New Build for King(of)Men

[knucracker]

A new user that I know IRL wants to make his first system build.  So where better to help than here (plus I didn't give him much choice :) ) ! 
The budget is around $600... Here's a starting parts list contributed by G.  The case choice comes from King(of)Men (which I henceforth will abbreviate as kom)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3FSrL

Now this does not include the OS (windows 7 or 8.1).  That will add another $75-$100.  The keyboard/mouse/dvd drive I all have already and will contribute to his cause.

So, choices need to be made.  Things need to be shaved to get the price within budget (so there can be a windows OS).  That could come by getting a case/PSU combined together (that should save around $70).  Or the hard drive could be shaved (no SSD cache) by around $20, etc...

Note that the video card choice is a nice price point for performance and comes with 2 free games (and there are some good ones in the list).

Anyway, let's start here and see what kom has to say about these parts, the price, and what questions he might have.

[KING(of)MEN]

Hello it is KOM the parts seem very nice but 2 questions, will it stand gaming, and is the cooling unit part of that list.

[Grayzzur]

The first place I go when I'm ready to build a new system is Tom's Hardware. I don't take everything they say at face value, but it's a great place to get sort of a "State of the Union" of PC components after I haven't been paying attention for months or years.

First stop is the System Builder Marathon articles they do quarterly. Their current Budget build has a slightly higher price tag than your allotted budget, but it's a good place to start. It'll give an idea of what's important and where corners can be cut. Then they have charts for CPUs, GPUs, SSDs and other storage, etc. That helps determine relative differences between alternate components you may find on sale here and there.

Next there's NewEgg, my personal preference for purchasing computer gear online (though I have occassionally picked up some items from Amazon). When I'm shopping for a new computer, I start watching NewEgg daily, especially their daily "shell shocker" deals, to see if anything roughly equivalent to what I want goes on sale. It changes daily. Sometimes they have barebones computer systems up, sometimes memory or SSD drives, power supplies, anything really.

Comparing your build to the Tom's Budget build: They are using the i3-4130 in their build vs the i3-4340 you have listed. 6% performance difference is not much, and that's $25. They blow their budget on the graphics card, so no help there. The WD 1TB 7200rpm non-hybrid drive they list, I see on NewEgg for $59 right now, so there's another $20. NewEgg also has a pretty good selection of cases that come in at about half the price of the one you list. A case is a subjective thing, it's the part you'll see the most, gotta pick one you like -- luckily NewEgg has lots of photos of their products to help decide. You could save $30 or more there. Beyond that, keep an eye out for motherboard/memory sales, and other components.

Also, what's the scoop on the display/monitor?

[Grayzzur]

... is the cooling unit part of that list.

Intel box processors come with a heatsink. I wouldn't try to overclock with it, but they run great straight-up.

...will it stand gaming...

The current Tom's Budget Box article includes performance of their build. Not quite the same as yours, considerably more GPU power.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-budget-gaming-pc,3780.html

This graphics heirarchy they provide helps compare relative strengths of video cards.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
Note that your chosen card's chip is 5 tiers below the nVidia 770 on theirs, but that's quite a leap in $$$ too. Yours is not too far down the list and should be respectable. It's actually what they recommend at the $120 price point (earlier page in the same article).

[Karsten75]

When you list a PCPartPicker list you can get the BBCode to include in the post. Here is the one from the OP:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4340 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($159.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard:  ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory:  Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Seagate SuperSpeed HDD 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  ($125.38 @ Newegg)
Case:  Cougar Challenger-O (Black/Orange) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $638.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 23:24 EDT-0400)

I think I can shave some money off that. It may not be a red hot machine, but it will be decent. Stay tooned.

[Flabort]

Don't you mean... stay tuned?
*AWFUL PUNS YEAH*

[Asbestos]

When in doubt, buy a normal boring pre-made laptop from the nearest place you can. Usually it's more convenient than assembling your own computer.

[Karsten75]

Lower-priced, under budget and with an OS. You can add little upgrades to the CPU, GPU or memory as you think you can afford. It should play most games at reasonable frame rates. If you have a specific game in mind, check the requirements for that game..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($119.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard:  ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.44 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R7 250 2GB Video Card  ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Case:  Rosewill R519-BK ATX Mid Tower Case w/500W Power Supply  ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($95.99 @ B&H)
Total: $542.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 23:41 EDT-0400)

Here is a small trade-off. You get a faster video card, but it has less memory. Price is about the same.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($119.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard:  ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.44 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card  ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Case:  Rosewill R519-BK ATX Mid Tower Case w/500W Power Supply  ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($95.99 @ B&H)
Total: $548.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 23:50 EDT-0400)