[SOLVED] New gaming PC for my son's friend

[Frierfly]

Building a PC for my son's friend (15 y/o, not PC savvy). He doesn't have one currently, so I will need everything. He wants to have a PC so he can play PC games/have mods running on PC versions of some Xbox titles. It will likely sit on the TV stand in his bedroom next to the Xbox as it will be hooked up to the TV.

Approximate Purchase Date: This week so it is built by Christmas

Budget Range: $750 all in (including legit copy of Win10 and kb/mouse)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, gaming, gaming, web browsing/YouTube, and maybe homework.
Games likely to be played: Fortnight, Minecraft (heavily modded), Rocket League, Arc: Survival Evolved

Are you buying a monitor: No, 50" LED TV (1920 x 1080 resolution) already in the kid's room.
https://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN50H5203AFXZA-specs

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon, TigerDirect. But whatever gets the parts here on time.

Location: Ashland, KY, USA

Parts Preferences: I prefer NVidia GPUs. Also, I would like a small SSD to run the OS so it boots quickly and a large HDD (at least 2TB) for game storage as I know my son is going to drag his friend into the world of Steam games.

Overclocking: No, unless it comes OC'd out of the box.

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not

Additional Comments: A quiet system is preferable as it will be in the bedroom.

 

[tennis2]

Don't suppose you'll be anywhere near Cincinnati before then? I believe that's your nearest Microcenter store location.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: HP EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($108.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB Ventus XS OC Video Card ($163.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Dark Phantom DP301M MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA GD (2019) 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $745.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-09 23:32 EST-0500

 

[DSzymborski]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 AORUS M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP510 240 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB Twin Fan Video Card ($159.99 @ B&H)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $750.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-09 23:38 EST-0500

Throw in a cheapy mouse/keyboard. Those are much more easily upgraded later than the GPU or something.

There's also a case for an unregistered Windows, the only difference being the watermark and the lack of personalization, but given that you said the kid isn't PC-savvy, I left the fully licensed Windows version.

I didn't include any Microcenter stuff as it's a pretty good trek to Cincinnati from there. He's over near West Virginia.

 

[Frierfly]

I have been to the Columbus MicroCenter several times. I also happen to be flying out of, and back into, Columbus this coming weekend.

 

[thomas4204]

doesn’t anybody realize windows is free?

 

[Frierfly]

doesn’t anybody realize windows is free?

Yes, but I'm not putting an unactivated copy of Win10 on a PC for a family friend that isn't PC-Savvy.

 

[thomas4204]

Yes, but I'm not putting an unactivated copy of Win10 on a PC for a family friend that isn't PC-Savvy.

You can find codes on the internet or find a used pc and use that.

 

[DSzymborski]

You can find codes on the internet or find a used pc and use that.

Even ignoring the ethical issues of misusing someone else's code or exploiting a third-world country loophole or downright helping people who steal credit cards and launder the money with software keys, leaving an inexperienced PC user to deal with a current or future blacklisted key is way worse than an unactivated copy.