[SOLVED] Helping friend build his 1st PC for below $800 USD. Quality check/suggestions?

[tokotigerjosh]

This is what I have so far. However on PC Part Picker it says that there may be an issue with H370 chipset motherboards needing a BIOS update before they can be used with a Coffee Lake CPU. Since this is my friend's first time building a PC I don't really wanna bother him with the hassle of BIOS flashing (I barely know how to do it myself). Is this a negligible risk or should I start over?

The idea with this machine is that I want to get him a sort of quality build that can do gaming and some graphics stuff, with a failsafe in case something goes wrong with the GPU (that's generally how I build all my PCs, which is why the Intel CPU has integrated graphics). But I want to make this as easy as possible for my friend who's never built one before. And of course it needs to be below $800 so I need to take advantage of some black friday deals. Anyone care to give some feedback?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

you can do better!
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI X570-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3733 Memory ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($34.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 580 8 GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC Zondda ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.95 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $782.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-29 06:15 EST-0500

the cpu is stronger, the 580 matches the 1660ti for $100 less, 100% larger ssd

 

[tokotigerjosh]

Alright. But just a question, can you give me some alternatives to the MSI parts you picked? Because I dont trust MSI after having particularly bad luck with their motherboards (I've had three separate MSI mobos completely fry themselves at multiple points in my life).

 

[ScrewySqrl]

here you go:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3733 Memory ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($34.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS Black Video Card ($159.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: DIYPC Zondda ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.95 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $787.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-29 12:23 EST-0500