budget Helping A Friend Build a PC on a Somewhat Tight Budget

[JerseyXS97]

Just want to preface this topic by saying that I'm not great at this. I've built my own computers plenty of times but I've always gone higher end, so going lower range like this isn't a strong point of mine. With that being said, I have a general idea. I have a few variations of the same build currently put together, and it's even more limited because he's already bought some of the parts from when we were talking about this 1-2 years ago. Now that he's ready to build we absolutely need to finalize the parts as newer parts have come out since the planning phase. His budget is $450-$750 USD, and here are the options I have considered so far for 1080p60:

 

GPU: XFX RX 580 8GB - $190 or MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Gaming X - $290

CPU: Intel Core i5-7400 - $200 or Intel Core i5-6600k - $240

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX (Black/Red) - $85

PSU: EVGA - SuperNOVAG3 550W 80+ Gold - $75

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB - $100

 

Reason for the exclusively Intel choice is because he already has the motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-H270N LGA1151 ITX board. He also already has the RAM, Kingston Hyper X Fury Black 8GB, as well as the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a 2TB HDD. The rest of the budget is shaped around that and does not include them. The case was picked for a few reasons. The first being that it's one I have used in one of my own older builds, meaning I can help him cable manage and set up better (We live very, very far apart.). It's also fairly large for an ITX case and matches his red and black goal, as do both video card choices. Also, it's a 6600k and not a 6600 because we weren't able to find any of the latter available. Thoughts? Any particular parts I should go with, even that aren't listed here?

 

 

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, JerseyXS97 said:

GPU: XFX RX 580 8GB - $190 or MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Gaming X - $290

CPU: Intel Core i5-7400 - $200 or Intel Core i5-6600k - $240

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX (Black/Red) - $85

PSU: EVGA - SuperNOVAG3 550W 80+ Gold - $75

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB - $100

580 without a doubt

get a second hand 7700 or 6700, as you have an h series motherboard

not into itx cases, i'll tag @TVwazhere

Psu: has some opp and otp issues, you might want to look for something else

SSD: why not a mx500 500 gb for 70 bucks?

[JerseyXS97]

2 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

580 without a doubt

get a second hand 7700 or 6700, as you have an h series motherboard

not into itx cases, i'll tag @TVwazhere

Psu: has some opp and otp issues, you might want to look for something else

SSD: why not a mx500 500 gb for 70 bucks?

Oh fair enough. We only went with a K series chip as I couldn't find him a 6600. But hell, that's a good point about the second hand 6700/7700. Thanks! And do you have any PSU recommendations for that power level?

[LukeSavenije]

4 minutes ago, JerseyXS97 said:

Oh fair enough. We only went with a K series chip as I couldn't find him a 6600. But hell, that's a good point about the second hand 6700/7700. Thanks! And do you have any PSU recommendations for that power level?

focus gold, txm, supernova g2, formula gold, whisper, rmx, pure power 11, straight power 11, psu's like that

 

450 watts+

Edited January 7, 2019 by LukeSavenije

[TVwazhere]

3 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX (Black/Red) - $85

I'd get your feet wet with a different case. Yeah you'll have to guide him through it, but between airflow, size and price it's not the best ITX pick.

 

If @fasauceome was here he'd tell you SG13B because SG13B. Price and size are hard to match. The Core V1 is just as cheap but offers more room for cable management with its layout. 

 

I personally also like the NZXT H200 (Black/Red) against the Evolv ITX just for airflow alone. Price and size are similar. (I have a vendetta against the original Evolv cases with their poor airflow but they still get over hyped as some of the best cases. The newer one is actually pretty okay but isnt available with ITX)

[JerseyXS97]

44 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

I'd get your feet wet with a different case. Yeah you'll have to guide him through it, but between airflow, size and price it's not the best ITX pick.

 

If @fasauceome was here he'd tell you SG13B because SG13B. Price and size are hard to match. The Core V1 is just as cheap but offers more room for cable management with its layout. 

 

I personally also like the NZXT H200 (Black/Red) against the Evolv ITX just for airflow alone. Price and size are similar. (I have a vendetta against the original Evolv cases with their poor airflow but they still get over hyped as some of the best cases. The newer one is actually pretty okay but isnt available with ITX)

Funny you mention the Core V1. A nice little case, actually the first I ever built in. Anyway I'll absolutely take all of these into consideration, thank you. Naturally at the end of the day it is his choice though. While I'm here, what do you think of the Enthoo Pro M with Tempered Glass? It's the case I'm currently putting a new workstation build into.

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, JerseyXS97 said:

While I'm here, what do you think of the Enthoo Pro M with Tempered Glass? It's the case I'm currently putting a new workstation build into.

Great case IMO. Havent worked with one myself, but on paper and from the builders who've built with it, it's basically a longer version of the Meshify C. 

[JerseyXS97]

3 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Great case IMO. Havent worked with one myself, but on paper and from the builders who've built with it, it's basically a longer version of the Meshify C. 

Awesome, glad to hear I made a good pick on that one. Actual build won't be done for about 2 months (Or whenever the 2080Ti is back in stock...) but I'll be sure to post it.