$400 new build(vid card not inlcuded)

Your budget spread should look something like this:

mobo: $50
CPU: $75
Ram: $25
HDD: $75
Case: $25
PSU: $50
OS: $100 (win7 home)
Total: $400

Obviously there would be no monitor, keys, mice etc. And harvesting a case and accessories from an old PC would be helpful

Here is an example build, but depending on his needs you may change a few things about it to make it work for him:

win7 Home $100

MSI motherboard $45 after rebate (I have not used this board exactly, but I used one of it's larger cousins and was very happy with it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Intel Pentium G630 2.7GHz duel core, $50
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N...

Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 ram, 4GB (will want to get a 2nd one down the road for duel DDR), $21
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Seagate 1TB 5900rpm drive, $70
these are nice and quiet, while still having a decent seek time and plenty of space. Will want to upgrade to a SSD for the system drive down the road, and then use this as a storage drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Sammy DVD burner, $19
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAIDMAX case, $20 after rebate. Seriously, not the best case on earth, but it will do the job, and has a bottom mount for the PSU which is a must. Best to buy cheap now and plan on getting a nice case down the road.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

OCZ Zs 550W power supply $45 after rebate (the little brother of the 750W I am using, cheap but pretty good)
The GPU you are giving him requires a 500W power supply. I would suggest a minimum of 80+ Bronze rating on the supply, and buying something from a decent brand such as seasonic, OCZ, or Cooler Master (not sure you can afford an Antec or Corsair, but if you can they are obviously better quality). Stay away from Raidmax, CoolMax, Cougar, Lepa, and other cheap power supplies... they will fail like politicians vote: Often and early
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total price: $370 after rebates

@bigcyco
That power supply is not large enough for the GPU they are planning on throwing in there, especially if planning on doing an OC on the system.

See power requirements here:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-rad...

@Caedenv i have a friend using that psu with his 6870 otherwise i wouldn't of recommended it but good point about the oc in that case get the PSU caedenv suggested

wow thanks !

also dont need os  

As far as PSU goes here are his best options if he wants breathing room and went with my build since my build is intended for him to also overclock the CPU as well as the 6870 your giving him.
PSU:XFX ATX 550 Power Supply - P1550SXXB9
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-ATX-550-Power-Supply/dp/B004R...

PSU:Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply 15% off w/ promo code EMCNBHG22 , ends 8/29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU:Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply 15% off w/ promo code EMCNBHG22 , ends 8/29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU:SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
and ask on any professional forum or anybody who knows what they are talking about and you will find the truth is for a 6870 you don't need a powerful PSU.system for 6870:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1445/6/

power consumption for 6870: Quote: During our conversations with AMD on the Radeon HD 6000 series of video cards it was crystal clear that one of the goals in mind was improved performance per Watt.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us Quote: AMD says they met their design goals as the AMD Radeon HD 6870 uses less power at idle and the same amount as the ATI Radeon HD 5850 at peak load. What is also interesting is that the AMD Radeon HD 6870 has slightly better performance than the Radeon HD 5850, yet has 25% less silicon in use as the die size is smaller.

For testing power consumption, we took our test system and plugged it into a Kill-A-Watt power meter. For idle numbers, we allowed the system to idle on the desktop for 15 minutes and took the reading. For load numbers we measured the peak wattage used by the system while running the OpenGL benchmark FurMark 1.8.2 at 1920x1200 resolution.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us Quote: Power Consumption Results: The architecture changes that AMD made in the Radeon HD 6800 'Barts' series of video cards is rather amazing. As a single card the Radeon HD 6850 used roughly the same amount of power at idle and load as an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 and it crushes that card in the benchmarks. When you run a pair of Radeon HD 6850 video cards in CrossFire you get great performance and the power consumption is still less than a stock clocked NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470! AMD has great power consumption on the Radeon HD 6850, but the Radeon HD 6870 isn't that far behind. We found that the Radeon HD 6870 uses about 35W more power at load than compared to a Radeon HD 6850, but get this. The Radeon HD 6870 manages to use less power at load than a ATI Radeon HD 5850 or 5870! AMD has done some great stuff here with power management with the Radeon HD 6000 series.

you can typically run a GPU with a PSU that is lower than suggested.... it just is not suggested.

OK, $400 without an OS or GPU gets you into a whole different ball game:

Mobo: ASRock Z75 Pro3, $85
These are great cheap boards. Asus would be a little better on features in the BIOS, and have a little better quality onboard parts, but this should get the job done very well, having all the necessities of a high end board, without the costs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU: i5 3450 3.1GHz, $150
this is a locked CPU, but you should still be able to do a Turbo OC up to ~4-4.3GHz, and even at stock it has more than enough horsepower to max out most games. Run stock cooler for now at stock settings, if you want to play with OC later be sure to buy a Hyper 212+ or Evo first.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/388579/Core_i5_3450_...

RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600, $43
I personally use Corsair in all my builds, but gSkill is also pretty good if you find some on sale
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HDD: 1TB 5900rpm, $70
same as before, this is really meant to be a storage drive, he should plan on purchasing a SSD before long for the system drive, and then use this as a storage drive, but it should make an OK system drive for now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

DVD: DVD burner, get whatever is cheapest after shipping, $19
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Case: mid-tower $20 after rebate
Again, something cheap with a bottom mount PSU to be upgraded later (don't spend money on looks until you have the internal parts that you really want).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU: Antec 620W $70 after rebate
power supply big enough to do xFire with a 2nd GPU down the road
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total Cost: $457 (sorry, went a little over budget)


To get back into your budget range there are a few things you can sacrifice, but for ~$60 I think the added features and upgradability of the above system are more than worth it:
Get a smaller PSU that can only support a single GPU (-25)
-this would not hurt performance, but would limit future upgrades to not support xFire

Go back to a cheaper MSI motherboard (-20)
-Still a good board, but no overclocking, only a single SATA3 port and total of 4 SATA devices, only 2 ram slots, and a general lack of other nice features. Again, it does not hurt the stock performance what-so-ever, but it seriously limits future upgrades. However, I love the UEFI on this board, and MSI (while I would not use them in a 'high end' system) makes excellent cheap boards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MSI R7770-PMD1GD5 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate Card

AMD Gift - NEXUiZ Free Coupon
-$29.99 Saving

* DIY COMBO *
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Intel Pentium G850 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623G850

MSI H61M-P31 (G3) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

LOGISYS Computer CS301BK Black solid 6.0mm SECC metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 480W Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24NS90 - OEM
* DIY COMBO *

Subtotal: $412.48

@finneousPJ
GPU does not need to be included in the price

1600 memory is just as expensive as 1333 these days

seriously? a case-provided power supply? why take the risk on a cheap power supply when all the good ones have such good rebates right now?


@cybersheep
I almost forgot, check out ncix's website as they sometimes beat newegg on price. They are a Canadian company that has been around a while and are just now opening up to the USA. I got a 240GB SSD from them a few weeks back and saved $45 off the newegg price, and that was without sales or rebates. Also keep an eye out at Microcenter. Their prices (other than CPUs) tend to be a little high, but when they have sales they tend to have some great deals.

+1 i agree with all this  

Oops wrong thread, I was supposed to post that build in the console wars thread.

lol, no prob finneous. happens to the best of us.

Best answer selected by cybersheep.