Also if you already have a PC, could you tell us the specs? Some things like the HDD and RAM could be moved to the new PC if you're that strapped for cash.  

It's an HP computer the specs are found here: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/hp-...-34121955.html  

A friend made this build for me. The extra money seems like it's worth the extra $100. What do you guys think?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($99.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($105.38 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($66.30 @ Newegg)
Total: $534.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-31 00:13 EST-0500)  

It's fine, but it doesn't seem like that big of a step up from the $450 build fp4 posted, aside from the CPU and motherboard; not sure if it's worth the extra $100 for you if you've got a tight budget. If you can reuse parts from your old PC such as your HDD and RAM, that would give you another $75~ to work with. I don't see a problem with the original Reddit build besides tweaking the money spent on the HDD and putting it elsewhere. Also, the site you posted doesn't provide specs (either that, or I'm not seeing them).  

It's on the right. Here are the full specs: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/hp-...-34121955.html  

Okay, guess I couldn't see it on mobile. Anyway, you can take out the 4GB RAM from it and buy another 4GB and you should be set on your memory, and you can also use the HDD from the computer so that should save you about $70 you can put towards your GPU or whatever you wish.  

I'll use the HDD, but I don't know if mixing 2 different RAM sticks is a good idea  

Posted by Andy

I'll use the HDD, but I don't know if mixing 2 different RAM sticks is a good idea

I think as long as you put them in the correct order of speed you'll be fine.

Either way, the point is RAM is cheap and is the easiest thing to upgrade in a PC. If you can cope with the 4GB you have from your current PC until you save money to upgrade you can start building a decent build now. On the other hand HDD swapping is a bit of a pain because data transfer and formatting.

Also, I'm not entirely sure what the benefits are for pumping out $100 for a motherboard over the ~$50 ones from the other builds.  

If you're going to re-use your HDD and DVD drive:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($123.41 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG Gaming Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($215.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $527.28
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-01 12:05 EST-0500)  

^^^