I need some suggestions on putting together a gaming PC for my son.  Actually I want him to build it with me looking over his shoulder for guidance.  I used to build my own PCs but have only had laptops and tablets for the past 10 years so I have lost touch. I want something that will play modern games at medium settings.  I don't care if it won't play at 60fps cranked all of the way up.  He can upgrade components later with money that he earns.  I have been looking at sample builds on PCPartPicker.com but it's hard to separate decent builds from BS.  It reminds me of the motorcycle forum crowd that says that if you buy anything more than a 250cc for your first bike you are going to drop dead and your whole family will be stricken with cancer.  I don't need a $2000 PC for a 12 year old.  :)

Budget? Less than $2000 is pretty generic.


And do you need operating system, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and monitor in that budget?

I'd like to be in for about $700 in hardware.  I already have an OS, monitor, keyboard, etc.

Just my 2 cents but here ya go...

Stay away from AMD, I know the prices look great, but intel has more bang for the buck.


Stick with quality parts.  For Mobo's,  Asus and Gigabyte are great boards with good support.  For power supplies Corsair, Rosewill and Silverstone.  SSD, Samsung no question.  HDD Western Digital.  Memory any of the big names.  For the case, I like NZXT, that's just me.  Video card, once again stay away from AMD, go with Nvidia.  I know the AMD fan boys will eat me alive, but if you want something rock solid, that won't heat the entire house, Nvidia.  Speaking of heat, go with an aftermarket CPU cooler, you don't have to spend a fortune, but the stock coolers are always lacking.


This would be a decent build, that will be upgradeable for many years to come.

Are you near a Microcenter? There are three locations in Ohio. Best place to buy CPU/MB bundles with prices that often beat online.

Intel Core i5 with a compatible motherboard of your choice. The 'k' versions have unlocked multipliers and need a Z97 board to maximize overclocking. The next generation Intel chips are rumored to be launched in the beginning of August. Current gen processors may go down slightly in price after launch depending on what exactly Intel announces.

I didn't realize that Micro Center was that competitive.   There is one about 15 minutes away.

He asked for an entry level gaming rig with a budget cap of $700.  Not a state of the art overclockable beast.






The Intel/Nvidia fanboyism is getting old.



First...stay away from AMD?  Why?



Second...OP
asked for a $700~ build.  Not only did you go over budget just to fit
in an Intel CPU, but you chose a lower quality PSU, lower quality case,
only a 120GB SSD, no hard drives, and no cd/dvd drive to do it.  If only there was another brand of CPU that would work just as well for this rig's intended purpose and not require OP to downgrade or remove other parts to afford it.



Third...I noticed you said "Samsung no question."  Are you not aware of the issues people are reporting on the 850 series, or all the issues we had(and may still be having) on the 840 EVO?  I'm guessing not.  Right now probably isn't the best time to buy a Samsung SSD.



Fourth...stay away from AMD graphics cards?  Do you even know why you're telling OP to stay away from AMD CPUs and graphics cards?
OP
- If you want a budget build then AMD is the way to go if you don't
want to skimp out on other parts just to have an Intel CPU, and the AMD
will game just fine.  In fact my gaming rig that ran at least 3 times your budget is running an AMD CPU.



If your son isn't planning on playing AAA tiles at max res/settings you could even get away with an AMD APU and not have to purchase a graphics card, but still have the option to buy/install one later on down the road when it's needed.  You're going to have to buy another anyway when he realizes he wants the next best game and his current graphics are a generation or two old.



 

Goes on rant about fanboyism. Fanboys about AMD. Lol.

That poster gave a solid build with he OP's budget. Where is your build suggestion in that rant?

Meh, opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and they all stink....

 

If you want to heat your house with your PC, then by all means go with AMD.


Corsairs are not crap power supplies


NZXT are not crap cases


I've got 2 years on a Samsung SSD that is on 24/7, zero problems...guess I got lucky.


No HHD, hey if the kid wants to start a massive pron collection, then he can buy his own HHD (Just kidding OP)


No CD/DVD drive, do people still use those?


Can you build a great system with AMD? Yup.  Can you build a better one with Intel?  Yup.

As an owner of a R9 290X, I agree, I have a mini space heater under my desk that really sucks during the summer.

But the price:performance ratio of the 290X is better than the 970 IMO.


