Help me build a $700 pc please

xghoststrike

Reputable
Feb 19, 2015
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4,710
Hey people of tom's hardware, I am building my friend a gaming pc and I need your some help. He will not be playing Battlefield 1, GTA V or any of these massive triple A demanding games. he's going to be doing more of Gang Beast, Limbo and Rocket League or more of like indie title's and such. He is going to be recording gamepaly and sending the footage to his mac pc and do his edits and such from there so he will need a little oompf of performance. He has a fair limit of $700 and wants to get into pc gaming with all his other friends cause he is currently a console (Xbox) gamer, (my buddy is growing up finally!). He does not want a monster of a pc or anything crazy like that, just a run of the mill hang with friends and play some simple or mildly demanding games.

He already has a monitor, mouse, keyboard, desk, headset and basically full setup, he literally just needs a pc and everything that goes in a pc, hes has everything outside. This is the best I could do and i got $730ish, I was just wondering if any of you fine people could tweak my build for him and make it better in any way and if possible closer to $700. It is possible he will upgrade in the future so I went with LGA 1150 hasewell so if we wants to get a 4690 and a 970 or something he can. I didn't try to "future proof" this build but at least leave the door open for potential upgrades.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.50)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.50)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380X 4GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($189.99)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $738.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-06 20:22 EDT-0400
 
Solution
Requires you to go a little over, but this is much better quality.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($58.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 3GB GAMING X 3G Video Card ($229.99 @ B&H)
Case: Enermax Thorex ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $728.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-06 20:42 EDT-0400
 
While I heavily recommend the above build due to the much better performance it offers, if he's only doing basic gaming this will be enough, and will offer faster render times etc.
Tell him NOT to do his edits on his Mac, macs have terrible specs and performance, this will do him far better.
Remember, the i5 above is DEFINITELY what I recommend due to the fact that it will still render extremely fast compared to his Mac, but this is just an option i'm throwing out there.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($58.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Enermax Thorex ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $712.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-06 20:43 EDT-0400
 

xghoststrike

Reputable
Feb 19, 2015
126
0
4,710


wow, thanks man that was fast, I forgot to mention, he wants the nzxt s340 for sure like he has already purchased it so that is why i put in my build. The reason he does his edits on his mac is cause he is extremely familiar with macs and brand new to windows and on his mac he has final cut pro x and he has almost mastered that program. I wanted to portion out his cpu power for other parts to balance the pc better and he cant afford sony vegas pro or adobe premier on windows.
 
Component


Selection

Price



CPU


Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
$198.99 Buy
Motherboard


ASRock H170M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
$76.98 Buy
Memory


Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory
$35.98 Buy
Storage


Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
$47.49 Buy
Video Card


EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GAMING Video Card
$249.99 Buy
Case


DIYPC Solo-T1-BK ATX Mid Tower Case
$27.98 Buy
Power Supply


EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
$43.33 Buy
Optical Drive


LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer
$13.99 Buy
Total: $694.73
 


Does that mean the case isn't included in his $700 budget since he already has it?
Sounds good then. :)
Just remove it from my i5 build and you're set.
Tell him that learning adobe on windows, even if it's just the free version will result in SIGNIFICANTLY faster render speeds and will be much better for productivity, it all comes down to him though.
 
Solution