$400 Budget PC Any Tips?

[cottontails2]

I'm going to be building a new PC for my brother and the budget is $400, he wants to be able to play the newest games at anywhere from 720p-1080p 30-60fps. This is the build so far, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RsN7dC

 

Apevia X-Sniper 2 Metal Case with Side Window-Green
EVGA 500W 80PLUS Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply
ASUS Micro ATX DDR3 2400 FM2 Motherboard A78M-A
AMD Quad-Core A8-Series APU A8-6600K with Radeon HD 8570D [4.2Ghz]
Corsair Hydro Series High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H60
Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB Single DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) 240-Pin Memory Module
EVGA GeForce GT 730 2GB GDDR5 64bit

 

Any suggestions, should i swap out any parts?

 

Note: I know i can get a better deal on a case but he wanted a windowed case with green lighting and that looked like the best option.

[cottontails2]

ignore this, sorry meant to edit my post not start a new post! 

[KayTees]

Don't bother with the liquid cooler, take that money and get a better GPU.

[soaringchicken]

What about this instead, leaves room for upgrade-ability and is pretty good for at least 720p

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/EnthusiastGaming/saved/XpvmP6

[dragoon20005]

one sec let me make a build

[dragoon20005]

@AliceNoel

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($105.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($51.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $434.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 03:50 EST-0500

 

how is this?

 

comes with a 1TB HDD

[SimpleG]

@AliceNoel

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($105.75 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($51.88 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($26.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $434.57

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 03:50 EST-0500

 

how is this?

 

comes with a 1TB HDD

an h81 motherboard would be cheaper, I think

[cottontails2]

Thanks @KayTees i think i will just stick with the stock cooler, your right the H60 is probably not needed!

 

@soaringchicken and @dragoon20005

 

I didn't list a hard drive because we already have one.

 

Thanks for sharing your recommended builds, i think i will go with 8gb of ram instead of 4gb, but other than that i don't really care for those builds. To be more specific you both listed Radeon graphics cards and i have had issues with Radeon in the past, so i want to stick with nvidia, also you both listed intel dual core cpu's while the one i listed is an (APU) quad core and goes up to 4.2ghz, so i think i will stick with that, lastly my brother want's a windowed pc with green lighting, so the cases you listed won't really work for me! All in all my build isn't much different in price!

 

Note: Some of the parts you listed are cheaper (for example the psu) because of the mail in rebates, which i've also had issues with in the past, so not including the mail in rebates the 500watt psu i listed is actually cheaper than the 430-450watt psu's you guys listed!

[dragoon20005]

an h81 motherboard would be cheaper, I think

to use the haswell refresh CPU on the H81 you need a BIOS update

 

and to even do the BIOS update you need a Haswell CPU

 

so it more of a hassle for new builders

[soaringchicken]

Thanks @KayTees i think i will just stick with the stock cooler, your right the H60 is probably not needed!

 

@soaringchicken and @dragoon20005

 

I didn't list a hard drive because we already have one.

 

Thanks for sharing your recommended builds, i think i will go with 8gb of ram instead of 4gb, but other than that i don't really care for those builds. To be more specific you both listed Radeon graphics cards and i have had issues with Radeon in the past, so i want to stick with nvidia, also you both listed intel dual core cpu's while the one i listed is an (APU) quad core and goes up to 4.2ghz, so i think i will stick with that, lastly my brother want's a windowed pc with green lighting, so the cases you listed won't really work for me! All in all my build isn't much different in price!

 

Note: Some of the parts you listed are cheaper (for example the psu) because of the mail in rebates, which i've also had issues with in the past, so not including the mail in rebates the 500watt psu i listed is actually cheaper than the 430-450watt psu's you guys listed!

Half of the APU's processing power is devoted to integrated graphics, so unless you do with a radeon card that can do dual graphics with the APU it's a bad Idea to get it. Frequency often doesn't mean more performance. Eg. 8350vs4690k.

[dragoon20005]

Thanks @KayTees i think i will just stick with the stock cooler, your right the H60 is probably not needed!

 

@soaringchicken and @dragoon20005

 

I didn't list a hard drive because we already have one.

 

Thanks for sharing your recommended builds, i think i will go with 8gb of ram instead of 4gb, but other than that i don't really care for those builds. To be more specific you both listed Radeon graphics cards and i have had issues with Radeon in the past, so i want to stick with nvidia, also you both listed intel dual core cpu's while the one i listed is an (APU) quad core and goes up to 4.2ghz, so i think i will stick with that, lastly my brother want's a windowed pc with green lighting, so the cases you listed won't really work for me! All in all my build isn't much different in price!

