Girlfriend's PC

[ascalice]

I never thought I iwll be posting one of these. Anyways, my girlfriend asked me to build her a PC because as being her favorite man in the world, she started PC gaming . But she wants me to build my enemy ...budget build. So...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

She will be playing moderate games, maybe a high performance game once in a blue moon, facebook, twitter, etc, ordering my wedding ring and planning our wedding (hopefully :biggrin, etc.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

She paid me $400 to build it, I will probably pay about $100-200 in it, so say ~$500-$600

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

US

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.

No, I am buying them from Pluto. Read #3.

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

She dosent care, but I would want a Western Digital Hard Drive.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

She already bought a mouse, mousepad, keyboard, speakers, Windows, and a monitor.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

She dosent care.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

1920 x 1080p @ 23" (Dell S2340L)

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Once we move, the same time when I build my new one. So, between April 1st-15th.

I would give her my old PC, but she said she wants a new one. She also was looking at this...
Dell XPS 8700
Should I just buy her the Dell, or should I show her how to build a PC.

 

[lehtv]

Definitely build a custom PC. $500-600 to work with just for the tower - custom is the way to go.

Ask her if she cares how the PC looks or if a generic black mid tower is fine :biggrin:

I would build:

i3-4130 + MSI H81M-P33 $154 AR
GeiL 2x4GB DDR3-1600 $62
MSI 750 Ti $150 AR or MSI R9 270 Gaming $180
Crucial M500 240GB $120
CM N200 $50
CX430 $20 AR

= $556 AR (with the 750 Ti)

If there's need for more disk capacity then swap to WD10EZEX $60 + (optional) PNY XLR8 Pro 120GB $80

Also, you may like Rosewill Capstone 450W for $50 AR instead of the cheapo CX430. For the premium, you get more capacity and dual PCIe connectors (along with a host of other additional cables), Gold efficiency and 7 year warranty. The efficiency will never pay the extra cost back, but the warranty just might.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I would give her my old PC, but she said she wants a new one. She also was looking at this...
Dell XPS 8700

I think you can do better than an Nvidia 635 if you BYO.

Try this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ B&H)
Total: $502.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-26 21:45 EDT-0400)

Comes in at the low end of your budget, leaves some room for either moar GPU (you could step up to a GTX 760), or an SSD if you'd like and could still be under the $600 limit.

Edit 1: Lots of my parts ninja'd by lehtv
Edit 2: That case actually comes with an extra $5 rebate, so it's actually just under $500. For what it's worth

 

[lehtv]

Essence, stop stealing my thoughts okay?

 

[ascalice]

Thanks all! I hate budget builds...I was never good at building computers under $500...I always total it to $800 . And I am building, hopefully my girlfriend will learn how to build in the future

 

[Essence_of_War]

Essence, stop stealing my thoughts okay?

*Hawk-wardly looks up from mind-reading device*

 

[ascalice]

I think you can do better than an Nvidia 635 if you BYO.

Try this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ B&H)
Total: $502.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-26 21:45 EDT-0400)

Comes in at the low end of your budget, leaves some room for either moar GPU (you could step up to a GTX 760), or an SSD if you'd like and could still be under the $600 limit.

Edit 1: Lots of my parts ninja'd by lehtv
Edit 2: That case actually comes with an extra $5 rebate, so it's actually just under $500. For what it's worth

Just saying, aren't the western digital black series better? For 1TB it is only about $18 more.

 

[lehtv]

They are better, but not necessary. On a budget build intended for normal home use instead of some high performance computing tasks, I fail to see the point. A WD Blue will do everything you need from a hard drive; if you want to pay extra, then pay for an SSD instead.

It is nice to have 5 year warranty though, but I'd say the chances of that investment paying off are not very high. It's more likely that the WD Blue outlasts the Black's warranty, or fails within its own 2 year warranty.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Just saying, aren't the western digital black series better? For 1TB it is only about $18 more.

