My friend is trying to build a $400 PC with a red/black color scheme. Here is the build I came up with: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YYN47h. Any feedback or recommend build is appreciated.
The SSD is a nice touch, but the RAM is very underwhelming.
I'm afraid there is little to no hardware balance here. Even that cheap CPU will be held back by such a small amount of RAM, not to mention that it's single channel.
Also, that CPU comes with an Intel stock cooler. No need to buy another CPU cooler that's just as small. It won't be quieter or cooler, it'll just be more money spent.
I recommend going with more RAM and instead of an HDD and SSD, just get an HDD that has fast read/write times.
That cpu is pretty under powered with only 2 threads and wont give much performance, specially for gaming. SSD is not recommended for that price point. Intel stock cooler better than those cheap aft ones. PSU is junk. 4gb RAM is insufficient in 2017.
Optimized the build with better parts all around...
That cpu is almost equal to a 1st gen. i5, and that too with two less logical cores. We are moving to 8th gen. in a month or two. That certainly is not recommended, specially for gaming. You wont get any performance whatsoever in gaming... http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Pentium-G4400-vs-Intel-Core-i5-750/3539vs2773
Also, that PSU is pretty mediocre unit.
Adding quality parts in those two segments are going to increase the cost even more. At the end of the day, you dont want a good looking red/black potato which doesnt do anything, or dont wanna see it go up in smoke.