$1k build

one of my sons friends is building his first pc.. the list he gave me was over 1K for an amd build and didnt even include any sort of cooler. seemed way too much for an amd - which usually people pick to save money.

So, taking the 1K price, here is what I came up with picking an i5

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GtGWf7

my only really question is the GPU... I have no clue with the comparisons... which are better etc. so if there is something better around that price or less the please yell!!
Or if i picked something horribly wrong.. yell! lol

(this was his list http://pcpartpicker.com/user/MasonMalsegna/saved/v2rmP6)

thanks!!

save some money on the cooler and PSU, both not really needed in this case
put the money towards a better gpu

yeah 750 is a bit much .. I just know that one is rated really well. ok, so if I drop to a 600w.. who to go with?

ok, lowered the PSU to 620w and swapped to the Hyper 212 evo instead of liquid.

Now, what to swap the GPU for?

how about this?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G3L66h

that looks better!

anyone else want to chime in?

Well, you could save quite some money on the motherboard and case (especially by going mATX) which might free up some of the budget for an SSD.

Is he going to be overclocking?

@Feronix - I thought of adding an ssd but since he is not very knowledgeable with pc - I didnt want to confuse him with having the OS on one and everything else on another. I think he will fill the SSD in no time without realizing. So keeping it simple

@barnsely - not at first... but I want to leave it open down the line - as he gets more involved in pc building (I am going to make him build this mostly on his own) - I want that door to be open for him to play a little. if memory serves, Hyper 212 should be fine for some mild OCing correct?

Errh, did you really just drop down the GPU to replace the Hyper 212 with an H100i for someone who isn't very knowledgeable and cannot overclock the system himself?

Tbh mate, to me it seems like you have the priorities wrong. Just get a nice $100ish motherboard with a cheap i5 and the Hyper 212 Evo at best. Then find the best GPU that he can afford.

Edit: Ah, I see the old list is back now. Still I think he could easily do with a cheaper motherboard/case.

I hate to do it, having been burned by cheaper stuff.. cheaper case would save what.. $15? and the MB.. another $25? not worth it imo

as far as the GPU , isnt the 280x a pretty good gpu? i mean.. not much higher you can go without spending a lot more? Thanks!

StaticFX said:

I hate to do it, having been burned by cheaper stuff.. cheaper case would save what.. $15? and the MB.. another $25? not worth it imo

as far as the GPU , isnt the 280x a pretty good gpu? i mean.. not much higher you can go without spending a lot more? Thanks!

Click to expand...

I clicked the link earlier and it had an H100i, but with a 270x in it. This setup is already better. I know that it's easy to spend another person's money, but to your friend every little bit may help?

The easiest thing for everyone is if your friend signed up here and posted a thread (or used this one) to tell the guys here exactly what he wants and for his maximum budget. We can then tell him what kind hardware he's going to want/need and why, much easier.


I came up with this parts list. Staying within the $1k budget (by two cents), I managed to get mainly the same sort of specifications as the build you had posted earlier but also fit in an SSD.

It doens't feature aftermarket CPU cooling, but the CPU is locked anyway (really, what are the chances of him overclocking?). Even if he does want to overclock, he can spend another 20 on the 4670k, run it with the stock cooler for the time being and upgrade that later, as it's an easy upgrade anyway. For the locked CPU, the stock cooler will suffice but if he wants extra looks/silence in the future then, as said, this is easy to replace.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($196.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($133.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($71.10 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($295.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $999.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

this will be a gaming rig. he wants to be able to basically run any game currently out.
I will let him know his choices (I like your picks as well)

Thanks again everyone! love this place