Budget gaming PC build under $900 + monitor: Thoughts?

A buddy of mine reached out asking for some advice on a gaming rig within a budget of $2000. He’s looking for something that can handle HD movies, League of Legends, Minecraft, Call of Duty 2, and maybe a few other lighter titles. In my opinion, a GTX 650 should be more than enough for that kind of workload. He also wants something with decent upgrade potential—ideally, he could swap in a beefier processor, a better GPU, or more RAM in two or three years...
I’ve been browsing through a few different deals, and this one caught my eye:
What are your thoughts on this setup? If it isn't quite right, please feel free to suggest something else...

To round out the budget, he’ll need a solid Full HD monitor that the graphics card can actually make use of, since his current one is pretty terrible. Something around 20 inches would probably be ideal...
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

1 x AOC I2269VWM, IPS monitor 21.5" Wide, WLED, 1920x1080@60 Hz
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon II X4 750, 3.40GHz 4 cores
1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2, FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 7200 RPM
1 x Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black, SATA
1 x Thermaltake Contac 21, 775, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, 1155, 1156
1 x XFX Core edition 80 450W PSU - EasyRail technology
1 x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427.5(H) x 364(D)mm

$1404 Free assembly and shipping from Micro Center if needed

Basically, those games are incredibly low-spec by today's standards. Even a much cheaper PC could handle them easily, so there is absolutely no reason to drop $600 on that (unless they want to play modern AAA titles or next-gen games). This build listed above is a very solid value—especially regarding the CPU and GPU—and even allows for some overclocking if desired. They should definitely opt for a monitor with an IPS or PLS panel; you can find them even for under $333 (like this one)

BTW, people at Micro Center have the 750K$163 😁

If there's an external Hard Drive available, I guess I’d ditch this 1TB one and swap in a 250GB SSD instead.😁

AOC I2269VWM, 21.5" IPS Monitor
Kingston, 1x4GB DDRIII 1600
ASUS Prime Motherboard, S.FM2+
Seagate Desktop Hard Drive 3.5" / 1TB
Intel Core i5
Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler
MS DRAGON gaming case
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
CORSAIR Series CX 80+ 430W

Price:$1390 24% discount
Free assembly included

or

AOC I2269VWM, 21.5" IPS Monitor
Patriot Sig., D3, 1333MHz, 8GB
ASUS Prime Motherboard, AM3
Kingston SME32-120GB, 2.5" SATA3 SSD
Western Digital HDD 3.5", 1TB
Intel Core i7
Cooler Master cooler
MS DRAGON gaming case
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
EVGA Pro 80+ 450W PSU

$1997

or with a more powerful processor and a hybrid drive...

AOC I2269VWM, 21.5" IPS Monitor
Patriot Sig., D3, 1333MHz, 8GB
ASUS Prime Motherboard
Western Digital HDD 3.5" / 1TB
Intel Core i9
Cooler Master cooler
MS DRAGON gaming case
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
EVGA Pro 80+ 450W PSU

Total Price:$2031

With that first setup, you’ll be able to run all those games mentioned without any issues. These two higher-end builds are just alternatives if you want to future-proof things so there's no need for upgrades later...😉

ironridge352

Look, your buddy’s got a solid budget here—he can actually grab some really beefy components right out of the gate—so if I were him, this is exactly what I'd go for:

Intel Core i9
Cooler Master
ASUS Prime Motherboard
Kingston 8GB 1600 MHZ
Western Digital HDD 1TB SATA 3
GTX 1050 Ti
LG GH24NS95 SATA
FSP RAIDER 550W 80+ SILVER
SHARKOON VS3-V USB 3.0 ATX MIDI

Dell Monitor 23" IPS HD

= $1990 including assembly and shipping.

Basically, he’s getting a CPU strong enough to last him a long time—meaning he won't need to swap it out anytime soon—and it gives him room for one or two more upgrades to a better graphics card later on, which really extends the "life" of the whole rig.

