I'm helping my brother build himself a gaming computer. We're using my own rig as a "blueprint." Here's what we're thinking so far:

His needs: He plays a lot of indie games, and not quite as many AAA games. He mostly wants a computer that will run any game he throws at it, not necessarily maxed out, but well. He would like to output to a small TV (not sure exactly what resolution would be appropriate for that, so I'm not sure how powerful the GPU needs to be).

Budget: $900 (haven't added up the prices of the components listed. This is a very rough start)

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131546

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145346


We still need a CD/DVD drive, a hardrive, and a motherboard, and we're open to suggestions about what might be good. We're also open to advice and suggestions about any of this, since neither of us are very experienced building computers. My plan (as I did with my own computer) would be to skimp on the CPU and motherboard in favor of the GPU and power supply, if needbe.

So... suggestions?

That's a good deal on a very good GPU. The 7870 "GHz" models are the best value in the current market. I just got a 7870 XT, or I would have jumped at the one you linked.

A "small" modern TV usually means 720p, so you need to be able to do 1366x768. That's not a heavy load for any of the better modern GPUs. 1920x1080 is more than twice the pixels but still no problem for a 7870.

For an inexpensive case, that one is suitable. I prefer the Corsair Carbide 200R: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018 which allows you to route cables behind the motherboard panel.

The power supply is a good one (it's a Seasonic S12II with XFX paint) and good value.

Core i3's are OK, but that model is an old one. It's not good value. I'll give you an Intel alternative and an AMD alternative, with matching motherboards:

Core i3 4130 (Haswell 3.4 GHz) $130 less $10 in their current promotion, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116946

Gigabyte GA-X87X-D3H (LGA 1150, 2 PCI-Express 3.0) $130, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128591

AMD alternative:

A8-5600K (Socket FM2, 3.6-3.9 GHz) $100, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113281

ASUS A88X Pro (Socket FM2/FM2+, 2 PCI-Express 3.0) $124, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132056

As an upgrade path from either of those:

You can get a better Haswell (Core i5 or Core i7), but future generations of Intel processors will not be compatible.

AMD's Socket FM2+ also supports the new "Kaveri" APUs. It's not yet clear that "Kaveri" is much of an improvement.

DVD burners and (to a lesser extent) hard drives are "jellybean" parts. They're not expensive, they don't last forever, it's hard to go too far wrong by getting inexpensive ones.

LG UH21NS30 (Blu-Ray reader + DVD burner) $50, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136268

ASUS DRW-24B1ST (DVD burner - no Blu-Ray) $20, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 (2TB) $88, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834

Seagate Hybrid ST2000DX001 (2TB + 8GB flash) $130, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178380

Hybrid drives are a Seagate exclusive, and they are a big performance win, since the hard drive is the slowest component in your system.

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285
(Easily OC 4.00 GHz without Turbo even needed)

CPUCLR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
(Never Stock HS+Fan)

THRMLPSTE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
(Never Stock Paste)

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
(+15% OFF: EMCPWHG29)

SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00ZD1548

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131546

DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
(+3$ OFF: EMCPWHG23)

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Total w/ Free Shipping: $907.41

Edit: I've built over 7 PC's for myself and others so I know at least a good bit what I am about to suggest =)

Edit2: I currently have the same Mobo, Case, and CPU + CPU HS+Fan. This is promised to work for you and perform exceptionally well for the price.

You can always upgrade to SLI or CROSSFIRE in the future with this setup, and you can throw in some cheap HDD storage down the road as well. The important thing is to get an SSD first and foremost as a boot drive.

Why would you even suggest an FM2 chip instead of the AM3+ FX chip? Those APU's are really for builds without dedicated GPU's.. It makes more sense to go the FX 8 core route and pair it with the dedicated gpu I mentioned... or any dedicated gpu for that matter...

It's also better to go SSD instead of Hybrid..

Ultimately I have to disagree with all of your suggestions (except your PSU and the DVD drives..) =/ No offense.. everyone has an opinion =)

Overall, nice. You didn't quote an HDD in that, but a 128GB SSD is going to fill up fast. I really detest using an SSD as the boot drive, I don't care how fast Windows boots; I care about how fast my applications get their data, and that means applications and data on the SSD, not Windows. I'd shoehorn an HDD in there somewhere, or go with a Seagate hybrid.

I'm not a fan of Socket AM3 setups. Intel CPUs at stock clock and competitive price will still beat overclocked AMDs, and I would never be recommending overclocking to a novice anyway. If you want to go high performance, go Core i5; if you want cheap, go AMD A-series.

Take a look at this information about HDD reliability http://blog.backblaze.com/2014/01/21/what-hard-drive-should-i-buy/?utm_reader=feedly

Why on earth would you ever suggest an APU when the on-die space can be used towards the extra computing power... APU's are not good choices if you are using a dedicated gpu, the FX is a better option. If he wasn't going to have a dedicated GPU then I would agree with you, otherwise I can't see what you mean by this...?

