Just built in October. I'll add prices for those who are interested.
R9 280x ($220, got it with a $30 rebate)
8gb DDR3 1600 ($69.99)
Asrock Z97 Anniversary ($100 with G3258 - bundle)
Intel Pentium G3258 @ 4.5 GHZ , 1.33 Volts, 70C full load (upgrading to Devil's Canyon or Broadwell i5 next year - putting the Pentium in a media build for my mother) ($100 with Asrock Z97)
Seagate Baracuda 7200RPM 1 TB (Waiting for the right deal on an SSD) ($60)
Corsair Cx 500W ($40- $20 rebate)
ENERMAX OSTROG ECA3253 Black ($50 - $10 rebate)
Total Price: $220 + $69.99 + $100 + $60 + $40 + $50 = $539.99 After rebates $479.99. No tax, because I bought all my items from retailers who don't tax in my state. I also got three free games for buying the GPU and have a free OS (Windows 7) from my school.
Only game I can't play well is Dragon Age Inquisition (15-20fps on low with lots of stuttering), for now, but I can play it fine on my three year old media laptop. The game obviously has been optimized for four threads or more only, and my new i5 should fix that when I get it (if there isn't some hotfix from the community for two threads, before then.) For now, I'm enjoying it at medium 720p on my laptop quite fine. My goal with this PC was to be emulator capable while still able to play most new games at 1080p 30-60 fps. I knew from the start the G3258 would be dated in a year or two (or a month in DA:I's case lol :P), but I got the good deal with the Asrock motherboard, which I could've spent $80 for alone, and I will reuse the Pentium for a PC my mother wants me to build her next year. My alternative for my price-range was AMD and while their processors are more future proof than the G3258, they are end of the line and non-upgradeable. Plus they don't do as well with emulation, which needs high per core performance.
