Budget PC build under $700?

Hey there,

So, I’m looking to put together a full PC build by $1500. I'll need everything—monitor, case, and hard drive included. I'm planning on picking it up from Best Buy or maybe Micro Center using an installment plan, if that makes any difference...

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What else would you use it for besides the basics? If it’s mostly for gaming, I’d probably go with a Core i3 + RX 580 combo from Best Buy, otherwise maybe a Ryzen 3 1200 + GTX 1050 Ti paired with a larger SSD.

This build is mostly intended for gaming. What should I look at regarding cooling? Is it actually worth splurging on a liquid cooler, or am I better off just sticking with a standard air cooler with dual fans? Or how does that even work... also, is 8 GB of RAM enough these days?
My son is picking out a new rig right now, so he's doing his due diligence by asking around everywhere.

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From Best Buy:

It’s an 8GB stick of Transcend JetRam DDR4 memory, clocked at 2400MHz. I guess it's just standard PC-19200 stuff.
It’s a 460W unit—an LC POWER Silent Giant GREEN POWER LC6460GP3 V2.3, featuring a 140mm fan.
This is an ASUS H110M-DGS R3 motherboard featuring an Intel Core socket. It’s an mATX board with DDR4 support, USB 3.0, DVI-D, and SATA 3. It also comes equipped with standard G-LAN, PCI-E, and integrated audio.
It looks like an Intel Pentium G4560 box, which is a dual Core setup running at 3.5GHz with a 3MB cache and integrated graphics on the 1151 socket. I guess it's a pretty basic little chip, maybe?
The PCI-E XFX AMD Radeon RX 580 GTS xxx ED features 4GB of DDR5 and comes equipped with HDMI, DVI, and DP ports.

$1431

+ SSD:

Maybe consider an Apacer AS330 Panther Series 120GB SSD. It’s a 2.5" SATA3 drive with speeds up to 495/385 MB/s, and you can find the retail version easily.

$1580

You don't really need any extra cooling; the stock cooler that comes with the processor should be plenty. And honestly, 8GB is more than enough—especially when you're working with this kind of budget and have to put that money toward the RAM. $233.

crimsonstag84 said:From Best Buy:

It’s an 8GB stick of Transcend JetRam DDR4 memory, clocked at 2400MHz. I guess it's just standard PC-19200 stuff.
It’s a 460W unit—an LC POWER Silent Giant GREEN POWER LC6460GP3 V2.3, featuring a 140mm fan.
This is an ASUS H110M-DGS R3 motherboard featuring an Intel Core socket. It’s an mATX board with DDR4 support, USB 3.0, DVI-D, and SATA 3. It also comes equipped with standard G-LAN, PCI-E, and integrated audio.
It looks like an Intel Pentium G4560 box, which is a dual Core setup running at 3.5GHz with a 3MB cache and integrated graphics on the 1151 socket. I guess it's a pretty basic little chip, maybe?
The PCI-E XFX AMD Radeon RX 580 GTS xxx ED features 4GB of DDR5 and comes equipped with HDMI, DVI, and DP ports.

$1431

+ SSD:

Maybe consider an Apacer AS330 Panther Series 120GB SSD. It’s a 2.5" SATA3 drive with speeds up to 495/385 MB/s, and you can find the retail version easily.

$1580

You don't really need any extra cooling; the stock cooler that comes with the processor should be plenty. And honestly, 8GB is more than enough—especially when you're working with this kind of budget and have to put that money toward the RAM. $233.

Thanks a lot for the help!