 

Note: Some of the parts you listed are cheaper (for example the psu) because of the mail in rebates, which i've also had issues with in the past, so not including the mail in rebates the 500watt psu i listed is actually cheaper than the 430-450watt psu's you guys listed!

Maybe we will clear things up

the i3 which i have listed while its a dual core has hypertreading which make it a virtual Quad Core

 

even with the locked nature of the i3 CPU, in single treads and most latest games including MMORPG and AAA games will perfer Intel CPU which are stronger in terms of single treaded performance more than multi treaded performance

 

we can stick with the PSU and case you picked no problem

 

but the GT730 is considered to be a weak GPU and the price to performance ratio is not great

 

with the 260X I have picked, your brother can game at 1080P Med

 

 

One sec I make another build again

[dragoon20005]

@AliceNoel

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($104.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Superclocked Video Card  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Apevia X-SNIPER2-GN ATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $408.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 04:23 EST-0500

 

How is this?

 

I changed to the Geforce GTX750 but if you can get the GTX750Ti that will be even better

 

APU builds are only great if you dont need a dedicated GPU and also to note that APU which has the integrated graphics will depend on the system RAM for VRAM and the faster the system RAM is, the integrated will perform better

[cottontails2]

Maybe we will clear things up

the i3 which i have listed while its a dual core has hypertreading which make it a virtual Quad Core

 

even with the locked nature of the i3 CPU, in single treads and most latest games including MMORPG and AAA games will perfer Intel CPU which are stronger in terms of single treaded performance more than multi treaded performance

 

we can stick with the PSU and case you picked no problem

 

but the GT730 is considered to be a weak GPU and the price to performance ratio is not great

 

with the 260X I have picked, your brother can game at 1080P Med

 

 

One sec I make another build again

Okay i see thanks for working with me on this!

[salecar3]

 here  http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Y7N7dC

[dragoon20005]

 here  http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Y7N7dC

please dont suggest FX builds anymore

 

the AM3+ platform is outdated and the FX 4 core will seriously bottleneck any modern GPUs

[cottontails2]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rfb6Lk

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rfb6Lk/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($104.88 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($124.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $439.83

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 05:17 EST-0500

 

@dragoon20005 thanks for the help, here's my update build, ended up being more expensive, but i don't think that can be helped, what do you guys think?

[salecar3]

please dont suggest FX builds anymore

 

the AM3+ platform is outdated and the FX 4 core will seriously bottleneck any modern GPU

at least beter than Intel dualcore cpu and will bottleneck less gpu than pentium g3258 

[dragoon20005]

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rfb6Lk

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Rfb6Lk/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($104.88 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($67.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($124.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $439.83

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 05:17 EST-0500

 

@dragoon20005 thanks for the help, here's my update build, ended up being more expensive, but i don't think that can be helped, what do you guys think?

 

I will say if your brother only run normal games and other uses like web browsing and chat, etc

 

8GB kits running dual channel will be alright for him

 

single stick are good if you are adding another 8GB later to become 16GB

 

at least beter than Intel dualcore cpu and will bottleneck less gpu than pentium g3258 

WRONG!!! the FX 4 is even slower that the Pentium!

 

and it eat more power and produce more heat than the Pentium!

 

get that thing into your thick skull!

 

the FX 4 is one trash of a CPU 

[salecar3]

I will say if your brother only run normal games and other uses like web browsing and chat, etc

 

8GB kits running dual channel will be alright for him

 

single stick are good if you are adding another 8GB later to become 16GB

 

WRONG!!! the FX 4 is even slower that the Pentium!

 

and it eat more power and produce more heat than the Pentium!

 

get that thing into your thick skull!

 

the FX 4 is one trash of a CPU 

lol

[Brady23]

lol

He's kinda right, actually.

[salecar3]

He's kinda right, actually.

yes 1150 socket is newer and pentium makes less heat and takes lower wattage but it has slower speed less cores and cache but beter single-core performance

[Brady23]

yes 1150 socket is newer and pentium makes less heat and takes lower wattage but it has slower speed less cores and cache but beter single-core performance

The Pentium G2358 can be overclocked on any motherboard with an updated BIOS. So slower speed isn't the problem here.

[salecar3]

The Pentium G2358 can be overclocked on any motherboard with an updated BIOS. So slower speed isn't the problem here.

you can oc fx cpu ans has turvo boost so when you oc pentium this just turbo boost

[GarnetDevil]

you can oc fx cpu ans has turvo boost so when you oc pentium this just turbo boost

But the FX uses old technology, therefore not only you get low performance in single-threaded work (eg. mostly gaming) but also less modern features and more heat produced, this lead to the necessity of aftermarket cooler

Ask yourself why AMD is struggling against Intel