PC Build for a Friend

[Collin Murray]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this so let me know I will move it.
My buddy been interested in building a custom pc and wants me to help him out with it. I put together a parts list to go with his 1200ish budget. He plays lots of League , Skyrim/Wow, Minecraft, and steam indie types games not really one to play shooters. So here it is.

Cooler Master Elite 311 Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119246

ASUS GTX660 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121660

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170

ASRock H97M Pro4 LGA 1150 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512

Intel Core i5-4690K - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372

Corsair CX600 (Used by me for a couple weeks) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028&cm_re=corsair_cx600-_-17-139-028-_-Product

Old dvd drive of mine for os install

Windows 7 Home Premium - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416806

Thanks in advanced.

 

[rockie_]

Get i5 4590 and a faster GPU - like R9 280 .

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100373l

this RAM is cheaper
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbxl

 

[Mike Friesen]

If your budget is $1200, you can do a little better than a i5/gtx660 build.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VTZzGX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VTZzGX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($58.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($339.95 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $982.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-23 23:38 EST-0500

Note that the case and windows 7 were not on pcpartpicker (newegg, amazon), so I just put in replacements of equal cost.
-If you/your friend isn't going to be overclocking, a 4590 will be just as good (and overclocking won't gain you much anyways.) \
-The ssd is nice, but you could save $60 by skipping it.

Overall, pretty much just upgrading from a gtx 660 to a 970 will nearly double your FPS on ultra settings. If you can afford it, it's a very solid card, and power-efficient, too. However, those aren't the most graphically intensive games. You could save money by going with a R9 270X, or something like that. Best of luck with the build!

EDIT: Some charts. -970 vs 660 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1039
- - - -970vs 290 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1068

 

[Collin Murray]

Thanks I found another build that was very similar and my friend likes the look of it so here is the new list.

Intel Core i5-4460: http://amzn.to/1vG09KX

EVGA GTX 970: http://amzn.to/11PxXbh

MSI H97 Guard Pro: http://amzn.to/1xtIhyG

8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM: http://amzn.to/1r2HQ1m

256GB Crucial MX100 SSD: http://amzn.to/1C5S9Xf

1TB Western Digital Blue Hard Drive: http://amzn.to/1zlbaPI

600W Corsair CX600 Power Supply: http://amzn.to/1pfN34Z

NZXT S340 Case: http://amzn.to/1HDn7Gj

Thanks for the help!

 

[rockie_]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($97.59 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1079.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-24 02:36 EST-0500

or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1006.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-24 02:50 EST-0500