Need help with a $600 build for a friend.

A

[AK]Zip

Gawd
Joined
Dec 30, 2004
Messages
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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.
 
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I hate building a PC with such a low budget. A 6870 and 20 inch monitor already eat up half of your budget.To make your budget you will have to go with used parts. If you can get a free case that will save you 40-50 bucks.

I bought an Antec PSU (over 600W) for maybe 60-70. It was among the cheapest I could find at Frys.

That would leave you about 230 more to spend.
 
A few questions:
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.
 
Texas. Dallas area.
Would like to order in 1-2 days max.
Must have onboard sound. All others are not important as long as there are some USB ports.
 
It is just some old case I have laying around. It will fit all motherboards so no issue there. If not reusing it will be a NZXT Source 210
 
All right, here's a prelim build:
$150 - AMD Phenom II 960 Black Edition + Asus M5A97 AMD 970 AM3+ ATX Motherboard Combo
$40 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$125 - HIS H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$80 - Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - LG GH24NS90B DVD Burner
$63 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
$90 - HannSpree HF Series HF205DPB Black 20"
---
Total: $566 shipped

The monitor is currently on sale. So buy that today if possible.
 
I checked some reviews and it seems the i3 2100 is the best option in this case.

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.
 
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I see what ya did: you used the rebate prices when factoring the total. I was about to ask HTF did you make it under budget.:)
 
That is not a good choice on the motherboard, on account of it's poor quality and short warranty.

We also do not factor in MIRs simply because they are not guaranteed and you still need the money up front to get the items, then wait on the rebates.

With that being said, if rebates are acceptable then what is the "spend now" budget that she can afford up front?
 
She just wants it to be around $600 when all said and done. She has more money to spend just chooses to limit herself to $600 for this build.
 
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