Question Do these possible computer options for my friend seem valid?

[Strayer_]

For context, my friend is planning on buying new parts/ upgrading his current system. This is the system he currently has and it is clearly very bad, so I am planning to give him a few options on what he can buy. His budget was initially $500-600 dollars but he also realized recently that he has $800. This is his money so I'm still trying to stay within that initial budget or only go slightly over. He plans to play mostly open-world and survival games, especially the new Sons of the Forest game that just came out.

1. The first option I created for him was this list of parts. It reuses the SSD and case and stays within his original budget. I think that all the parts would fit inside the case but if someone smarter than me could find out and assure me that would be a big help
2. The second option I created for him is this list which is a very small upgrade to get him a nicer and larger SSD. This again uses the case from his original prebuilt
3. The third and final option I have for him is this list which is just a complete rebuild using nothing from the original system. It also allows him to attempt to sell his old system.

My overarching question for all of these options is if they are all good and if there are any changes I could make. I know this may be confusing and a lot of help to ask for but I am just trying to get the best system for my friend.

 

[kanewolf]

For context, my friend is planning on buying new parts/ upgrading his current system. This is the system he currently has and it is clearly very bad, so I am planning to give him a few options on what he can buy. His budget was initially $500-600 dollars but he also realized recently that he has $800. This is his money so I'm still trying to stay within that initial budget or only go slightly over. He plans to play mostly open-world and survival games, especially the new Sons of the Forest game that just came out.

1. The first option I created for him was this list of parts. It reuses the SSD and case and stays within his original budget. I think that all the parts would fit inside the case but if someone smarter than me could find out and assure me that would be a big help
2. The second option I created for him is this list which is a very small upgrade to get him a nicer and larger SSD. This again uses the case from his original prebuilt
3. The third and final option I have for him is this list which is just a complete rebuild using nothing from the original system. It also allows him to attempt to sell his old system.

My overarching question for all of these options is if they are all good and if there are any changes I could make. I know this may be confusing and a lot of help to ask for but I am just trying to get the best system for my friend.

Why are none of these Intel options to use the motherboard he has ?
16GB (2x8GB matched) a graphics card, and maybe a power supply would make a big difference for gaming. That 710 is bad.

 

[Strayer_]

Why are none of these Intel options to use the motherboard he has ?
16GB (2x8GB matched) a graphics card, and maybe a power supply would make a big difference for gaming. That 710 is bad.

I kind of just assumed that based on the other peripherals of the Ibuypower computer the motherboard would also be pretty bad. I'd be open to hearing intel options though if that's a better path.

 

[Lafong]

The first thing I notice is that the existing PC has a 480 gb SSD and 2 of the 3 of the new machines have a new 500 gb SSD. Do I have that right?

I'm not sure what bang for the buck you get by doing that.

Existing PC appears to be an ibuypower, so I'd at a minimum want to get away from its power supply.

The existing case may be tolerable so that the money spent on a new one may be better spent elsewhere. But the case could be proprietary in some way.

 

[Strayer_]

The first thing I notice is that the existing PC has a 480 gb SSD and 2 of the 3 of the new machines have a new 500 gb SSD. Do I have that right?

I'm not sure what bang for the buck you get by doing that.

Existing PC appears to be an ibuypower, so I'd at a minimum want to get away from its power supply.

The existing case may be tolerable so that the money spent on a new one may be better spent elsewhere. But the case could be proprietary in some way.

Looking at it now I may have made a mistake with the SSD. I'm not too knowledged about the different types of SSDs and on another forum where I made a similar post someone mentioned that he'd want to get an NVMe later on but SADA SSD is fine for now, so I assumed that there were performance problems with the current SSD he had. I see now that guy may have been getting his SSD's mixed up still not too sure though.

The main advantage I saw with a new case and SSD though is that he could try to sell his old system by keeping it all together.

 

[punkncat]

In this situation I would:

Spec a sub $100 case that has decent airflow, instead of being a glass front heat box.

Get a kit of something like the Corsair (budget) or GSkill (budget) RAM as 2x8. Wouldn't worry about its speed so much as capacity. Think Vengeance or RipJaws.

After those items you should have a decent budget left for a nice low-mid range graphics card such as the 6(xxx) AMD options or perhaps the 3xxx NVIDIA flavors. Pair this with a nice suitable PSU. When choosing the graphics card you also want to keep the monitor resolution and frame rate in mind while deciding whether that is also going to get an upgrade sooner than later.

I would not spend too much on the mobo and CPU combo that is currently owned. IMO there is no upgrade path that makes sense outside a freak deal on something used coming available or a gift. The 9700/9900 and it's K variants (if even supported by the motherboard) often are priced too high in relation to newer and more capable hardware. I would stick it out with the quad core i3 for now, perhaps consider some storage and OS drive updates with that future base system update in mind. Coming off a GT710 even to a very meager 6600/3050 (and so on) update to this system is going to be a significant improvement.