Planning a Friend's Build

[Giraffee]

Well, Hello everyone on the forums!
As my second post on our lovely forums here, I would like to thank everyone who helped on my last post, that build never got made, but I have the list saved, and I'm sure that list will come in hand one day, so formally. Thank you everyone!
Now, onto this post.

I have a friend who came to me, asking me, to build him a gaming computer for a mere $400. As I love building computers, and even planning them, I accepted without hesitation.

So now, I've compiled a list, with the things we need to buy. 

We do not need an aftermarket cooler, he has an HDD, he has a CD drive, I have the OS on a USB ready for him, no sound cards or network cards or anything needed, no extra fans or such, no monitors, no keyboard or mouse, he has both, and no speakers, he has some already. 
So now, I've compiled a quick list, with things already, note this is a little over $400, but he said this price was alright, so the closer to $400 you can get this, the better, but if you can improve anything and it stay under $450-$500, I can still show him and let him talk about. 
The build I made: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RktsVn

I currently can't get his PC specifications at the moment, but I know it is some stock HP computer, he isn't home to be able to check, but I know it's close to a quad-core, AMD, 2.9GHz, I think it has 4GB of ram, and his video card is a EVGA Geforce 610, he upgraded just the video card, without my consent of course, so it wasn't the best upgrade for his money, but I digress.

He is looking for a custom gaming computer for $400 dollars or less.
Linus forum posters, please help me with this project, it would be very appreciated!
Thank you!

-Giraffee

[Mateyyy]

Welcome to  the forum!

It looks like a good build. I'm going to try to see if I can make one too. 

[Clyne]

Around the same price, better gpu.

EDIT: FYI, i added a cooler to have better temps and would be better to use for overclocking instead of stock cooler. Or you can get rid of the cooler to make it cheaper

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($83.69 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Corsair XMS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($154.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Rosewill REDBONE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($28.25 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $436.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 01:34 EDT-0400

[dizmo]

 

Around the same price, better gpu

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($83.69 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Corsair XMS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($154.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Rosewill REDBONE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($28.25 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $436.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 01:34 EDT-0400

 

I would seriously consider this setup instead. However I'd switch the card for a 270x, or Nvidia 660. They're both a little more powerful.

[Mateyyy]

An Intel build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XjrLdC

 

AMD build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GjF3NG

 

I'd really go with the AMD build, since, the CPUs are pretty similar (the i3 4130 and the Athlon 760K), but, I was able to fit a R9 270 graphics card in the AMD build, which is a bit faster than the GPU in the Intel build, which is the Geforce GTX 750 Ti.

If it's not really too expensive (it's only 25$), you can get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO aftermarket cooler for the Athlon 760K. It's an awesome value, and it's going to make the experience quieter, and the CPU is going to run way cooler, and you will even be able to overclock the CPU a bit.

[Giraffee]

An Intel build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XjrLdC

 

AMD build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GjF3NG

 

I'd really go with the AMD build, since, the CPUs are pretty similar (the i3 4130 and the Athlon 760K), but, I was able to fit a R9 270 graphics card in the AMD build, which is a bit faster than the GPU in the Intel build, which is the Geforce GTX 750 Ti.

If it's not really too expensive (it's only 25$), you can get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO aftermarket cooler for the Athlon 760K. It's an awesome value, and it's going to make the experience quieter, and the CPU is going to run way cooler, and you will even be able to overclock the CPU a bit.

The only problem with these, they are too expensive, i was pushing it with a $423 build, 400 is his limit and he refuses to go any higher for some reason. If you can get them under $450 at least, that would be great. I know building for $400 and still having alright performance is a little bit of a task.

[bry.yyyy]

well give me a minute for under 450

[bry.yyyy]

here under 450 $ with AMD

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($84.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM GAMING Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($100.91 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 250 2GB Video Card  ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $448.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 02:50 EDT-0400