Additional First Build Help Needed

[Klaseter23]

A few days ago i posted an AMD build that i was planning to go for on my first build, i have since done additional research and decided to stick with Intel instead. In fact, the build i am looking at now is very similar to the "Budget Build for the Casual Gamer" that i looked at on here. I again just want to get the expert opinion from here and make sure the build looks ok and see if you guys have any suggestions. Im still trying to decide between two motherboards so im hoping somebody can suggest one above the other for me.

Case and PSU: Antec Three Hundred + 430W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129065)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502) or ASUS P8Z68-V LE (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131773)
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078)
Graphics Card:ASUS ENGTX550 TI DC/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 550 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121435)
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769)

After reading and doing more research i just decided that the Intel CPU would be better for me even though it is only a Dual Core. Now i just need to decide on the Motherboard and hopefully ill be ordering the parts sometime at the end of this week. Thanks for the help.

[RickyTick]

Both of those motherboard should do great. I see almost no difference between the two, except the Gigabyte has an additional PCI Express connection.

[Klaseter23]

Ok. Thats what i thought. I think ill go with the Gigabyte.

[ARchamps]

Good build... but have you taken a look at the AMD APUs? They are at the same price point and they are Quad Core. I built a system for my Dad (without a GPU) and it was pretty cheap and performs well. Worth taking a look into, if you haven't already.

[Klaseter23]

I have looked at them. I actually looked at them first. But after doing my research I decided to go with the i3 even though it's only dual core. Plus I plan on hopefully upgrading to a i5 2500 in the future so I want to just go ahead and go with intel and the i3.

[ARchamps]

Fair enough. Although if you are planning to upgrade in the future and you can add to your budget, it may be wiser in the long run to get the i5 now. It's available at MicroCenter in-store for $179.99 (if you live near one).

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

[Klaseter23]

I know I've really debated it. And I would love to go ahead and get the i5 but I don't live very close to a micro center and my budget is very tight right now unfortuantely so I think I'm just going to stick with the i3 especially since I just realized the i3 2120 is on sale on newegg for cheaper than the 2100. Thanks for the thought and suggestion though. I greatly appreciate it.

[ARchamps]

No problem. For gaming, the dual core should do just fine. the 2500K will likely go down in price once IvyBridge releases in a few months :)

[Klaseter23]

I know, I know... thats something else I've thought about but i am without a computer completely right now since my laptop died about 2 weeks ago and i just don't think i can wait that much longer. Having to rely on using my roommate's old laptop right now is absolutely awful haha. As much as i want to wait i just don't think i can do it. Im just going to have to be impatient and go ahead and buy now I've decided. Thanks so much though for your input.