I honestly would go with a Core-i5 or i7 also, but the price is the limiting factor. Intel is just so damn expensive! D:

And yes the HDD isn't big, but going hybrid or non-SSD isn't as important or good a choice as squaring away a good boot drive.. And the SSD is supposed to be used for important apps, windows, and some priority games. Said person can always throw in a cheap TB HDD later.

And OCing the CPU on that board is a matter of changing 3 or 4 settings. I have the same board, it's great! :D

The overall architecture of Socket AM3+ motherboards is miserable. The Northbridge chips run too hot. The power circuits run too hot. Memory bandwidth is badly limited when you populate four slots. The FX-series processors are lousy value when compared to Intel.

Maybe the APU is a waste of die space, but what matters is how much compute power you are getting per dollar, not per wafer. A-series is competitive with Core i3 in that respect. Nothing from AMD is competitive with Core i5 or Core i7.

I still say an expensive boot drive is the biggest waste of money foisted off on naive builders since "gaming" motherboards. Disk bandwidth is for stuff you are working on, not for stuff you do maybe once a day.

OCing is not for a novice builder. Doesn't matter if you know how to do it simply. It's not in question.

I'd go for an
Intel Core i5 $200 i3 is just not enough IMO.
8GB of RAM. $ 80...brand of RAM not as important as the 8GB is.
250GB Samsung Pro SSD $200 with no additional hard drive. If this is a gaming PC, anything above 200GB of hard drive space is a bonus.
Asus motherboard $130
Corsair 600W power supply $70 with $20 rebate card
Corsair Carbide 200r $60 with $10 rebate
Your graphics card of choice $190...I'm more of an nvidia guy, but whatever.
No DVD Drive needed, but if you need one they are around $20 or so.

Comes to around $930 with $30 of rebates. You can run off onboard if you would like to spend some of that savings on a monitor, KB, Mouse and Windows 7 and eventually save up enough for the graphics board.

My current rig is similiar, with an Asus Gryphon instead of the motherboard listed, 16GB of RAM instead of the 8, and an i7 instead of the i5. I skimped on the graphics card for now, but next month I will be adding a GTX770. Wanted a nice monitor and I already had the KB, Mouse, and a copy of Windows 7. Also, have a bluray drive in my laptop, so just made a windows 7 USB key to install windows on the desktop. It seems to run all the games I want to play on pretty high specs. Currently have tried, Wasteland 2 at 1080p with high settings seems to run pretty well. Left 4 Dead 2 at high settings. Some older games, Civ4 of course run great on it.

Well I suppose I agree with some of your arguments.. however, I heard a lot about heat issues with the FX series and I have to be honest, I haven't experienced ANY heat-related issues at all.. Although, I have heard a lot of people who have.. I chalk it up to the motherboard, because I have the revision 4.0 of the mobo I linked, it has went through a lot of testing and revisions to get where it is now. The revision 4 boards have no NB heat issues nor any circuit heat issues.. if you look at the specs of the mobo you will understand =).

I agree with the memory bandwidth, since I only have 2 slots populated and when I benched my PC I didn't get near a "Core-i5/7" in memory performance, regardless of what memory standard I was going to use.. so yes, you are right there.

I disagree with you about the SSD.

Overall, I would spend the extra $$$ and buy an i5 or i7 and steer clear of the AMD APU.

IMO the FX chip is still a good value... I'm perfectly happy with mine..

Ah, I missed that and I disagree completely with cjrgreen. An SSD is a necessity in my mind. I won't be going back to a spinner. Not only for the 3x-4x the speed, but the less heat, less noise, and for laptops more shockproof and less power hungry.
If you think that speed increase is only useful during bootup and shutdown you are sorely mistaken.

For $900...

I'd drop about $300 into a graphics card (GTX 760 or Radeon R9).

Cheapest case you can get. ($50ish)

8GB of RAM (around $70)

An i5 ($150ish)

An HDD, NOT an SSD (Around $70)

A cheap-ish motherboard with decent reviews (around $100)

A good 600w power supply (around $100).

That totals $850 with some leeway for shipping and such. If it's a gaming rig, the video card will ALWAYS be the bottleneck, and therefore you should put as much money towards it as you can.

This isn't true.. it depends on many things other than just hardware.

I have SLI 660's and guess what? My CPU is my bottleneck.

And why would you suggest not getting an SSD?

Sigh.

At that price range, the video card will always be the bottleneck.

And because honestly, in terms of game performance an SSD isn't worth the money. Yes it makes things load faster and your computer boot faster, but if you want to "play most anything he throws at it," an SSD isn't worth the money.