computer build for friend

[Grey!matter]

Hello

My friend asked me to build him a pc for ~under 500 bucks(lowest as possible), he doesn't have a lot of money and I wanted to build something that would last for awhile. He is currently using some terrible dual core + integrated gpu system and hes a gamer(wow/hon/sc2) that plays 5-15 fps in games.

cpu - http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0354589
mobo - http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0364220

I opted to go with a 2500k(for obvious reasons) and a p8p67(I feel that the ssd caching/integrated gpu support was not worth the extra money). Buying this combo from Microcenter will net him at ~260 dollar cost. For whatever reason this costs less than that same mobo and a i5 2400 combo. While he won't be overclocking, I don't feel it's a waste because it offers amazing performance and, if he so chooses, to upgrade/overclock in the future

gpu - http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GeForce-PC.../dp/B0031E6CEK

While not the best gpu it was given to him for free by one of the friends we play wow with, while 1440x900 isn't that demanding it should still net him pretty good performance in sc2(http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/305/bench/Ultra_1920.png) combined with the beastly 2500k.

ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231427

I will be giving this to him since I recently upgraded to 8gb

psu - http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0361423

I opted to go with this because the 400 watt one got decent reviews from jguru, is cheap and should be a stable enough psu for awhile. If 600 watts is too much, and it probably is, he can go down to the 500 watt.

case - http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0343331

I personally use this case and I love it, I also didn't want to skimp out on the case(good cable management and airflow). I think this is easily still one of the best budget cases you can buy. If anyone knows of any others, besides the tt commander, please let me know.

HDD - due to the prices of hdds going through the roof im not really sure on this, I personally have an ssd and a 500gb wd black so I was going to recommend that also. I do believe that 500gb will be enough for him, any other insight here will be nice. This should be around 60 bucks when the prices go back down to normal as they were > a year ago.

This should cost around 460 bucks not including the ~45 bucks back in rebates.

If anything looks wrong about or if anyone wants to critique and find ways of lowering the price for him, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Great build, imo

nice work

 

[Grey!matter]

Also, Im not too familiar with the i3 2100, so i'll just ask here. I can almost cut the price in half if I were to get the 2100/h61 mobo, 400 watt psu, same ram and the 260. What would the fps/setting be like in sc2/wow/hon/dota2 with that hardware setup.

edit* anandtech actually did a wow/sc2 bench with a 5870/i3 2100 and it got 80/45 fps respectively in those games, not too bad, I know Linus did a i3 2100/gtx 460 bbc2 bench and got ~30 fps on high at 1080p. Thats not a bad little cpu there for sure!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I would investigate which of those games are more CPU bound, then base your decision from there. I do know WOW is more of a CPU bound game.

 

[oynaz]

400 W should be enough for that build. 600 W is definitely overkill.

The i3 is good enough for now, but the i5 is more futureproof.

 

[mfenn]

I would investigate which of those games are more CPU bound, then base your decision from there. I do know WOW is more of a CPU bound game.

Blizzards engine also doesn't take much advantage of cores beyond the 2nd, so they could be a point in favor of the i3.

OP, what you have picked out looks fine. I'll also point out that you can get a 500GB Seagate for "only" $90 at NCIX.