Helping a friend get into pc gaming,

Hardware Hub Build a PC
1

Hello everyone,
So after some time I was able to talk a friend into trying pc gaming. He started of with buying a new laptop which he needed that had an apu in it but hes kind of out grown it and has decided to set aside a 500 USD for a new build. I was hoping for peer critique on the build I put together before finalizing the parts and buying them.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MxhfLk

2

I wouldn't waste my money on an 8-year-old CPU when there are so many viable alternatives in that price range. The Intel Pentium G3258 and the AMD Athlon X4 860K are two examples. The 960 is a turd for the price.

3

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hBrNVn
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M EXTREME4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($58.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 285 2GB DUAL-X Video Card ($179.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($40.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $499.42

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GDzQQ7
CPU: Intel Pentium G3450 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 285 2GB DUAL-X Video Card ($179.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($40.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $500.42

4

Is the q6600 that much slower? I really wanted to get him an Intel quad core as opposed to dual core or an AMD quad core.

5



The 8 year old cpu will lack new cpu instruction sets and its platform is redundant.