AMD processors will be just fine for running games and can save the OP quite a bit, since AMD hardware (incl MB) are usually cheaper than Intel counterparts.

Recommending he go with AMD for a budget build is fanboyism?



 

The corsair builders series is bottom of the ladder of what they offer.  The TX and HX series are great.  I own the HX850.



A $30 dollar case doesn't sound like a quality case.



The current and last gen drives are having issues.  Samsung has shit the bed several times now.



120GB is not a lot of space.  It's definitely not a lot of space if you have a bunch of games and also need to store other stuff on it.  Doesn't take long at all to use that much space if you have a Steam account.



Yes they do.  You can still walk in to Wal-Mart and buy PC games.  People still mostly install OS from CD/DVD.  Besides, they're like 14 dollars.  Better to have and not need.



No one is arguing about which processor is better on paper.  AMD is far better for budget builds because of the significant reduction in price and the insignificant decrease in performance.



 

An AMD alternative...'cause you know choices and stuff.

It's okay. Acknowledgement is the first step towards recovery.

Again, where is your build suggestion?

Here's what I've come up with.  Total cost is $725.85, or $685.85 after the mail-in rebates.  I substituted the SSD for an HDD because this is a budget gaming rig for a 12 year old.  I went with the R9 280 instead of the GTX 960 since they're same-class according to the latest GPU Hierarchy Chart and the AMD is cheaper.  Build includes an optical drive.  Case comes with three 120mm fans.  Also fit in a Corsair H60 closed-loop CPU cooler, SeaSonic PSU 80+ Gold, lower-timing Corsair RAM kit, and more popular case.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tChn4D
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tChn4D/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor  ($100.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($54.05 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($48.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($66.99 @ Best Buy) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB DUAL-X Video Card  ($172.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case  ($84.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($73.98 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $721.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 15:13 EDT-0400

ETA: Link for convenience - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tChn4D
ETA2:  OP, if you care about heat output the R9 280 runs cooler at idle than the GTX 960.  The temps of the FX-6350 and  i5-4690 would be about the same without any overclocks.

It's posted above.  It was too late for me to dick around with it last night.



Also, dissecting a client's needs and being given a specific budget to work with is one of the main things I do in the IT field(except on a business/enterprise scale within the MSP realm).  Sometimes what a client wants and what they actually need are two different things which I also deal with on a constant basis, but that's neither here nor there.  There is a significant difference between being an "AMD fanboy" and actually delivering what the OP needs within budget without making significant sacrifices.  If you guys can't see that difference then you have no business giving advice.



 

FWIW, here is my current PC, some of the parts are obsolete, but it works fine.  Also, I have been building my own PC's for close to 20 years, ah yes the good old days of configuring jumpers on the MoBo to get the 486 to boot.  And my first AMD?  Why it was a K5 of course.  I'm I worthy of giving advice?  I doubt it, just ask my ex wife!

Cool, so you've been in the game about the same amount of time as I have. I ran Intel until the Core2Duo e8400 Rev2, and that's when I switched to an AMD 965 Black Edition.
Here are my current rig specs...

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mx3VQ7
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mx3VQ7/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($165.93 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ NCIX US) 
Motherboard: Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($209.00 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($118.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($131.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($66.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($66.99 @ Best Buy) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card  ($195.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case  ($87.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: Corsair 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($146.98 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.98 @ OutletPC) 
Keyboard: Corsair K95 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($164.99 @ NCIX US) 
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse  ($60.95 @ Amazon) 
Headphones: Logitech G930 7.1 Channel Headset  ($84.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1677.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 15:37 EDT-0400

The FX-8350 I have is the Black Edition which PCPP doesn't appear to have in its database.
 

In case anyone is curious, here are the Tomshardware GPU and CPU Hierarchy charts for 2015...



GPU



CPU

I just put one of these together. The only thing I think you should be aware of; is that the motherboard requires the use of SATA devices. This includes optical drives. It had been a long time since my last build and this threw me for a loop. Fortunately I had a USB external DVD drive to install the OS. The video card also requires two power cables from the power supply. All the hardware needed was included. I think it is a great deal.


DIY Super Bundle

This one is under $ 700. Even less if you dont need the wireless network adapter

   http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NJgmZL  

  If your son doesn't like the case, the Corsair SPEC-02 can be had for less than $50.


I am sorry the link isnt hot-linked. You will have to copy and paste it.