Need help with a $500 (under) build for first time gamer.

[usmdesigner]

I have an Aztec PC Tower and a:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035&RandomID=823071087613021020140929175426 already.

This is for a step son that is 15. This will be his first gaming PC. I have a 19" monitor (will upgrade maybe next year) and keyboard/mouse.

I'm not sure what avenue he'll get into for gaming, but it will be online. Most likely Steam games at first and then eventually online gaming like BF4 and maybe eventually WoW (going to try to keep him away from that as long as possible)

I'm looking for a solid mobo, RAM, CPU with cooler, and vid card. DVD player/HD is whatever. If you feel the power supply is no good, please let me know as well. Just short of the connections being outdated, I don't see anything wrong with the 500w for him as a first timer.

Also suggestions on Win 7 vs Win 8 would be good as well, as my cousin was saying Win 8 is the better route, but I'm not totally sure, as I have no experience with 8 at all.

 

[Skylyne]

If you bought the FTW edition of the EVGA 750 Ti, I hope you don't mind a noisy card. I've heard the fan cooling is too noisy, as the fan's minimum speed makes the wind noise really loud, and the fan never really seems to crank itself up. Just a forewarning. I like EVGA, but the FTW edition card is one I would recommend avoiding.

Can you show me a link for the motherboard you're talking about? I'm not aware of an MSI 2400 motherboard. Maybe that was the maximum supported RAM speed you read? I did a search for "MSI 2400," but that pulled up boards with an AMD socket.

The boards I recommend usually have more than what most people will get out of them, unless they're planning on doing some upgrade I didn't see, or they didn't mention. I try to leave upgrade paths when I pick a MoBo, just in case it's needed. I've had to break the "you can't do that upgrade" news to a few people before, so I try not to set them up for that.

 

[usmdesigner]

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Motherboards-Z97-PC-MATE/dp/B00K23BW70/ref=psdc9_t1_B00D12OBEA_B00K23BW70

It looks like it pertains to the RAM. 1333 vs 2400. They are still both 1150's. (I probably just committed 1150 to memory when typing). I'm not sure what bang for the buck goes along with a Mobo, and wasn't sure was this one the way to go instead since I'm going to end up saving around 35$ on the video card.

Here is the Vid card I got for 106$:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487025&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=



I picked your solution for the Intel board, not AMD. Just going to stick with Intel on this build.

 

[Skylyne]

The two boards are practically identical. One of them is a Z87, while the other is a Z97. This link will show you the main differences between the Z87 and the Z97- http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/z97-and-z87-difference-a-59.html

Since you can't OC the 4150, it makes no sense to go with the Z97; however, you can always get the Z97 to be sure you have support for the new Broadwell chips, and to have OC capability from your MoBo in the future. Pick what suits your style.