Low to mid range gaming computer

[Durntdude]

I could use some assistance with building a computer for a friend of the family. Basically the computer will be used for light/medium gaming(League of Legends, TF2, perhaps minecraft, and maybe more), live streaming, and artistic sketching. I have a good idea of the parts to buy on a high end build but for this price range, I am lost.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Med/light gaming (League of legends/tf2/minecraft) and some tablet drawing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$450-$500, after tax/shipping. Maybe a little more if it is really worth it

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Orlando, FL-ish

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Parenthesis are what I've decided with thus far, not set in stone. Please give any and all suggestions
Case (NZXT Source 210 S210-001 $40)
PSU (Corsair TX650 650 watt $90)
Motherboard (ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ $95)
CPU w/ heat sink (AMD Phenom II X4 965 $99)
RAM (4-8 GB of DDR3 1333 or 1600. $30-$50)
Video card(I was thinking the geforce 550ti $135ish but it may be too costly)
Case Fans may or may not be needed based on the case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Re-using hard drive, cd drive, monitor, speakers, mouse

6) Will you be overclocking?
no

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1680x1200 I think

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within a week

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Besides having 6 or more USB slots (including headers) and the obvious pci-e x16, nothing

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
yes, 64 bit windows 7

 

[mvmiller12]

I would personally recommend using an ASUS Mainboard as opposed to the Asrock. It's not really a question of build quality for me (though there is that, too) as of the fact that ASUS makes fairly regular BIOS updates for their boards. I have found that very useful for a variety of reasons including support getting added for later gen chips that did not exist when I bought the board. Also, many (most?) ASUS AMD mainboards come with a function (Hardware switch) that "tunes" RAM so you can frequently get RAM that won't POST working without having to resort to a BIOS upgrade - this has saved my bacon a couple of times.

 

[Durntdude]

Good point, updated original post to an ASUS mobo

 

[Dangman]

Ditch the Source 210 and spend the extra cash for the better Corsair 200R:
$50 - Corsair Carbide Series 200R ATX Case

Go for this RAM:
$36 - Patriot PSD38G13332 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM

I would go with a different platform altogether for faster performance:
$114 - Core i3 2120 CPU
$75 - Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Intel B75 mATX Motherboard

Video card wise, I recommend this faster card:
$140 - MSI N650TI PE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 650 TI 1GB Video Card

The above changes will put you at around $505 shipped but well worth it since you're getting higher performance.

 

[Eureka!]

Ditch the Source 210 and spend the extra cash for the better Corsair 200R:
$50 - Corsair Carbide Series 200R ATX Case

Go for this RAM:
$36 - Patriot PSD38G13332 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM

I would go with a different platform altogether for faster performance:
$114 - Core i3 2120 CPU
$75 - Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Intel B75 mATX Motherboard

Video card wise, I recommend this faster card:
$140 - MSI N650TI PE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 650 TI 1GB Video Card

The above changes will put you at around $505 shipped but well worth it since you're getting higher performance.

Dan's the man... but what about lowering the power supply, like this power supply. Don't get the $90 Corsair for a $500 build, when the $30 ECO 620W is built by Seasonic and more than enough for your needs.

I would debate the merits of a recommending a 200R over a 210, but both cases should do fine.

Also, why a i3-2120 over an i3-3220? The newer 3220 is only a few dollars more, runs with lower power and heat.

Beyond that, Dan's recommendation is pretty spot on.

 

[Dangman]

Dan's the man... but what about lowering the power supply, like this power supply. Don't get the $90 Corsair for a $500 build, when the $30 ECO 620W is built by Seasonic and more than enough for your needs.

Not sure where you're getting $30 from but the $50 Antec Neo Eco 620C isn't half bad.

Also, why a i3-2120 over an i3-3220? The newer 3220 is only a few dollars more, runs with lower power and heat.

Because I was already $5 over budget and didn't want to spend the extra $10 for a 3% performance increase. If the OP goes with your PSU recommendation though, that'll free up cash for the Core i3-3220.

 

[Eureka!]

Well to clairfy I gave the after rebate prices, it's $50 to start and had a $20 rebate. Looks like the final price went up by $10... I had this saved so I linked it blindy (it was supposed to be good through 1/31).

In any case, at $50 it's a seasonic-built unit with a $10 rebate. $40 net cost in the end.

EDIT: Whoa, didn't realize it's already 1/31. So yeah, time warp.

 

[Durntdude]

The PSU choice was not because I though I needed the wattage but because I have a distrust in any PSU under $70, I do agree that seasonic and antec are good brands so I would not be incredibly worried about a lower priced version model of theirs

As for intel vs AMD, I really am not very particular. Is the i3-2120 and i3-3220 really that much better than the phenom? The friend does want to be able to live stream games and I figured the additional 2 cores would be better in that situation, even if the architecture is not quite as good.

Motherboard-wise, I for some reason was thinking mATX's didn't ever have 4x RAM slots (which obviously) is wrong so I didn't look. I do like the board choice. In addition it is a 1155 board so possible upgrade to an ivy/sandy bridge in the future correct?

I do greatly appreciate the ideas folks

 

[Deleted member 88227]

The price of a psu doesnt determine how good it is. They have shitty psus in all price ranges, just like they have quality psus in a wide price range as well, including under $70.

 

[Dangman]

The PSU choice was not because I though I needed the wattage but because I have a distrust in any PSU under $70, I do agree that seasonic and antec are good brands so I would not be incredibly worried about a lower priced version model of theirs

SkillZ covered this pretty well but I should add this: There are plenty of shitty PSUs out there that costs $100 or more.

As for intel vs AMD, I really am not very particular. Is the i3-2120 and i3-3220 really that much better than the phenom? The friend does want to be able to live stream games and I figured the additional 2 cores would be better in that situation, even if the architecture is not quite as good.

Yes.

In addition it is a 1155 board so possible upgrade to an ivy/sandy bridge in the future correct?

Correct.