@BucketInABucket
 
If he only wants to game, you can go for the Pentium edition CPU that is 'new'. Very good gaming performance. 
It isn't good at doing 'real' computer usage if he wants that though.
 
Here's a general log for $700 for gaming only irregardless of size, power consumption.
 
 
Here is a link that you can look through.
 
Notice that there are often sales for the Pentium CPU are either for $50 by itself, $60 with some add on components, or even $95 average for a pentium and an ok motherboard for it.
 
All prices below can be had if he hunts for deals and gets it right
 
General log:
CPU+Motherboard: $100 (Pentium and add on not that bad mobo)
RAM: 4GB DDR3 on sale :$30 on sale after MIR
SSD: 128GB Mainstream PNY: $40
Case: $20 NZXT Source 210 on sale after MIR
PSU: $30 550W Seasonic Rebrand from XFX on sale  after MIR
GPU: R9 290X for $320 on sale 
 
 
This will be the fastest rig he can buy for $700 for gaming alone. There is still a lot left over in that $700 if we want to go crazy and say we get a 7870 GHz from Ebay crypto sale and get 4 of them (faster than a 290x) 
 
This rig won't be very good for anything real besides a fast ass **** in gaming though lol
 
You can make it a real computer by doing a 
 
CPU i5 45xx: $180
Motherboard: $90 Gigabyte, Asrock, MSI ATX mobo
RAM: 8GB DDR3 on sale for $60
SSD: 256GB On sale SSD for $80
Case: $20 NZXT or even a $50 on sale case that is usually $100
PSU: $30 550W Seasonic Rebrand from xFX on sale and after MIR
GPU: R9 290, R9 280x, Nvidia GTX 970
Aftermarket Cooling: Either $40 AIO or a mega air setup
 
This is a fairly standard fast gaming computer that can handle real world use that people build

I ordered all the parts for my pc:
 
i5-4440
Zotac GTX970
ASUS Z97-A mobo
Corsair H90 cooler
WD Blue 1 TB HD
Ripjaws X 8 GB RAM
THOR v2 Case
Samsung 120Gb SSD
EVGA 750W Gold PS
 
Probably not the most cost effective build, especially since I couldn't find a great deal on a 250 GB SSD.  Thanks to all the guys on this thread who gave me advice!

za warudo said:

  I ordered all the parts for my pc:
 
i5-4440
Zotac GTX970
ASUS Z97-A mobo
Corsair H90 cooler
WD Blue 1 TB HD
Ripjaws X 8 GB RAM
THOR v2 Case
Samsung 120Gb SSD
EVGA 750W Gold PS
 
Probably not the most cost effective build, especially since I couldn't find a great deal on a 250 GB SSD.  Thanks to all the guys on this thread who gave me advice!

Click to expand...

Nice stuff man
 
But by all means, you didn't need an EVGA 750W gold PSU. Unless you got it on sale. I forgot, were youo the one that was able to get that on a nice sale? If so, then yeah it's good. If it's over $60....then meh

bowei006 said:

  Nice stuff man
 
But by all means, you didn't need an EVGA 750W gold PSU. Unless you got it on sale. I forgot, were youo the one that was able to get that on a nice sale? If so, then yeah it's good. If it's over $60....then meh

Click to expand...

I got it from NCIX US which came out to be about $60 including shipping and mail in rebate.  All I need to buy is a monitor.  Any ideas on good deals?

za warudo said:

  I got it from NCIX US which came out to be about $60 including shipping and mail in rebate.  All I need to buy is a monitor.  Any ideas on good deals?

Click to expand...

Check out the deals threads on Reddit
 
There is a Dell Ultrasharp on sale for sub $120 I belive. 

bowei006 said:

@BucketInABucket


If he only wants to game, you can go for the Pentium edition CPU that is 'new'. Very good gaming performance. 
It isn't good at doing 'real' computer usage if he wants that though.

Here's a general log for $700 for gaming only irregardless of size, power consumption.


Here is a link that you can look through.

Notice that there are often sales for the Pentium CPU are either for $50 by itself, $60 with some add on components, or even $95 average for a pentium and an ok motherboard for it.

All prices below can be had if he hunts for deals and gets it right

General log:
CPU+Motherboard: $100 (Pentium and add on not that bad mobo)
RAM: 4GB DDR3 on sale :$30 on sale after MIR
SSD: 128GB Mainstream PNY: $40
Case: $20 NZXT Source 210 on sale after MIR
PSU: $30 550W Seasonic Rebrand from XFX on sale  after MIR
GPU: R9 290X for $320 on sale 


This will be the fastest rig he can buy for $700 for gaming alone. There is still a lot left over in that $700 if we want to go crazy and say we get a 7870 GHz from Ebay crypto sale and get 4 of them (faster than a 290x) 

This rig won't be very good for anything real besides a fast ass **** in gaming though lol

You can make it a real computer by doing a 

CPU i5 45xx: $180
Motherboard: $90 Gigabyte, Asrock, MSI ATX mobo
RAM: 8GB DDR3 on sale for $60
SSD: 256GB On sale SSD for $80
Case: $20 NZXT or even a $50 on sale case that is usually $100
PSU: $30 550W Seasonic Rebrand from xFX on sale and after MIR
GPU: R9 290, R9 280x, Nvidia GTX 970
Aftermarket Cooling: Either $40 AIO or a mega air setup

This is a fairly standard fast gaming computer that can handle real world use that people build

Click to expand...

