My boss's son is requesting a gaming PC for x-mas so as an enthusiast I told him if he bought the parts I'd build it. Plus, I'm all for bringing people over to the PC-master race. The father used to game on an Alienware and he likes to do home videos and add after effects like lightsabers etc.
His budget is $600-$700
He prefers a 6-core processor
He wants a cool looking case for his son
This is the build I put together http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dZt699
Anywhere I can fine tune it?
6300 isn't really worth it for gaming, depends on which way you want to go
the i5 + 380 will give you higher average frame rates
And the 860K + 390 will let you play at higher resolutions, though the 860k will bottleneck your average fps in CPU intensive games
However, upgrading the 860k down the road can run you around $200, while upgrading your GPU in the i5 build will run you potentially closer to 300 to get a large performance bump over a 380
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $169.10 @ Newegg
Motherboard | MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $42.89 @ OutletPC
Memory | Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $33.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $51.88 @ OutletPC
Video Card | MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card | $194.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $33.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | Rosewill 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $59.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $586.83
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 19:07 EST-0500 |
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor | $69.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard | $46.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $33.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $51.88 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card | $299.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $33.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | Rosewill 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $59.99 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $596.82
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 19:08 EST-0500 |
Looks good for the budget, I just picked up a 4gb 380 from Amazon. Benches a bit higher. My biggest recommendation would be to figure out how to get an ssd for the os, keep the hdd and get a 120gb ssd... If he can go over budget do it, if not look for deals on the gpu. When are you ordering?
You missed the OS on your breakdown.
ya but it's 100 bucks under budget, I just keep those lying around
Although, I need to change the power supply in them, and probably the RAM, as prices have changed, the builds are supposed to be 600
Yeah I hear that about having the OS laying around.
@Streetguru is right about the intel performance piece. But I would really try to get an ssd in there to give them the best load times for all the day to day stuff.
860k on AMD does that mean overclockable like on intel? I'm not too familiar with AMD
I'm not sure about the rest of you guys, but at around the 500 + dollars mark (CAD) is when I try my hardest to include an SSD. That is the most noticeable improvement, and is really one of the biggest bottlenecks in the everyday PC. Some of the things in this situation seem to be more glamorous rather than practical, like the motherboard and case. Going for a mobo that is perhaps a bit more "barebones" but is still reliable and has some room for upgrading, as well as going for a case that's a bit cheaper(again factoring in quality and some upgrade room) would squeeze enough room for an SSD as the boot drive! Perhaps I am a fool for doing so, and feel free to let me know if I am!
It's overclockable, but you'd want an 88X board, that board is just cheap and has nice legacy support
No, I agree, I was going to try to talk my boss into going the extra mile for a 120gb Kingston, or Adata, or Samsung
As far as SSDs go, it is certainly not worth it to spend around 60 dollars minimum on an SSD at a budget of around $600, as you're going to be losing a fair bit of performance or stability, for shaving a few seconds on loading some programs.
If you make a small partition on a hard drive for your OS you can speed one up a bit
Probably the one to add on $45, 120gb
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3120gmc
$70 for a 240gb
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3240gmc
Losing performance and stability where? If you are referring to what I said about cutting back on the motherboard, then yeah that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. What it seems to be in this case is that the mobo is wonderful, but will give much more than would be needed. So picking the mobo to meet the requirements of other parts, while also not spending money on features that wont really be utilized, as to have money for more noticable improvements is all I was trying to add. But it does have to be done carefully, or else you could run the risk of said stability issues.
I was referring to my builds, but ya he could do it in his by getting the ASrock 970m board, though you really need a higher end board with AM3+ so you can OC the chip to keep up in CPU intensive games
What do you think for a good 6 core processor. I would like to present him with the option.
if he's just gaming, he doesn't need it, if he's going to be streaming and doing some video editing, then you'll want to go with an 8320e, with the ASROCK 970m motherboard over a 6300
Personally, I'd go with the intel build Streetguru suggested as it allows for greater upgrade ability when it comes to the CPU, and it's probably the GPU you'd want to upgrade first out of anything else in that build besides storage, chances are, which is much easier to resell and get your money back on than a motherboard and CPU. Not to mention, without your GPU for a couple days, you can still play less demanding games to pass the time like JC2 and such...
There are two changes I'd make though, one being the case, going for ahttp://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sil352mkkn1 as it offers damn good dust filtration, which chances are you'll want as I doubt the kid's gonna want to clean it out every fortnight, and sound proofing, which I'm sure the kid'd appreciate. The motherboard, too, I'd change, for ahttp://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mds3ha, as it has four SATA 3 ports rather than the two on that H81 mobo, it's not much more than the H81 in streetguru's build.
might put you just under $4 over budget but both wortwhile changes IMO.
I like the case (I'm actually using it for my steam-machine) He wants something flashy for his 11 yr old
I will make the mobo change
Aha. One of those cheap gamery aesthetic boxes with a couple LED fans then? Lol
Or the HAF 912 perhaps? Spec 01?