Trying to help a friend out

[LigTasm]

Okay guys, one of my friends contacted me this weekend and asked for help. Both him and his dad want to play BF4 together, but their machines aren't quite up to the task. His machine is a newer 1156 build while his dad has a C2Q. The idea is to upgrade the 1156 machine a little and give it to his dad, and build him something a little better.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Need to play BF4 fluidly, not talking max settings but decently at medium.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Not much, I will be helping but it needs to get done as cheaply as possible.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
They live in Georgia, but the parts will probably be coming from me here in SoCal. Microcenter and Frys are both available to me.
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.
Listed below
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Listed below
6) Will you be overclocking?
Most likely not. They want plug-and-play.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Both 1080p
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
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.
Nothing in specific, just needs to run a BF4 machine
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, 1 Windows 7 64-bit and one Windows 8 64-bit

The specs of the machines are as follows.

Friends machine:
- i5-750
- Asus P7P55D
- 8GB DDR3 1600
- Antec HCP1200
- EVGA GTX 470
- Corsair 400R
- 1TB WD Black w/Windows 8

Dads machine:
- Q9300 C2Q
- EVGA 750i SLI
- 8GB DDR2 1066
- 250GB Seagate w/Windows 7
- Raidmax 850AE
- GTS 250 of some description

Now the 1156 machine should do decently, but the low, low clock speed of the i5-750 is killing it big time at 2.66ghz. The C2Q can't even play on the lowest settings for more than 20-30 seconds without crashing.

My thoughts are to pick up a cheap i7-8XX chip for the 1156 machine and it should be good to go. The 470 can play on low/medium settings with no problem, and their respective hard drives can move to the rig they will use.

As far as a newer machine for my friend, I'm thinking something like this (sorry I can't link at work, newegg won't come up):

- AMD FX 6300 $119
- Gigabyte 970 AM3+ board $99
- NZXT Source 210 $45
- PNY GTX 580 that I will donate $free
- 8GB Crucial DDR3 $56
- 500 to 600W PSU $50

Does this seem like a reasonable machine? Or can it be done cheaper? I don't play BF4 but those seem to be pretty good specs.

 

[Dangman]

Can you convince them to let you show them how to overlock that Core i5 750? A Core i7 8xx series CPU just isn't worth the money (unless it was like $20) since BF4 isn't taking huge advantage of the HT found in Core i7 CPUs (right now anyway) nor would the extra 144Mhz to 270 Mhz clock speed increase be that noticeable. So if you actually want them to see a noticeable CPU performance increase, you're looking at either overclocking the current Core i5 750 CPU or getting another new CPU and mobo set. Just add a cheap $30 HSF like the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus and you should be ok for overclocking:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

As for you planned setup, it's not that good so far: Where are you seeing 8GB of RAM for $56? Also, if you see a 600W PSU for $50, there's a good chance that it's crap. However, right now this 600W PSU is currently on sale for $58 shipped:
$58 - Corsair CX600 600W PSU

At $45, the NZXT Source 210 isn't a good choice when the better cooling NZXT Source 210 Elite can be found online for $43 shipped.

Finally the CPU: Based on data from currently available games (not including BF4), that AMD FX-6300 will actually be slower than your friend's current Core i5 750. You should be looking at an Intel setup instead:
$205 - Core i3 4340 CPU + MZI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX Motherboard Microcenter Combo

Also some of the early BF4 multiplayer reviews are showing that BF4 actually performs better under Windows 8.1 than Windows 7. So keep that in mind.

 

[LigTasm]

The i5-750 does not overclock much. I had it originally and passed it on to him, it makes it to around 3.1ghz at 1.45V and is very unstable, to pass any kind of stress test it needs 1.45V at 2.9ghz. Its a crap CPU.

There are several 2x4 DDR3 1600 sets on Newegg for $50-60, G-skill and Crucial. And yes, I meant the Source 210 Elite, sorry I couldn't check my newegg basket when I made the post.

As far as the CPU only, BF4 was optimized with the FX 6300 in mind apparently, it performs very well in that game. I could make the trip to MC and get the Haswell bundle though if that would be better.

 

[Dangman]

The i5-750 does not overclock much. I had it originally and passed it on to him, it makes it to around 3.1ghz at 1.45V and is very unstable, to pass any kind of stress test it needs 1.45V at 2.9ghz. Its a crap CPU.

WEll damn. You willing to make two CPU, mobo, and RAM purchases then? Like I said earlier, the Core i7 8xx is going to be a bad buy unless you can get it for $20 or so.

There are several 2x4 DDR3 1600 sets on Newegg for $50-60, G-skill and Crucial.

Have you seen the prices on Newegg lately? Cheapest decent set of RAM are coming in at around $65, even for 2 x 4GB sets.

As far as the CPU only, BF4 was optimized with the FX 6300 in mind apparently, it performs very well in that game. I could make the trip to MC and get the Haswell bundle though if that would be better.

The Haswell bundle will be better according to this review:
http://www.hardwarepal.com/battlefield-4-benchmark-mp-cpu-gpu-w7-vs-w8-1/9/

The I3 4340 consistently outperformed the FX 6300 and even outperformed the FX-8350 on most occasions. So yeah, go Intel for BF4.

 

[LigTasm]

Well I ended up snagging a 2500k, motherboard and SSD here on the FS/T forum for $200. That should do nicely with a little bump in clocks.

Now just to grab a case and RAM, he is going to use the same PSU he has. Thanks for the help.

 

[Dangman]

I recommend this budget case and RAM:
$43 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$65 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM

 

[LigTasm]

I recommend this budget case and RAM:
$43 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$65 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Great, I'll check that RAM tonight. I got a HAF 912 locally at Fry's for $40 on sale so that is a pretty decent case.