Building gaming computer for son

if you could give a general range or performance bracket...

Are you gaming on a 1080p monitor? do you want a 1080p monitor? do you want multiple monitors?
microsoft office? it sounds like you actually use the PC for work, so do you need office too?
max price?
some names of games he's trying to play? I mean i know Arc and war thunder, neither really need a high end beast of a computer.

I'm going to put together a pc for you that will play arc and war thunder perfectly, as well as be able to game much higher requirement games; however, understand that this is not a TOP END gaming system, the system requirements for ARC and WarThunder are quite low. It will not include office, monitors or peripherals. Let me know if you need anything else.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($91.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($26.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $691.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-29 15:53 EDT-0400

**windows 7 -home edition is no longer available. If you would like windows 7, you'll need to purchase the pro version, which is the only version still for sale. I'll also need to add a DVD drive as windows 10 usually comes in USB format while Windows 7 typically comes in DVD format.

Building a PC is easy if you have a bit of experience making things - just watch a couple of youtube videos.
Best value for money is
Intel i5 and good quality budget motherboard. I like ASUS and Gigabyte
There are various types of i5, but literally any one will do you well
8GB 1600Mhz RAM
Samsung Evo SSD
Good quality PSU - see the toms hardware PSU tier list.
Probably Radeon RX480 GPU
I have a nice Antek ATX case, but most brands except CIT are OK
This lot should cost roughly $1000
You can spend more or less than this, but either option will get you less power per $
The above PC should last 6 years minimum, but may need a GPU upgrade when it is 3-4 years old

I might suggest you simply install a discrete graphics card in your current pc.
A GTX750ti will run on most generic 300w power supplies that come with Dell computers.

If you are looking to build a separate pc, then here is a post I made earlier for a Budget pc.


------------------------------ budget skylake build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than for the cpu.

Let me start where you might not expect:

1. Buy a good 500w psu or better. 500w will run a card as good as a GTX970. 600w will run a GTX980ti.
Future graphics cards will be built on smaller 14nm so they should not need more power than today.
I would normally suggest Seasonic 620w: Expect to pay around $65.
Look for a tier 1 or 2 quality unit on a list such as this:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

2. Buy a Z170 based motherboard. Z170 will allow you to install a overclockable cpu and even permit a future Kaby lake processor upgrade.
You should find one for under $100. Lesser lga1151 chipsets will work for the truly budget constrained but at the expense of future upgrade optiions.
Here is a M-ATX example: ASRock Z170M Pro4S for $99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157637

3. I suggest a I3-6100 @3.7. About $130. If you are truly budget limited, you can buy a g4400 dual core for $60.
In time, you can upgrade to any I3/I5/I7 cpu that you want and market theoriginal processor.

4. The intel stock cooler will do the job. Skylake runs cool.
If you want, you can use a cryorig H7 cooler with a 120mm fan. $35. It will be quieter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565
One can always add a cpu cooler later.

5. For ram, speed is not important. Buy a 8gb kit of 2 x 4gb DDR4 1.2v 2133 speed ram.
About $40 for this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148858
Heat spreaders are marketing and generally useless.
Faster ram is not worth it for skylake:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

6. Cases are a personal thing. Buy one you love. Most will do the job for <$50.
Here is a silverstone PS08 for $35; It fits a smallar M-ATX motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163223

7. The graphics card is the most important component for gaming.
I like the GTX750ti and EVGA as a brand.
Here is a superclock version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
You could go stronger in the video card if your budget permits and your games need it.
On the other hand, you could build using the integrated 530 graphics which is quite good and see how you do.
By deferring on the graphics card, you will get a better idea of what you really need.
Integrated is fine for sims, but not fast action games.
8. Lastly, I will never build again without a SSD for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do so much quicker. 120gb will hold the OS and a handful of games.
With 240gb you may never need a hard drive at all. Defer on a hard drive until your ssd approaches 90% full.
Currently, I like samsung 850 EVO best.

-------------good luck------------

no real reason to have optical drives anymore. Only real exception being for people who rip their dvds to make them digital. If you must have one I'd actually recommend getting an external USB one. That way you can shove the case out of the way and just leave the usb drive sitting on top of the desk for easy use.

Yeah 1080p is totally fine.

yes the motherboard also has a 2.0 header, two of them actually.

It says it may block some drive bays, which in this case its talking about some of the hard drive bays. Not really an issue unless you were planning on occupying all of them and even then I doubt they are actually blocked, just annoying to route the wires around in with a long card.

Case (every case) will come with its own fans. Usually 1 or 2, though many will have extra spots you can install additional fans to if you want to.

NT is basically just the RAM stick. The ripjaw adds some metal heatsink in a "cool" looking design that all the kids want.

Other case suggestions are these guys;
Corsair 200R or 100R
NZXT S340

You can go full tower if you want I just don't like them as I feel their size is far to large and makes them a big space waster.

Good luck.

yeah it can. The main hang up would be the 960. It's a totally fine budget card, but that's what it is a budget card. So it would be the main hold up on playing games at max settings but you should be able to play on lower settings with any real problems. CPU is strong won't be a problem, RAM is fine the rec is 8 to 16 for regular gamer use.

If your kids want more I'd actually suggest you stick with the 960 and tell them to save their money to upgrade the GPU to something else in the future. No reason to give them everything and spoil them.