How well will these PC builds run sim?

[WellsMX524]

My current PC is failing slowly but surely. I started building a couple of pc's on PCpartpicker, and just wonder how these would handle sim. I would like to start playing again, but im going to need a better computer.

Can someone enlighten me? I also need these to handle my graphic design work.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sFVyRB

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YQNT3C

They are slightly identical, having the same mobo, and a few other parts, but yeah, please give me some guidance. I would like to also cut costs where possible, so if you see something that could be downgraded, let me know.

[Pumaxcs]

All you need for games these days is just a quad core and with hyperthreading an i3 counts. If you want to do more things production wise then go i5.
Motherboard is cheaper to just get a ATX size board unless you actually get a small factor case aswell and use the size for what it is. To get a non K series CPU going H97 is best.
The 4GB is ok for a cheap game rig, but considering that 8GB is literally $2 more its a very worthwhile upgrade.
Cheap 1TB is fine, Seagate, WD.
I understand the want to save money by going to an older platform for GPU but considering the price of a 900 or 700 and performance gap they give it doesn't make sense to save $20 when performance wise its not worth that gap. I went AMD because $/Performance they are good, they aren't the best performance but for their price they get the job done.
Cheap or "Gaming" towers are my biggest hate in the case market. Cases aren't something you need to upgrade. Get a decent case and enough fans and not touch it again ever.
Power supplies are the same, but your choice there is acceptable.
CD drives are basically a thing of the past. If you really need it then go for it but I have an external and find I don't use it ever.
I kind of said something about fans already, really appreciate they included them in the list. The AF140's aren't the best at that price range but atleast they are there.

One thing they didn't include is OS, and thats one they most of the time don't include because of its price.

My choice.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($127.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB DUAL-X Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Rosewill Hyperborea 57.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($11.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $675.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-08 21:28 EDT-0400

[Racers52]

Im telling you, avoid to R9 side of things and you'll be much happier at the end of the road, trust me, ive been through this.

[WellsMX524]

Thanks for the really in depth response, I appreciate it. I've already purchased a few things, including my case, motherboard, ram, power supply, and hard drive. I'm going to go EVGA GTX 960 2gb, and i5 4440 for my CPU

I kinda skimped on the case, and maybe a few other things, but I'm just trying to get this together before my current PC fails. The motherboard is a solid base IMO to where if I need to upgrade, I can.

Here's the build so far. All I need to buy now is my CPU and GPU.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hj6tqs

[Ian Marshall]

Im telling you, avoid to R9 side of things and you'll be much happier at the end of the road, trust me, ive been through this.

There's nothing wrong with AMD cards. They had driver issues near their release, but they're fine now.