Friend is building a PC. Part recommendations?

[AstralFire]

I haven't built a PC in ages. I gave him some basic advice (go to newegg, read reviews, look stuff up on Tom's Hardware) but his internet is failing as well and he's losing patience. What are some recommendations for CPU/Mobo/RAM for someone who mostly plays last-generation games and does schoolwork?

[Grinner]

Does your friend have a budget in mind?

[AstralFire]

Does your friend have a budget in mind?

Not really. The best I'm getting out of him is a quantum state of "no object" and "minimally tight."

"I'm looking for something with ungodly amounts of RAM, so as to support my hundreds of browser tabs. I'd like to be able to play the next-to-newest games, on the lowest settings, though that's not an issue so much... because I don't play games much. I'd just like to be able to... if possible. And finally, I'd like a lot of USB ports. I always seem to run out."

[Grinner]

"I'm looking for something with ungodly amounts of RAM, so as to support my hundreds of browser tabs. I'd like to be able to play the next-to-newest games, on the lowest settings, though that's not an issue so much... because I don't play games much. I'd just like to be able to... if possible. And finally, I'd like a lot of USB ports. I always seem to run out."

Sounds like he'll need a really nice motherboard, preferably with triple channel RAM slots, and a set of matching RAM cards. One of the older Core i3s or i5s will probably work for him (not sure about the AMD equivalent*), but it's important that the motherboard's socket matches the processor. Shop for the motherboard first and build the rest around that.

It might help if you get an example of the games he plays. I still play Quake, so my idea of last generation is probably a little different from his. I'll see what I can find, but that information would help narrow things down a bit.

Also, does he already have a Windows license and install disc to reuse?

*General question: How does AMD stack up against Intel these days, anyway?

[AstralFire]

He's saying big-budget games about 15 months old. And yes, he has Windows to reuse.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Of course it depends on the resolution he plays, and whether he needs a powerful CPU as well, but...

I think his best bet is an AMD A10-6800K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113331) or something similar. It's an okayish CPU with a pretty decent integrated GPU. It's about 3x more powerful than Intel HD4000, so should be more than enough to play games like Skyrim at low-medium settings depending on the resolution.

I'm not familiar with AMD motherboards, so you're on your own here.

8 GB RAM is probably his best bet, I've never ran into a problem with 8 on my laptop (heck, even 4 works fine but might not be enough these days). 16 is just overkill, the only time I came close to running out was when running 8 virtual machines at the same time.

Make sure he buys an SSD, it's the absolute best thing you can do these days for making your computer run faster. Crucial M500 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=m500&N=-1&isNodeId=1) is one of the cheapest and most reliable SSD's on the market (there are a lot of specials on it right now). Other good models are Samsung 840(/840 Pro) or anything Intel, although it's hard to find Intel at reasonable prices. Stay away from OCZ like the plague.

A 240 GB SSD is usually enough as a boot drive and to install all needed programs and some games. Then a storage drive for keeping random stuff like music or movies. I like Western Digital, but honestly most brands are good.

You can add a video card at any point if the APU is not enough, but it should be unless he wants to play BF4 and Crysis on 1080p on medium or higher. If he does, we're talking a completely different build here. The difference between an A10-6800K and something like FX-6300 is pretty minimal as far as CPU's are concerned.

Then just throw in a case and a power supply from a good brand (Antec, Corsair, XFX, Seasonic are all good). 600W should be able to cover anything you guys would throw at it, and leave room for even a high-end GPU like the AMD R9 290.

[AstralFire]

Thanks a bunch!

[Pam Smith]

I have built several in my time.. My recommendation is a little less techy than most. But highly crucial for performance. GET LOADS OF FANS. loads of them. One inward thrust another outward another parallel etc..

Go for massive airflow and you wont regret it. Noisy but better. or go water cooled etc..


Re'
Pam