DIY Computer Bday Gift

jason1985

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Mar 10, 2015
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My friend and has an old, crappy laptop that can't even make it to youtube anymore. For his birthday I want to get him a new computer, specifically a DIY one.

His requirements are pretty basic. Typical family computer (bills, web-browsing, etc) as well as some video streaming. Also interested in a DVD drive and some gaming, such as Age of Empires and Star craft.

I'm thinking of this combo from newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1189055

And adding in...
graphics card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130585
dvd/cd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA30R2DZ6796

Thoughts? I really wanted to put in an SSD but I am trying to keep the price down as much as reasonable.

Thanks
 
Solution
unfortunately, it is not really possible to build for so far into the future. the graphics is the first to be outdated and usually only takes at most a couple years when buying the top end cards. lower end cards will be outdated in less than a year unless you are willing to slowly drop the quality and resolution. right now your needs are pretty low for the system, so you can actually build a different system with slow upgrades in mind. this would add cost to the base parts such as the motherboard and power supply to allow for later upgrades. since his needs are so low right now, you can skimp on the graphics now and know they will need to be upgraded in about 6 months or so. here is an example of what i am saying.

PCPartPicker part...

Math Geek

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8 gb is plenty of ram, even with some of it going to the graphics. the built in gpu is roughly an r7-250/60 in performance, which is about a $80-100 depending on the card.

the 8*** series cpu is pretty decent, but the gpu you can get will have to be discrete which of course adds cost. i can offer a build around $500 or so which is what you seem to be targeting. this will give you an idea what you can do. this is a solid, a10 pc with the built in r7 gpu. has better ssd and nice fast ram to help the gpu some.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($151.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($54.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.93 @ Amazon)
Total: $437.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-10 21:00 EDT-0400

or for a bit more, you can go with an fx-6300 and a bit better 750ti gpu

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($93.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.93 @ Amazon)
Total: $524.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-10 21:04 EDT-0400

can save money with no ssd or less of a gpu but any less and gaming would be hit hard. i know it is only light gaming, but in the end, more is always better.
 

Math Geek

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or to give intel some love, the i3 is also in the mix and overall, would be probably the better all around. about the same price as the fx 6300 and it has 4 threads which is not a bad thing.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($103.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.97 @ OutletPC)
Total: $529.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-10 21:11 EDT-0400

if your budget is higher, then of course you can get more. just let me know and i can adjust easily :)
 

jason1985

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Mar 10, 2015
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Math Geek, thanks for the feedback.

So, one thing I'm not clear on is future computing needs (new OS, new games, new aps, etc). What do I need to get him to ensure that his computer can still function in "7 years"? Is that even possible?
 

jason1985

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Mar 10, 2015
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Ok. So the how about this? Pretty much took your recommendations and swapped a few parts.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FF2wFT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FF2wFT/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($93.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($97.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($36.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 400W ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.93 @ Amazon)
Total: $466.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-10 21:54 EDT-0400

 

Math Geek

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unfortunately, it is not really possible to build for so far into the future. the graphics is the first to be outdated and usually only takes at most a couple years when buying the top end cards. lower end cards will be outdated in less than a year unless you are willing to slowly drop the quality and resolution. right now your needs are pretty low for the system, so you can actually build a different system with slow upgrades in mind. this would add cost to the base parts such as the motherboard and power supply to allow for later upgrades. since his needs are so low right now, you can skimp on the graphics now and know they will need to be upgraded in about 6 months or so. here is an example of what i am saying.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 250 1GB Video Card ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($36.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $469.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-11 10:38 EDT-0400

this will easily run age of empires and starcraft. the better power supply and motherboard will allow for the pentium dual core to be switched to any of the i3/5/7 cpu's including the new generation that is not even out yet! plus the power supply will run just about any single gpu you can add later as well. so as your friend decides to play newer games and needs a better gpu, then the only thing limiting him will be budget and not the power supply. this is a build that looks to the future a bit more than the other builds. the fx series is already a few years old and there won't be many upgrade options available without changing parts. i am not a big fan of dual core cpu's but your needs right now are so basic, it is good enough for the time being. whenever your friend wants a bit more processing power, he will be able to change to any of the better intel line up. this is about as "future proof" as you can get at such a low budget, by setting up for future upgrades yet still meeting current needs.
 
Solution