Thanks for the help mate c:

bowei006 said:

  Check out the deals threads on Reddit
 
There is a Dell Ultrasharp on sale for sub $120 I belive. 

Click to expand...

Are you talking about the $120 off on this monitor?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS011114&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS011114-_-EMC-011114-Index-_-LCDMonitors-_-24260047-L01A

bucketinabucket said:

Thanks for the help mate c:

Click to expand...

ya mate
 

za warudo said:

  Are you talking about the $120 off on this monitor?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS011114&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS011114-_-EMC-011114-Index-_-LCDMonitors-_-24260047-L01A

Click to expand...

http://slickdeals.net/f/7433098-27-acer-k2-series-2560x1440-ips-led-monitor-275-w-visa-checkout-free-ship-newegg
http://slickdeals.net/f/7427974-27-ips-glass-panel-pro-wqhd-2560x1440-1440p-led-monitor-299-99-fs-from-monoprice
http://slickdeals.net/f/7406496-2x-dell-22-p2214h-ips-monitors-dual-monitor-stand-125-egift-card-370-free-shipping
 
There was another one I was refering to, but the above are fine as well

bowei006 said:

  ya mate
 
http://slickdeals.net/f/7433098-27-acer-k2-series-2560x1440-ips-led-monitor-275-w-visa-checkout-free-ship-newegg
http://slickdeals.net/f/7427974-27-ips-glass-panel-pro-wqhd-2560x1440-1440p-led-monitor-299-99-fs-from-monoprice
http://slickdeals.net/f/7406496-2x-dell-22-p2214h-ips-monitors-dual-monitor-stand-125-egift-card-370-free-shipping
 
There was another one I was refering to, but the above are fine as well

Click to expand...

Thanks, the Acer and Monoprice look interesting.  Do you know whether resolution or refresh rate or something else is most important in a monitor?  Basically I want to take advantage of the GTX970 but don't want to spend too much on a monitor (preferably <$250).

za warudo said:

  Thanks, the Acer and Monoprice look interesting.  Do you know whether resolution or refresh rate or something else is most important in a monitor?  Basically I want to take advantage of the GTX970 but don't want to spend too much on a monitor (preferably <$250).

Click to expand...

Fair deal
 
There are some people that buy monitors way too expensive(high in res) for them and have a schiit graphics card and don't know why it won't game well.
 
If you want to game 'well' on it. Don't buy a monitor at a res you can't handle. 

bowei006 said:

Fair deal

There are some people that buy monitors way too expensive(high in res) for them and have a schiit graphics card and don't know why it won't game well.

If you want to game 'well' on it. Don't buy a monitor at a res you can't handle. 

Click to expand...

If you don't want to be disappointed, don't buy a monitor. Use your imagination.

donutdeflector said:

If you don't want to be disappointed, don't buy a monitor. Use your imagination.

Click to expand...

Plug the DVI's analog output into brain and no need for imagination
 
Ful realz graphix
 
NERVGEAR! 

bowei006 said:

  Fair deal
 
There are some people that buy monitors way too expensive(high in res) for them and have a schiit graphics card and don't know why it won't game well.
 
If you want to game 'well' on it. Don't buy a monitor at a res you can't handle. 

Click to expand...

 
I wonder though why 2560x1080 (23:9) monitor is not really popular, IMO it gives a more immersive gaming experience than 16:9.

62ohm said:

   
I wonder though why 2560x1080 (23:9) monitor is not really popular, IMO it gives a more immersive gaming experience than 16:9.

Click to expand...

Because general media and almost everything else looks like crap.
 
I don't want to go into the history of it. But 16:9 won a war of ratios of sorts and as most media supports or will adapts to it, it goes that route.
 
A 23:9 monitor will be bad for most media with a LOT of black bars if you don't want the media to stretch. 
 
 
Most websites even today are not friendly to widescreen screens. Hell, most websites today on a 1080p monitor have a bit of white space to the left and right of the centered page.

bowei006 said:

  Because general media and almost everything else looks like crap.
 
I don't want to go into the history of it. But 16:9 won a war of ratios of sorts and as most media supports or will adapts to it, it goes that route.
 
A 23:9 monitor will be bad for most media with a LOT of black bars if you don't want the media to stretch. 
 
 
Most websites even today are not friendly to widescreen screens. Hell, most websites today on a 1080p monitor have a bit of white space to the left and right of the centered page.

Click to expand...

 I hate watching a "1080p" movie on a tv or my computer when it's really only 1920x800 because of the stupid wide screen ratio.  I agree, most websites look better on 4:3 monitors as there's not a bunch of background doing nothing.