Budget PC build under $850

Hey everyone 🙂 You guys built me a rig recently that I’m still stoked about, so now I’m back to help a buddy who needs his own setup.

He mostly uses his PC for gaming, some word processing, and an audio editing app.

He doesn't need an SSD; a standard hard drive is fine. If there isn't a massive price jump between a 320GB, 500GB, or 1TB drive, then just give him as much space as possible.

Budget should stay under $1833 and he’ll be paying via American Express on a 24-month installment plan.

Things have shifted a bit. My buddy decided he’s sticking with cash after all. The $5,500 limit is still the same, and everything else stays put—except now he wants to throw in a DVD burner too.

It’s impossible to find an American build at a 24-month installment plan unless you're looking at high-interest credit

1 x Intel Core i5-6402P (2.8GHz, 6MB, LGA1151) box
1 x Asrock LGA1151 H110M-DGS
1 x Crucial DRAM 8GB DDR4 2133 MT/s (PC4-17000) CL15 SR
1 x HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm, High-Performance
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212, USB3.0 black, 3x120mm
1 x XFX 450W PSU Pro Series CoreEdition 80
1 x XFX Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 4GB/256bit, 1266MHz/7000MHz, PCI-E 3.0 x16, HDMI, DVI, 3xDP, DD 2X cooler (Double Slot), Backplate, Walmart

Total: $1828

It's a future-proof option

Alternatively, just wait until the Newegg inventory refreshes. For this kind of money, they usually have the version with 8GB of VRAM, and the Intel Core i5-6400 is actually slightly cheaper there anyway.$33

Yeah, that’s exactly why he bailed on the Amex.

You forgot to include a DVD burner in that Conrad build, and he's dead set on having one. If you could tweak the setup to make room for a CD/DVD drive, that would be great.

Temperatures are sitting right around 120-$43 with this GPU (-$87)

Got the gear from Conrad and everything, but there’s a snag—my buddy didn't realize his monitor only has a VGA port. Anyone have a solid recommendation for a VGA to DVI-D or HDMI adapter?

Ugh, there aren't any adapters for that... you'll need a converter, and those things can be a total rip-off ☕

EDIT: something like this, just double-check the male/female ends so you don't end up with the wrong combo.

Yeah, I know, I checked the prices, but honestly, it’s still gonna be cheaper than him just buying a whole new monitor. He actually picked up a new screen pretty recently too, and it totally blew my mind that most new monitors don't even come with DVI or HDMI anymore—just one lonely VGA port. 😵

Also, is there any real difference between an HDMI converter and a DVI one? Would an HDMI setup perform any better, or does it not matter since the signal is coming from VGA anyway?

It doesn't matter; at the end of the day, all that counts is that it's a converter.

Surely it makes more sense for him to just sell the old monitor and upgrade to a new one rather than clinging to the old hardware and buying an adapter. After all, he wouldn't be spending much more, and he’d actually end up with a superior display.

http://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dell+monitor

Honestly, this isn't a unique situation. I see it happening on forums all the time now—people complaining that their monitor only has a VGA port, while modern GPUs only output digital signals. Using an adapter in those cases is basically throwing money away.

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but don't bother buying converters at local shops—they're an absolute rip-off.
I just grabbed this one on eBay: http://m.ebay.com/itm/1080P-DVI-D-24...%257Ciid%253A4
It was only five bucks, arrived in about two and a half weeks, and works perfectly.

It’s a bit late to the party, but this is still some solid info 👍