Best Config For $600 USD?

[nalvarez2007]

Hey guys,

 

So my cousin is asking me to build him the best custom PC for a budget of $600 USD. He wants the computer to be powerful enough for some casual gaming but mostly will use it as his entertainment PC as well as the usual web browsing and email. 

 

I am wondering if you have any recommendations for the best parts to fit his budget so he can have a kick ass rig. Aesthetics aren't that important to him but he does like the red/black look if that helps. 

 

Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts. 

[TheRandomness]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($28.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($203.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Thermaltake Core X2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($48.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $603.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:15 EST-0500

 

Overkill PSU but great for the purpose.

[Mcmole]

3 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Mushkin ECO2 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($28.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($203.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Thermaltake Core X2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($48.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $603.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:15 EST-0500

 

Overkill PSU but great for the purpose.

Great build, But no SSD, I would downgrade the GPU to a 380 and use the extra cash for the SSD.

 

Like this :

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $209.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:23 EST-0500

[Castdeath97]

with skylake which should be faster than haswell

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($33.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380X 4GB PCS+ Myst. Edition Video Card  ($203.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Thermaltake Core X2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($48.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $610.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:23 EST-0500

[TheRandomness]

Just now, Mcmole said:

Great build, But no SSD, I would downgrade the GPU to a 380 and use the extra cash for the SSD.

 

Like this :

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $209.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:23 EST-0500

I wouldn't, because a 7200 RPM drive is quite fast.

[Streetguru]

10 minutes ago, nalvarez2007 said:

Hey guys,

ya i5 + 380 isn't too bad

 

you could also build a really compact ITX PC with a broadwell CPU and use the iGPU which is almost as fast as entry level GPUs

 

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($30.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $583.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:23 EST-0500

[Mcmole]

I would go for this.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $599.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:27 EST-0500

 

3 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

I wouldn't, because a 7200 RPM drive is quite fast.

You are joking right? A SSD will make everything faster.

Putting a gaming/entertainment system on a HHD when he has the budget for a small SSD is just silly.

 

 

[TheRandomness]

Just now, Mcmole said:

I would go for this.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $599.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:27 EST-0500

 

You are joking right? A SSD will make everything faster.

Putting a gaming/entertainment system on a HHD when he has the budget for a small SSD is just silly.

 

 

I've lived with three of the four types of storage to use in a PC (SSD, HDD & HDD cached with SSD) and I can tell you, I don't noticed the difference with program loading times and such between the SSD and the HDD (although the boot times are much better :P)

[Mcmole]

Just now, TheRandomness said:

I've lived with three of the four types of storage to use in a PC (SSD, HDD & HDD cached with SSD) and I can tell you, I don't noticed the difference with program loading times and such between the SSD and the HDD (although the boot times are much better :P)

See I have seen the Exact opposite.

Going from HHD in all my builds over the years, to adding a small 128GB SSD my system was given a new lease on life. Its snappier and opens and closes programs 4-5times faster with everything, from 50+ Tabs of Firefox to a file search in my system.

Its a no brainier for me.. The load times in games. The load times for ever single application you can think of in the system is just so much faster on a SSD.

[TheRandomness]

Just now, Mcmole said:

See I have seen the Exact opposite.

Going from HHD in all my builds over the years, to adding a small 128GB SSD my system was given a new lease on life. Its snappier and opens and closes programs 4-5times faster with everything, from 50+ Tabs of Firefox to a file search in my system.

Its a no brainier for me.. The load times in games. The load times for ever single application you can think of in the system is just so much faster on a SSD.

Maybe my SSD is just slow Ah well, whatever floats your boat.

[Streetguru]

7 minutes ago, Mcmole said:

I would go for this.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $599.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:27 EST-0500

 

You are joking right? A SSD will make everything faster.

Putting a gaming/entertainment system on a HHD when he has the budget for a small SSD is just silly.

 

 

the i5 4460 should be a bit faster than the 6400 there at 2.7 ghz vs 3.2 ghz at base, skylake still really isn't worth it overall.

[Mcmole]

15 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

ya i5 + 380 isn't too bad

 

you could also build a really compact ITX PC with a broadwell CPU and use the iGPU which is almost as fast as entry level GPUs

 

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($30.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $583.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-16 16:23 EST-0500

 

There is no point going for a H97 board when he can not do any overclocking with that locked CPU...

 

And on the point of Skylake VS Haswell, Turbo boost on the Skylake will hit 3.3Ghz, Haswell Will hit 3.4Ghz, With the lightly better PPW the Skylake system will edge out the haswell, not to mention the faster ram.

[Streetguru]

3 minutes ago, Mcmole said:

 

There is no point going for a H97 board when he can not do any overclocking with that locked CPU...

Z97 are the overclocking boards, not H

 

and RAM speed doesn't really matter for anything

Suppose it does turbo boost high, skylake might finally be worth it, although the haswell motherboards are still less expensive.

[Mcmole]

Just now, Streetguru said:

Z97 are the overclocking boards, not H

 

and RAM speed doesn't really matter for anything

Suppose it does turbo boost high, skylake might finally be worth it, although the haswell motherboards are still less expensive.

Lol my eyes are deceiving me, I swear I could see the Z .

 

Yea IMO anyway, going for the newer system is better if its roughly the same price. Not that I'm dissing on the 4460. Its a great CPU, and a viable option.

[nalvarez2007]

Wow I have never seen a more helpful community. Thank you all for your suggestions, this is really going to help me pick out the best specs for his buck.