[IrishMetalhead]

Got a client asking me to build him a desktop for his daughter for playing the Sims 3 with all the expansion packs plus some user content & mods at 1080p aswell as casually using photoshop, web browsing and general media use.
He gave me a budget of €650 over all not including a copy of windows but wants me to go as cheap as possible with out overkilling it which leaves me a tad bit stomped as I wouldn't know what would be overkill or not.
I know for a fact that Sims 3 is more demmanding on the CPU rather than GPU so maybe a sandy-bridge i5 + HD 6750. Heres one what I reckon be perfect without over doing it:

Total build cost: €583.50 + €30 shipping
ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX €54.89
8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9 €36.86
Sapphire Radeon HD 6750, 1GB DDR3 €75.15
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA €16.13
Seagate Barracuda 7200 320GB SATA 6GB's €72.00
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB, SATA II (HD502HJ) €75.00
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Core 1000 black €32.20
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W €40.95
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 - Pro PWM Rev.2 €14.98
Intel Core i5-2400 Box, LGA1155 €165.34

The case is a definite as they both like plus she wants it to be in a small factor plus they like they styling on it. I also had add a cpu cooler cause they want it fairly quiet and the freezer 7 is alot quieter then the stock cooler. Chose the asrock mobo aswell cause she needed usb3 for her external hdd and that was the cheapest I can find that has it.
Anyways I just wanted to see what you guys think also would it be worth it to upgrade the GPU to a 6670 or 550ti? or will the Sims not even use the graphics power? Just give me any input you guys might have

[deconduo]

No need for the cooler, the i5-2400 can't be overclocked. Also why two hard drives?

€50 under budget:

Item	Price
Total build cost: €547.92 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i5-2400 Box, LGA1155	€165.34
ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX	€54.89
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9	€32.63
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB, SATA II (HD502HJ)	€75.00
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Core 1000 black	€32.20
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W	€40.95
Powercolor HD6870 1024MB Dual-DVI/HD1M2I5	€146.91

[IrishMetalhead]

added the cooler cause it's noticeably more quiet then the stock cooler plus the 2 hdds was purely an accident also would a 6870 be overkill since the sims is the only game she's going to be running? if not then fantastic that's a great build but still need a cpu cooler quieter then the stock one

[deconduo]

Originally Posted by IrishMetalhead

added the cooler cause it's noticeably more quiet then the stock cooler plus the 2 hdds was purely an accident also would a 6870 be overkill since the sims is the only game she's going to be running? if not then fantastic that's a great build but still need a cpu cooler quieter then the stock one

If the game is modded in can get quite GPU intensive, so the 6870 isn't overkill at all. The intel stock cooler is pretty quiet, but its up to you.

[cherryghost]

Those damn Sims 3 mods slow down my laptop so yeah

[Serephucus]

I'd go with your original build, subbing in a 6870 (and getting rid of that extra hard drive. ) Should be good to go then.