New gaming rig for nephew (semi-budget)

MeisterMuSk

Distinguished
Feb 2, 2012
24
0
18,510
Hey guys,

Trying to fix my nephews first gaming rig. He wants it pretty fancy with some colours, he is 11 years old and playing a lot of CS:GO and just started the whole Lan-party thing. Will you guys take a look at my build? Maybe the memory is a bit overkill, but overall I think it is quite good. I don't know the demand on memory these days to be honest.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3xHttJ

Thank you guys, I appreciate any help.

Regards, Michael
 
Solution
Much more capable build for the money. Will also be able to be easily upgraded should he need more RAM in the future. I do agree it's very much overkill for CSGO but it will definitely be able to handle it very well.

i5-6500 Build

Guess that's my problem. I have no idea how demanding things are these days. Last time I did a build was 6 years ago for myself, and I guess I'm pretty biased by that.

And unfortunately I'm not rich - I just want to see the kid happy :). Do you have a suggestion for a more suitable build?

Cheers, Michael - and thanks for the input.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($29.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($279.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VN247H 23.6" 60Hz Monitor
Other: NZXT HUE+ ($30.00)
Total: $849.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-01 13:02 EDT-0400

Here. You get OC and a 970 with this. Spend 80 more you get a 1070, doing him a favor.. Also ass peripherals as needed. No optical dirve needed.
 


i support your rig completely at all points.
however if op has got any money left grab this poweruspply instead.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $78.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-01 13:24 EDT-0400

yours is good too but this one is slightly better quality but the major point is the modular ability , which is really nice in micro cases.
 
on your rig if you have a local micro center the 6500 and 6600k are cheaper and there a 30.00 instant combo deal with mb. you could use a locked 6500 and a h170mb atx to save money and use a r88 case or r200 case.
a few things in a few weeks newer intel kurby lake cpu and 200 mb are droping. also amd newer gpu are dropping soon.
http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-confirmed/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3077432/components-graphics/polaris-confirmed-amds-200-radeon-card-will-bring-high-end-graphics-to-the-masses.html
myself i ask if he can wait for the newer gpu to drop to get a better gaming rig for the same price. the newer gpu will be faster and use less power. the 1060ti will be faster then 970 by slower then a 980ti.
 


Just to be clear - what to you mean by modular ability?
 
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/list/PrRXsJ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/list/PrRXsJ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/TqxfrH/amd-cpu-ad785kxbjabox) | $114.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Motherboard** | [ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ ATX FM2+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/pbW9TW/asrock-motherboard-fm2a88xextreme4) | $84.99 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/BLtCmG/corsair-memory-cmy8gx3m2a2400c11r) | $39.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/gf98TW/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3240gmc) | $56.99 @ NCIX US
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $47.49 @ OutletPC
**Case** | [Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/pDphP6/corsair-case-spec01redled) | $37.99 @ Micro Center
**Power Supply** | [EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/zNK7YJ/evga-power-supply-100b10500kr) | $29.99 @ NCIX US
**Monitor** | [Asus VN248H-P 23.8" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/product/vLh9TW/asus-monitor-vn248hp) | $126.99 @ Newegg
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $579.42
| Mail-in rebates | -$40.00
| **Total** | **$539.42**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-06-01 13:36 EDT-0400 |

This is what I would pick. There's no need to pay that much money in order to play LAN games such as CS:Go. A system with APU and high speed memory to take out the most of the iGPU is more than enough for what you want.

I prefer to invest the most money in key components like monitor and a SSD with larger capacity.
 


Never heard of that before - that sounds very, very neat in compact cases.
 


Now I'm getting curious to see if I could cut the total price a bit. Will the AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor be a bottleneck to the build you came up with?
 


I do agree with this to an extent. Granted my modular builds have mostly been in larger cases, so I'm not too familiar with smaller builds. We'll see what happens if I wind up going mini-itx in the next few years I guess 😛
 


It would require changing a lot of stuff, seeing as that is socketed for FM2+, whereas the i5-6500 is socketed on LGA1151. It's also based on DDR3 RAM instead of DDR4. So the CPU/Mobo/RAM needs to be changed for sure. Honestly if you're ok with spending a bit more, I would suggest the Intel based system solely on the fact that in a few years he can throw a new GPU at it, more RAM etc and be able to keep up in current AAA titles should he get more invested in PC gaming
 
for cpu power look at the intel g4400/g3258 or the intel i3 cpu. then use a h100/h170 micro atx mb. then put money to an ssd and one of the 200.00 gpu. the h100 let him toss in an i5 latter if he needs it. the amd apu going to be chaning mb slot when there zen products drop.
 


Hey again,

So this is what I end up with. Does it fit? Just want to be sure before ordering:

- ASUS STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-4GD5 (4 GB)
- Core i5 I5-6500 3.2 GHz (Intel Boxed)
- Corsair Carbide Series 88R
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 2 x 4 GB (2133 MHz)
- Crucial BX200 240 GB
- Gigabyte GA-H170M-D3H DDR3 - Rev. 1.0
- Sea Sonic M12II-520Bronze
- NZXT Hue+

Thanks for all the help mate!
 


No worries. As long as PCPartPicker comes up with no errors I don't see anything wrong with it. I do think the 380X would be a better card than the 960, but they will both do what you need perfectly fine

Good luck with the build!
 

perfect
 
two tweeks. wait for the newer gpu dropping at the end of june. for a week or two let him use the pc with onboard video. the newer 1060ti and newer amd 400 line of gpu will be better gaming pc for the same money as the 960. on the power supply bunp it to a 650w unit. the one you have now is fine but if he ever wants to add a higher end gpu he wont have to replace the power supply. having it slightly oversized is fine. if you can find a good deal on a 750w then he never need to replace it unless it fails.
 


Hey again - one question. The MOBO I've picked seems to support DDR3 only. The RAM I've picked is DDR3. Am I looking at the wrong MOBO or? Don't know if I'm just misreading.
 


I'm waiting for the realease for sure to see if there is going to be a significant price drop :)