$900-1000 Build. Double check/Suggestions

[Vulpesveritas]

Case: NZXT H2 NZXT H2 H2-001-BK Black Steel / Plastic Classic Si...
Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth (5 year warranty) ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6...
CPU: Intel i5-2400 Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Tur...
GPU: XFX AMD Radeon HD 6450 (lifetime warranty) XFX HD-645X-ZQH2 Radeon HD 6450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PC...
PSU: XFX 450w (5 year warranty) XFX ProSeries P1-450S-X2B9 450W ATX12V / EPS12V SL...
RAM: AMD Performance Edition 8GB (lifetime warranty) AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3...
HDD: Western Digital RE4 1 TB (5 year warranty) Western Digital RE4 WD1003FBYX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB C...
Heatsink: SilentX EFZ-92HA3 SilenX EFZ-92HA3 92mm 3rd generation fluid dynamic...
ODD: Lite-on LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD...
OS: Windows 7 Professional Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - Oper...

Just my input. Since it is supposed to last and all. Ivy Bridge may bring down SB prices more, and the i7 is probably the best option if you're trying to future-proof. And the XFX is more than enough of a PSU, you won't draw that much off of even an i7 and that low end GPU without overclocking. And if there is an Ivy bridge i5 chip for under 240 that has 4000 graphics I'd get it over the Radeon HD 6450 or an i7, if but for the monitor support for the future.

 

[Iceni]

cpu G620 Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 1155 65...

motherboard biostar Z68 BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s ...

ram 4 gb Patriot Gamer 2 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

Gpu hd6670 (optional) GIGABYTE GV-R667D3-1GI Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit ...

PSU 500W 80+gold FSP Group AURUM GOLD 500W (AU-500) ATX12V /EPS 12V...

Dvd BR SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SA...

HDD 1.5tb Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM...

Case haf 912 COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS ...

Windows 7 64 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Oper...

total $679

Shaveable by removing the GPU and Bluray drive to (i added a DVD burner back in)

total £562

The more expensive option will still play games pretty well as well

 

[nv40pimp]

Thanks for all the input guys! He likes the idea of 600 now 400 later.

 

[Iceni]

To upgrade the build i posed above in 2-3 years time you would do a cpu upgrade keeping the same motherboard. You should be able to get whatever finishes up been the last top end 1155 chip by then. It should be plenty fast enough for another couple of years similar to how the first edition i7's are still fast chips now, Not the fastest chip on the market but fast enough to do anything you want to do, gaming ect.

The ram is a simple upgrade as well. Since we should be on ddr4 in 3 years time, so adding more ram will be an easy cheap upgrade. The ram i picked is only ddr3 1333Mhz speed. You could search for 1600Mhz dimms, While it isn't going to be a huge improvement in terms of the pc speed it may be a wiser option if your upgrading in the future. There is very little in the costings of ram sticks. So just pick something with lifetime warranty at a price point you think is correct.

Graphics wise the PCIE 2x will be outdated. We should be seeing the introduction of PCIE 4x specification by then. But you should be able to pick something up dirt cheap just to keep the rig inline with games. Also since this is for an older person chances are he will be more into bargain games. The 6670 should play skyrim on med settings. If that's the benchmark to use for the next 3 years then he should be fine.

The hard drive could be replaced by a faster model. Again it's not going to hurt to pick up an ssd in 3 years time. For the minute tho capacity is key as it allows for a partition, and the ability to have a place to store whatever he downloads on a part of the drive that should be safe if you ever need to format windows. Make sure he know what the partition is for if you go that route. It also makes sorting out the pc from your perspective a lot easer if he knows to back up on the partition as you can be sure all his data is safe (ish).

Case wise pick what he likes. I chose that coolermaster as i know the build quality is good enough to last 6 years of abuse. It may not be to his liking, Just make sure whatever you get him is easy to work on and clean out. With space for more hard drives, and a full size graphics card. As you never know what the future holds!