PCPartPicker Part List:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HYGrYH
CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition 57.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B365M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card ($232.49 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case ($55.88 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $861.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-03 15:47 EST-0500
Just to add to this- and I'm not going to wade in on the pre built vs build yourself debate but just a bit of advice on components...
AMD are currently in the lead on the CPU side (note it isn't black and white). I would probably opt for an AMD cpu over the 9600K.
To give you an idea how things stack up: Ryzen 2000 series have roughly the same instructions per clock as Intel's current 9000 series cpu's, but they hit much lower clock speeds- so choosing between them is tricky. You can get an 8 core, 16 thread Ryzen 2700X for similar money to that 9600K, and get 2 cores / 10 more threads for your money. That said when overclocked the 9600K will probably be a bit faster in most current titles as a lot of games don't scale that well with cores (although the 2700X will destroy it in multi-threaded applications where it's 16 threads will destroy the 6 on the Intel part). Quite a few of the very latest titles can also use more than 6 threads, in which case the 2700X will also win in gaming- something that is likely to be more common moving forward and why most people will say take a 2700X over the 9600K.
When you get to Ryzen 3000 series it's gets even harder to recommend Intel as Ryzsen 3000 is faster per clock than the Intel 9000 series (the only thing that saves the 9000 parts is they can hit higher clock speeds). The Ryzen 5 3600 is faster than any of the i5's in modern titles as it's 6 cores, 12 threads (essentially an 8600K) vs 6 cores 6 threads. Honestly it's only really the 9700K and 9900K parts that are worth looking at from Intel now as they can hit 5+ ghz and have 8 cores which allows them to win (most) gaming benchmarks. If you use your machine for any application work at all the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 parts all offer much more for your money but they can't quite beat Intels clock speed advantage in gaming.
To give you an idea here is how I would stack up CPU's for gaming performance (ranked slowest to fastest):
R5 2600 (X), Intel I5 9400, 9600K, R7 2700 (X), R5 3600, R7 3700 / 3800 + i7 9700K (tie), R9 3900 / 3950X, i9 9900K.
For the budget you are looking at the R7 2700X and R5 3600 are probably the sweet spot- both are better options than the i5's imo. If you can get a pre-built with an i7 9700K in it then that is a good buy but I would avoid the i5 parts.
On the GPU side a couple of things worth noting:
Avoid the GTX 1650, it's pretty weak (an RX 570 is faster), however the GTX 1650 Super is a really good card. The GTX 1660, 1660 Ti and 1660 Super are all roughly equivalent (the Ti and Super are both a touch faster than the base 1660 but it's not a big enough margin to be that meaningful).
On the AMD side of things, avoid the RX 5500 series, the older RX 570 / 580 cards are a better bet, The RX 5600 XT is a really good value card are is slightly faster than the GTX 1660 series. When you get to the high end (RX 5700 and RTX 2600 cards) they are all capable of maxing out current games at 1080p and most games at 1440p so you can't go far wrong, but also probably out of budget.
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