Friend needs help with new PC (U.K.)

[Xyanide]

So I've got a friend who wants to build a brand new pc, and his budget is 500-600£... please halp! Its a gaming PC, btw.

[Lektrik]

What games is he looking to play?
Does he need an OS?
Monitor?
Need more info

[Xyanide]

I don't really know what he wants to play, other than Tera, and yes he needs an OS, but no monitor

[Lektrik]

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zjvYRB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zjvYRB/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£78.79 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI B85-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£48.61 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£65.90 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card (£173.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£44.39 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.36 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£13.40 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.46 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £576.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 02:01 BST+0100

There's really not enough money in his budget to get an i5, so unless he really needs to buy now I would save up more money or go with an AMD build.

[Xyanide]

Will that motherboard fit inside that tower?

[Lektrik]

Yes, it's an ATX board.

[Deleted]

Slightly above the £600 but well worth the extra cost for the CPU upgrade:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£61.08 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£61.60 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Dual-X Video Card (£125.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.36 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.05 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.46 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £612.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 10:37 BST+0100

You can get a Win8.1 64bit key for $15 here.
You can verify that key with Microsoft tool
Downloaded the image and mount it with their USB tool

(I need to mention it because someone else probably will, it's likely an MSDN key and could in theory be deactivated. i've bought from them myself with no issues)

If you must push the budget lower then I suggest the following, better GPU, weaker CPU for overall tasks but for gaming it's really good bang for your money, this assumes he is willing to overclock it (which is really easy):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor (£43.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£22.63 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£61.08 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£61.60 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£182.79 @ Ebuyer)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.36 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.05 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.46 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £571.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 10:40 BST+0100

[Deleted]

Either of Notarget's builds are beautiful, although I'd be slightly wary of the PSU in the latter build (EVGA are good at PSU builds, but IMO 500W doesn't leave much room). BTW, you included an OS in the first build, which takes it over budget - if you can get the cheap OS, then try and push for a 280X in the first build.