Honestly, I’d lean toward the AMD build if you're looking at the long game—unless you're planning to jump straight to an i5 upgrade super soon. Plus, you get that better GTX 950 and a bit more breathing room in the case if you want to swap in a beefier GPU later on.
FX 6300 LC CC 94 GIGABYTE 78LMT-S2 AM3+ KINGSTON HYPER X RED 8GB 1866 MHZ EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB DDR5 EVGA 500 W1 MONSTER MIDI ATX RED USB 3.0 ACRYLIC
If you want this sorted out ASAP, I’d say just head straight to the importer to file a claim. Since we're talking about an Asus product, it's most likely MSN handling their stuff.
Besides those ideas you mentioned, you could really use an aftermarket CPU cooler if you don't have one already—the 2500K is such a dream for overclocking, and honestly, a cheap LC CC 120 would be plenty to hit that +4GHz mark.
Honestly, it doesn't matter much if you wait for sales at online retailers—they don't have much room to move since their base prices are already pretty low. Plus, with the dollar being so strong lately, and given that our local US suppliers tie their component pricing directly to it... yeah, just grab what you need sooner rather than later. Especially if you aren't doing anything crazy intensive with the rig.
G1820 GIGABYTE H81M S2V CRUCIAL 4GB 1600 MHZ PATRIOT 120GB SSD BLAST LG DVD-RW SATA AKYGA BASIC 400W NAVIATEC NVT 603 MATX BENQ GW2255 VA LED 1080p TIP + MIS
It’s honestly no shocker that they sold out instantly—people went absolutely nuts the second they dropped and wiped out the stock. It’s not even a big deal if you can find decent alternatives, though—for instance, saying the NVIDIA RTX 4090 & Claw are basically just a carbon copy of the Corsair Airflow Series inside.
If you're looking at Intel NVIDIA, that's probably your best bet—especially if you aren't planning on overclocking or dealing with those beefy coolers most AMD chips require. Plus, you’ll have a much better selection of high-end CPUs to choose from later if you decide to upgrade.
i3 4170 GIGABYTE H81M S2V KINGSTON 8GB 1600 MHZ TOSHIBA 3.5" 1TB SATA 3 GIGABYTE GTX 950 2GB WF FORTRON HEXA+ 400W 80+ ACTIVE MS VOYAGER MIDI ATX
If you don't actually need an OS, here’s another way to go:
Pentium G3260 GIGABYTE H81M S2V KINGSTON 8GB 1600 MHZ PATRIOT BLAST 240 GB SSD LG GH24NS XILENCE R7 400W Voyager MIDI ATX BENQ GW2255 VA LED 1080p GENIUS 2.0 SP HF-160 GENIUS DX-150 + SL. LUCIDIS
= $1233 - shipping and assembly included.
Honestly, just forget about the All-in-One PC idea—it's not worth it. You're better off grabbing a laptop, especially since you can find decent deals online right now with extended warranties up to 5 years if you look hard enough. Either way, your best bet is building a custom desktop from parts... most reputable US online retailers will even throw in free assembly anyway.
If you're just starting to think about picking up a new PC for Christmas, my advice is to wait until maybe a week or two before the holiday hits. Trust me—prices and what's actually in stock are definitely going to shift around by then.
The i3 isn't actually a bad call if you just want things to run smoothly without any headaches—plus, you get a socket that gives you plenty of room to upgrade to a beefier processor down the road. When you say "design programs," I'm assuming you mean stuff like AutoCAD or similar?
Intel i3 4170 ASUS H81M-S2V CRUCIAL 4GB 1600 MHZ PATRIOT BLAST 120GB SSD FORTRON HEXA+ 400W 80+ ACTIVE
= $758.
- Honestly, I'd prioritize a faster SSD first—it makes a huge difference—and then you can always just slap in a 500GB or 1TB hard drive later on for extra storage.
Unfortunately, this build is totally unbalanced and just way too weak for what you're trying to do with your budget. What's the actual goal here—are you looking for a monitor, or are you hunting for some other kind of peripheral?
Probably for gaming. An 860K just isn't going to cut it if you want to push an R9 380, but then again, a 260X is way too weak for this kind of budget. You really need to aim for a solid balance—something like this setup here.
AMD FX-Series X8 8300 3.3 LC CC 94 GIGABYTE 970A-DS3P KINGSTON 8GB 1600 MHZ Seagate ST1000DM010 3.5" 1TB SATA 3 GIGABYTE GTX 950 2GB WF DDR5 HEXA plus 400W 80+ ACTIVE MS VOYAGER MIDI ATX + 120 MM FAN