Building PCs is often a game of margins. Save a little here, a little there, and all of those little savings add-up to a better GPU, or an SSD, or an i5 vs. i3 or what-have-you. We try to save everywhere we can to help you stretch your dollars for the purpose you stated that you're building for. So if it makes you feel better, and it is in your budget, go ahead and blow $20 on it, but make sure that $20 isn't $20 that is stopping you from getting an SSD or a nicer gpu or something that really will perform better.

Consider this also. Given the history of storage media, if the Black fails outside of the warranty of the blue, and you are able to have it replaced, what are the odds that you're going to give two-hoots about a shiny new 1 TB spinning HDD in 2019? In 2009, I'm pretty sure the moral equivalent of today's 1 TB drive was a 256 GB drive, and if I had a 256 GB drive fail on me today inside of its warranty from 2009, I'm honestly not even sure what I'd do with the replacement.

 

[ascalice]

So buy the Caviar Blue.

 

[alkemyst]

I'd go with the black if budget doesn't allow a SSD.

I know in a laptop a 250GB Blue felt slower than my 750GB Black.

 

[lehtv]

I'd go with the black if budget doesn't allow a SSD.

I know in a laptop a 250GB Blue felt slower than my 750GB Black.

A mobile WD Blue spins at 5400 RPM instead of 7200 RPM, and a low capacity platter will have lower data density, so yes it would be much slower than a 750GB Black. It would also be much slower than a desktop Blue. The performance difference between WD10EZEX and WD1003FZEX is not noticeable in general use.

 

[escrow4]

Eh, I wouldn't recommend a $40 mobo, especially if its MSI, especially after looking at the history of MSI's VRM quality. No front panel USB 3 is irritating as well. I'd settle on something like Gigabyte's B85M-D3H as a minimum instead.

 

[lehtv]

Eh, I wouldn't recommend a $40 mobo, especially if its MSI, especially after looking at the history of MSI's VRM quality. No front panel USB 3 is irritating as well. I'd settle on something like Gigabyte's B85M-D3H as a minimum instead.

First off, it's a $49 mobo, available for $29 after rebate and combo discount. The price is explained by having basic features: H81 chipset, only 2 DIMMs, average sound, practically no extras apart from SATA 6gb/s. I don't see where VRM quality enters the picture here, does an i3 require particularly good VRM's?

Given that B85M-D3H has no rebate or combo discount available, it will cost $74 or over two and a half times as much as the MSI board. It is simply not a good buy. If there's need for better features than are available on the MSI board, I'd suggest Gigabyte H81.Amp-UP, available for $55 after $10 rebate and $15 combo discount. It has Realtek ALC898 integrated sound (among other sound enhancing features) plus front panel USB 3.0 connectors. It does require an ATX case, however, so it's not compatible with the CM N200 case I suggested; and I would still rather get the MSI board on this budget and spend the money on something else.

 

[DSF]

Surely there must be some parts from your old computer that you could reuse in the new one to bring the price down.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Eh, I wouldn't recommend a $40 mobo, especially if its MSI, especially after looking at the history of MSI's VRM quality. No front panel USB 3 is irritating as well. I'd settle on something like Gigabyte's B85M-D3H as a minimum instead.

No overclock = no problem for vrm's. I'm pretty sure msi fixed that problem a few years back also.

 

[Bearmann]

... In 2009, I'm pretty sure the moral equivalent of today's 1 TB drive was a 256 GB drive...

Dang! I didn't know that my harddrives had morals. I better get that porn off of there!

 

[Essence_of_War]

What do you think the controller is for??? It's in your data, watchin your pr0nz!

 

[escrow4]

No overclock = no problem for vrm's. I'm pretty sure msi fixed that problem a few years back also.

There has to be a reason its going so cheap, especially in terms of build quality.

 

[VirtualLarry]

There has to be a reason its going so cheap, especially in terms of build quality.

What makes you think that they have to cut corners to offer a $50 H81 board?
You do realize, that with rebates, not everyone fills it out (probably less than 50% of purchasers).

Edit: OP is banned, perhaps the mods should lock this thread up too then.

Good point, there's a low chance that anything useful will come out of this thread. The OP certainly won't be able to give us feedback.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator