My Son's First Gaming Computer

[jsnprater]

My son wants a gaming PC of his own. I don't want to go too far, but I need something that will run most games. Check this out and let me know if there are any changes or cheap upgrades I can make. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YyhZNG
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YyhZNG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YyhZNG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($57.80 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($33.15 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.65 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($6.91 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Rosewill RFA-120-BL 74.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($3.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $562.45

 

[Mankar Kameran]

That's a suitable build for your needs. I would switch out the 1x8 ram with a 2x4 so it will use duel channel and perform a little better. That will be a nice cpu and everything looks good. Do you need an OS to go with that? And maybe a cooler, but it will probably be fine without one.

 

[jsnprater]

Thanks. Good call on the RAM. We will need an OS, I just didn't put it on the build. He has the other peripherals as well. But thanks for the quick reply.

 

[g-unit1111]

Don't purchase the EVGA B series - those are not good units. Pay a bit more and get something like an EVGA B2 or an XFX Pro, Seasonic G series, or so on. The case fan is not a necessary purchase either, and there's definitely better cases you could go with.

This is what I would suggest for a $600 budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($60.35 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($38.25 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $606.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 13:02 EST-0500

That's a little bit more than the proposed build - but you get a much better case and PSU which will serve you better in the long run.

 

[cst1992]

Don't cheap out on your PSU and case. The former will increase your power bills, the latter your medical bills. The motherboard doesn't seem too bad.
If you're willing to spend $33 extra rather than $17, get two 8GB sticks. I have a feeling RAM capacity is going to be exploited now that manufacturers are packing lots on a single module(you can get 16GB DDR4 modules if you search). Makes sense to get a bit more than required.

Also, look out for what version of OS you're getting. Some old OS's are only supporting 16GB, you may want to install one which supports 32.

 

[g-unit1111]

Don't cheap out on your PSU and case. The former will increase your power bills, the latter your medical bills. The motherboard doesn't seem too bad.
If you're willing to spend $33 extra rather than $17, get two 8GB sticks. I have a feeling RAM capacity is going to be exploited now that manufacturers are packing lots on a single module(you can get 16GB DDR4 modules if you search). Makes sense to get a bit more than required.

Also, look out for what version of OS you're getting. Some old OS's are only supporting 16GB, you may want to install one which supports 32.

No it really doesn't make sense. Even though you can use that kind of RAM, do you really need it? The answer is most likely no.

DDR4 only applies to Sky Lake builds, it does not apply to Haswell or earlier builds. On a $600 budget you are most likely not going to buy or need that kind of RAM.

And for gaming you do not need more than 16GB RAM. 32GB and above is a waste. Don't worry that much about the operating system - you most likely will never need that kind of RAM.

 

[cst1992]

Well, I know that DDR4 is only on Skylake; I'm just saying that we could assume that RAM is going to be used more now that DDR4 enables more to be packed on a single module and more people switch to DDR4. It was only four years ago that I used to feel 4 GB was a lot of RAM. Now, I don't bat an eyelid on twice that amount.
Also, Chrome on my laptop cosumes a lot of RAM: 6 GB total. I don't know why, but upping the RAM from 4 to 12 was a good decision I guess.

 

[g-unit1111]

Well, I know that DDR4 is only on Skylake; I'm just saying that we could assume that RAM is going to be used more now that DDR4 enables more to be packed on a single module and more people switch to DDR4. It was only four years ago that I used to feel 4 GB was a lot of RAM. Now, I don't bat an eyelid on twice that amount.
Also, Chrome on my laptop cosumes a lot of RAM: 6 GB total. I don't know why, but upping the RAM from 4 to 12 was a good decision I guess.

Yes but operating system RAM requirements change from operating system to operating system, and program requirements vary from program to program.

On that note though - 6GB??? How many tabs do you have open?

 

[cst1992]

A lot. I tend to browse through a lot of tabs at once. Around 10 to 15.

 

[g-unit1111]

A lot. I tend to browse through a lot of tabs at once. Around 10 to 15.

I generally have that many tabs open, if not more, on Firefox and I never see RAM usage go that high.