any game you throw at it. I guess it could have been a little more balanced, but whatever. People have bought way, way worse builds than this 😁

neondriver7 said:Ugh, I don't get it.👎
Too late, I already pulled the trigger and paid for this through the 😵future.

You can still call them up and fix the order.👍

neondriver7 said:Ugh, I totally missed the point there.👎
Too late though, I already pulled the trigger and paid for this thing from Future.😵

That’s exactly why you gotta wait until you have all the facts before making a call, instead of just throwing money around recklessly.😉 We're talking big bucks here, not just grabbing some milk at Walmart.

But hey, like Flatron mentioned, you can still give them a ring and cancel the order if you need to.