New $500(MAX) Build

[dirtynoona]

Hey guys I want to build a new computer for my girlfriend for her upcoming birthday at the end of this month. She'll mostly just be browsing the web, listening to music and watching movies on her computer; a very light user. The only gaming that will be happening is Sims 3, or any other Sims game for that matter. A price around 400-450 is ideal, but if you must, $500 is the max.

Approx. Purchase Date: Next week; so it ships before her birthday
Budget Range: $500 MAX (After rebate/shipping/tax), the cheaper the better, but without compromising essential performance.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Web browsing, music, movies, homework (Microsoft Office), games
Do I need a monitor? No
Parts I am recycling? None
Do I need to buy an OS? No
Preferred Website(s): NCIX/Memory Express/Canada Computers/ and NewEgg if you must, but shipping kills it.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Parts Preference: At this price-point, I don't think I have a say
SLI/Crossfire/Overclocking? Definitely not, and never will
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Thanks A lot!

 

[Outlander_04]

AMD AMD A8-5600K Trinity 3.6GHz $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113281

ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M FM2 $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157334

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) $56
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

Fractal Design Define Mini Black Micro ATX $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352011

DVD drive $18

Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

$440

 

[djangoringo]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-P45 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Case: BitFenix Merc Beta (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $440.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

For sims 3, it's better to have a gfx card like the 7770, the intel hd 4000 or apus could not be sufficient in some ways see here for systems requirements:

http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:TS3_System_Requirements

 

[jonjonjon]

djangoringo build is good. i would consider swapping the hdd with a 128GB ssd. it will make the computer significant faster if you don't need 500GB of storage.

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/mushkin-internal-hard-drive-mknssdcr120gbmx

 

[Outlander_04]

You could build my suggestion with the cheap $40 case from djangoringo's build.
Its ugly and you dont get USB 3 front ports but it will work

and have the SSD and a hard drive for storage and still be under the $500 budget

You'd also have 4 cores so you can multitask with fewer slow downs

 

[jonjonjon]

yea that is an option. the only reason i would go with the intel build is the G860 has better single threaded performance and the 7770 is better then the apu on the a8. the a8 does have better at multithreaded performance. it sounds like his girlfriend would be fine with either but i would still lean towards intel.

this is the version of the case with usb 3.0 on the front for $5 more.
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/bitfenix-case-bfcmrc100kkx1u3