Discuss my friends new Mini-ITX Build!

Hardware Hub Build a PC
1

So my friend is trying to build a new PC with a budget as close to $500 as possible. He currently has the following:

AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHZ CPU
MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ Mobo
GSkill Ares 8GB
Seagate Barracude 2TB 7200
EVGA 750 TI 2GB
Corsair Builder 430W PSU

...and cramming this all into a Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini tower.

He hasn't selected a cooler yet and I'm assuming he will go air.

Also, he is coming off of a Lenovo Y-51 (SLI 750m's I believe) and a PS4. I think he is planning to sell the laptop.

What do you think of this kind of build? Seems like a damn tight budget to me but, it's not my decision. He wants it small, powerful and cheap. Which are not words that typically play along nicely in the small PC building space.

Recommendations? Criticisms?

P.S.I tried to recommend him here but, I don't think he will join. I don't know why... I am not involved with this build other than (hopefully) having a few beers and watching him build his first pc with a rather large grin on my face!

Edit here is the link to his part picker list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HRYzgs

2

It looks pretty good to me. GPU is a little bit on the weak side. Consider overclockig it or stepping up to a 960?

3

Agreed.

4

The only thing I'd suggest is to get a small SSD to place the operating system on. That'll really boost some speed

5

In this price range a SSD is not beneficial for the budget (or get one later). Maybe a hybrid drive to have a compromise.