The motherboard has everything he needs, plus USB 3.0 and SATA 3, and it's a proven quality board (it doesn't overvolt, the phase regulation is solid, etc.—definitely better than those cheap boards you see sometimes)—with the recommended cooler, he could even try a light overclock up to 4.2 GHz or just stick with turbo boost, but check the specs for the full details.

I included a Hard Drive that’s basically a hybrid between an SSD and a traditional drive, which is perfect since he gets plenty of storage space while still getting a noticeable speed boost over a standard hard drive (faster boots, quicker file transfers, loading times... you know the drill).

Personally, I don't think he should pass on the Dell at this price point, though it might be smarter to look for a slightly larger monitor rather than going small—20" is pretty much the limit, and honestly, the good stuff usually starts around 22" anyway.

Since you didn't mention any super demanding AAA games, I made sure the build includes a high-quality power supply—just in case he decides to aim for a high-end GPU down the road—and it’s a smart choice for this kind of setup given the warranty, features, and efficiency; it'll run smoother without working too hard.

For now, I put in the GTX 1050 Ti, which is totally fine for playing most newer and older games comfortably on high/ultra settings at HD resolution, provided he doesn't go overboard with the extra detail and filtering (maybe 2-4x).

Thanks to everyone for all the input 😍
I shared the thread with him so he could weigh all your builds against each other, and he's decided to go with yours, graniteharbor85

ironridge352 said:Thanks for the input, everyone. 😍
I showed him the thread so he could check out everyone's builds, and he decided to go with yours, graniteharbor85.

1 x Dell Monitor 23", IPS panel, 1920x1080 HD resolution.
ASUS Prime Motherboard, AM3, AM3+, Intel 970 chipset, SB950, 5200 MHz BUS, DDR3
1 x Intel Core i9 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W
Two 4GB sticks of Kingston DDR3, 1600MHz, CL11, Value RAM.
One NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm.
One Zalman Z1 mid tower case. Standard motherboard size. It’s about 8 by 17 by 18 inches.
1 x Seagate Drive DVD burner, SATA, Black.
One 1TB Western Digital Hard Drive, SATA III, 7200 rpm, with an 8GB SSD cache.
1 x Cooler Master CPU cooler. 120mm fan, spins at 1000rpm.
EVGA TS Series 550W PSU

$2011

Same build, just different motherboard and PSU. The board is a bit better than that ASUS Prime Motherboard for overclocking, and the power supply comes with a solid 5-year warranty.

graniteharbor85 laid it all out pretty well, but honestly, this build's performance feels a bit behind dustyskipper77's third rig $2031. I guess the case and monitor aren't quite as nice, but the motherboard and GPU are definitely two tiers above, which is probably what matters most.

Honestly, if you're pairing an Intel Core i9 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, you really shouldn't settle for just that EVGA 450W unit. You could probably push it to 400W without much trouble, but since this specific model only delivers 408W on the 12V rail, things are going to get pretty stressed under a full load. I’m honestly not sure how long it would hold up running at those levels...

Quote: The New Guy

crimsonstag84 said:Mclovin He explained everything perfectly, but let's be real—in terms of actual performance, that conference setup just can't touch the competition. GoogleThose third conferences...$2031The case and monitor are kind of budget, but the motherboard and GPU are top-tier. That’s what actually matters.

I agree, but for what? $33 Already blew my budget just on the parts, and now I still gotta pay for shipping from Walmart. $33 What is it? $67 Before you even look at the budget... I think upgrading a GPU is always easier than swapping out a CPU or a motherboard. 😉
Quote: The New Guy

Timothy Kim60 said:Honestly, with an 8320 and an R9 280, I’d probably grab a beefier XFX 450 power supply. That setup could easily pull 400W under full load. This one only puts out 408W on the 12V rail—it'd be pushing it. Not sure how long it would actually hold up like that.

Same here. I’d go with a beefier power supply just to make sure I'm not redlining it.