Need help with a $600 build for a friend.

[Deleted member 27327]

So I have been asked by a friend to help her build the best possible computer for $600 that would allow her to do all her normal things like Facebook, watch movies, check emails and so forth. She also mentioned she wanted to play some games such as Diablo III, Skyrim and others that I may suggest to her. My problem is that I have only $600 to get this done and everything is needed to be purchased including a monitor. The only thing I might be able to get a hold of without purchasing is a case. Already have a keyboard/mouse to give her.

Just as a quick note I want to say that I am fairly close to Micro Center which I know seems to have the best pricing on CPU's.

CPU: Thinking AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, but not set. Was told i3 might be better?
Motherboard: Must have onboard sound.
Memory: 8gb
Video: Thinking 6870, but not set.
PSU: ~600watt needed in case she wants to learn to overclock as well.
DVD-RW: Any is fine. Cheaper is better.
HDD: 500GB is fine. Sadly hdd's have gone up in price and stayed there.
Case: Not 100% sure this is needed as I might be able to get one for free.
Monitor: At least 19-20in, but larger wont hurt if price difference is small. I have seen a few 21in for $130.
OS: Windows 7 64bit not counted into the $600.

Any help and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I have never had to build a system for someone with such a small $ limit.

 

[Feänor]

A Sandy bridge pentium will be as good as a phenom, gaming wise :70-100$
Some small lga1155 motherboard: around 80$
8gb of Samsung 30nm ddr3-1600 (my personal choice, pickup whatever suits your need): 50$
Corsair 430w power supply (good 28A 12v), again pickup any good brand special:50$
Monitor wise a 21 inch can be found in the 120$ zone (in my area at least)
Spinpoint F3 1 tb hard drive 80$
Some radeon 6850 or 6790 140$

A little over 600$ when taxes and shipping are added, but you could downgrade the video card and/or the hard drive a little.

 

[Fourstaff]

I would pick the Sandy Bridge route, price wise they are more or less the same but power consumption in SB is much better. 500W should be plenty.

 

[Deleted member 27327]

If anyone can suggest a better PSU, Memory, Monitor, or HDD for the price that would be great.

CPU: Core i3 2100 - MicoCenter - $97.43
Motherboard: ASRock H61M/U3S3 - Newegg - $60
Memory: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB - Newegg - $40
Video: XFX 6870 - Newegg - $140 (Comes with Dirt 3)
PSU: Corsair CX600 - Newegg - $43
DVD-RW: Samsung 22x DVD Burner - Newegg - $15
HDD: 500GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 - Newegg - $80
Case: NZXT Source 210 - Newegg - $34
Monitor: Acer G215HVAbd - Newegg - $105
OS: Windows 7 64bit (not counted into the $600)

Sell Dirt 3 for about $10 and end up only $4.43 over budget.

 

[Jstn7477]

I'd love to say that monitor is a good deal, but I bought one last week and it is quite washed out and has poor viewing angles (honestly my 6yo Samsung 940BW and the 7yo Dell I found at the curb look a lot better). Wish there were more options in that price range as anything reasonable is like $140+.

Is a 1600*900 monitor out of the question? HANNspree HF Series HF205DPB Black 20" 5ms Widesc...

 

[Deleted member 27327]

I had a 28in Hannspree monitor some years back and had terrible issue with ghosting. Since then I tend to stay away, but if its gotten better than it should be looked at.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Your ram can be dumbed down a notch. Remember the H6x board's don't support over 1333 unless running an Ivy proc.

Also this might end up getting you under-budget a little.
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

PowerColor AX7770 1GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edi...

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1... (Unsure if you want 8GB or not)

EDIT:
OH btw, Good choice on board. Got the same model on the way from 'Egg myself for the HTPC upgrade.

Here's an alternate ....
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159827
The ITX bundle.

 

[Jstn7477]

I had a 28in Hannspree monitor some years back and had terrible issue with ghosting. Since then I tend to stay away, but if its gotten better than it should be looked at.

Yeah, I have a friend who has 2 Hanns-G 20" monitors and she's fine with them. My new work Acer is fairly ghosty as well (my 5ms 1080p TV was the same way) but maybe I'm too used to my 2ms ASUS VG236HE 120hz monitor. I suppose it depends on the model as it seems like every company has great and terrible models regardless of the price.

Good luck in your quest for a nice, on budget build.

 

[Deleted member 27327]

JrRacinFan: Thanks for posting buddy as always. The reason I want to get 1600 memory for her is in the case she decides she wants to move up to an i5 she is ready to go. Plus price difference due to MicroCenter is $3 from 8gb of 1333.

Jstn7477: Thanks I will keep that in mind.

I will take her to the local Fry's to have a look at a few monitor so she can decide on her own. I am hoping I can talk her to pay a little more to get a lot better since a monitor is something you can keep even when upgrading the computer.

Should order the whole setup tomorrow so I will post final results of order and how everything turns out 2-3 days later depending how long Newegg takes with Shoprunner.

 

[JrRacinFan]

JrRacinFan: Thanks for posting buddy as always. The reason I want to get 1600 memory for her is in the case she decides she wants to move up to an i5 she is ready to go. Plus price difference due to MicroCenter is $3 from 8gb of 1333.

You're pricing counterparts between the 2x2 and 2x4? What I am saying is 4GB may be enough that's all. If you can get faster ram and just underclock/undervolt then by all means Likewise, you're always welcome.

 

[Deleted member 27327]

I would like to stick with 8gb. In my personal system I have seen multiple times where I max out all 6gb in gaming. With how cheap memory is I don't think there is a point to 4gb instead of 8gb.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0360527
/\ What she will be getting. /\

I am only concerned with PSU and motherboard at this point. Both seems iffy in terms of DOA and reliability.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Here's an alternate to that psu.
ENERMAX NAXN ENP450AST 450W ATX12V Power Supply

Could even go SeaSonic MKII 520W.