An i5 is significantly faster than a 6300.
The water cooler isn't great value for money. As a rule of thumb, overclocking can get you up to 30% more performance, so if you're spending more than 30% of your CPU price on cooling, you're getting worse performance per dollar.
That RAM is way overpriced.
The fans included in the case are sufficient.
Added an SSD.
A 970 usually beats the R9 290, and is significantly more power efficient, so less heat output. Price is pretty close.
Swapped PSU for one that's cheaper, but still more than enough power, and decent quality.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $258.32 @ TigerDirect Canada |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $37.98 @ NCIX |
| Motherboard | MSI Z97M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $116.24 @ DirectCanada |
| Memory | G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $75.92 @ DirectCanada |
| Storage | Sandisk Solid State Drive 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $59.75 @ Vuugo |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $58.98 @ DirectCanada |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card | $408.10 @ TigerDirect Canada |
| Case | NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $89.99 @ Memory Express |
| Power Supply | EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $49.99 @ Memory Express |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1155.27 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-07 05:03 EST-0500 |