[GerbilSoft]

I'm going to make a trip to Micro Center sometime in the next month in order to build a new PC for my sister. I need some suggestions for parts to get.

Basic specifications:

• Intel Core i5-4xxx (Haswell)
  
• 2x 4GB DDR3 SDRAM
  
• 120 / 128 GB SSD (boot drive)
  
• 1 TB HDD (5400 or 7200 rpm; not sure)
  
• DVD±RW
  
• Maybe a BD-ROM or BD-RE, dunno.
  
• 802.11n+ WLAN (either onboard or as a PCIe card)

Motherboard requirements:

• At least 4x RAM slots.
  
• At least 1x PCIe x16 and 2x PCIe x1 slots.
  
• At least 4x SATA ports.
  
• Must have VGA and DisplayPort; HDMI is optional.
  
• Gigabit Ethernet
  
• M.2 slot would be nice for the SSD. Otherwise, I'll get a 2.5" SSD instead.

Broadwell might work too, but I'm not sure of cost/availability.

Regarding the GPU: We're probably going to go with the on-chip GPU at first, with a video card upgrade later if necessary.

Any recommendations for other parts and/or adjustments for this list?

This post has been edited by GerbilSoft: 10 June 2015 - 09:47 AM
Reason for edit: Minor adjustments.

[Overlord]

Interested as to why VGA is a requirement when DisplayPort is on there. You're going to find DVI + DisplayPort a lot easier than you will VGA + DisplayPort, I think.

[winterhell]

Go with the cheapest/slowest RAM you can find. You wont notice a difference between 5400 and 7200rpm HDD either especially since you are having an SSD.
Do you really need DVD±RW? I havent had/used a disc drive for 5 years now, and know many people like me.
And do you really really really need a blu ray reader? Do you buy movies on BD and expect to watch them on the PC?

Any Core i5 is fine.

[Tets]

I don't know if there really are any affordable M.2 SSDs out there right now. Regardless, Samsung seems to have a pretty good reputation among SSD users. I can't say I disagree, I own an 840 EVO 250GB and have been nothing but pleased with it (except I wish I had got a 500GB one instead, but whatever). On a good day I can restart my system for updates and be back online within a minute, I've timed it. Windows 7's boot animation doesn't even finish one cycle before the login screen appears.

As for the motherboard, I have yet to go wrong with ASUS. At a cursory glance, the Z97-A has VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort on the rear panel, as well as an M.2 port. My current system runs on the somewhat less expensive Z97-E, which doesn't have onboard HDMI or DisplayPort but does still have M.2. If you did plan on buying a discrete graphics card in the end, you could possibly get away with using the onboard VGA simultaneously with the card's DisplayPort and save a little on the motherboard, but I've never done this myself so I'm not 100% sure (and it's a $30 difference at best anyway).