CPu recommendations (your favorite thing)

[Johanthegnarler]

I'm hooking up a good friend of mine at work.. he asked me to build him a computer and usually i don't like to do this for people.. but he begged ^^.

He wants a new computer for him and his wife only , no kids..

Out of what i gathered they seem to be using it for general purposes.. I know his wife likes to throw millions of digital photos on their computer and i'm sure she enjoys photoshoping them up.. they'll be doing a lot of DVD burning and if he's spending money on it i'd like to get him into playing a game or two here and there. As well as video's he wants nice sound as well..

Knowing i'd like to keep his budget near 1200 for the tower to a little lower.. i was considering just using san diego 3700+

I'd like some feedback if you feel this would be great for him.. or if you think i should consider an X2. I'd like reasonably fast load times and no stuttering for their multimedia. Keep in mind they are going from a 500mhz p3..

 

[Johanthegnarler]

Thinking epox single pci exrpess board with s ata II support even though i guess that really doesn't matter...

Some ok ram.. no ocing is needed here.. so i'd like to find ok ram timings.. and of course 1 gig. I'm having troubles finding ram compatibility charts for motherboards..

7800gt evga Nvidia card.

antec truepower 2 550W PSU, due to my latest problems and issues i will no longer trust Fortron or Enermax.

Western Digital Sata II HD 250 gm w/ 16mb cache..

Lite On DVD/CD burner 2mb cache..

 

[I-am-crazy]

why a 7800gt? if he only plays a game or 2, won't a 6600gt be enouf then? this will safe them 200$...


about your ram, just use kingstons: KINGSTON 512MB PC3200 Valueram 45€ (here en europe) but take 2 of them and take the advantage of dual channel!

as a mobo, just take the a8n sli, and for good sound, use the CREATIVE Sound Blaster X-FI Music which you easily can buy with your money you saved up from the 3d-card

 

[borandi]

3700+ would be a better choice if you're on a budget.
tell us what other components you have in mind and it will be easier to tell exactly what you need.
for stuff like multimedia and photoshop an X2 wouldnt hurt at all. probably either X2 3800+ or something from 3200+ to 3700+

Agreed. Single Core I think would be fine - unless the budget allows for an X2.

 

[pat]

why a 7800gt? if he only plays a game or 2, won't a 6600gt be enouf then? this will safe them 200$...

If he has the money for a 7800GT, it's gonna be a much better choice, then the old, pretty much useless 6600GT. He's gonna be much happier with the 7800.

That's quite useless comment.. How can someone would be happy having a top of line gaming card sitting there displaying 2D pictures...

The 6600gt or the x1600xt, coupled with a dual core CPU will do much better at photoshop. The 3800+ or the 4200+ should do great.

For OP, for a motherboard.. Get something with passive chipset cooling. You don't want an Asus board with the fan stop running in 6 month. And you don't want to have the wife to complain at how loud is this thing..

I like Samsung HDD. I have a nice SATA2, 250 gigs that it's quiet and very fast.

As for the burner.. well, I like the BenQ1640, but I guess the Lite-on shoud do good.

So, I would get her (remember, you have to do it for the wife.. she'll be the one that will complain about everything..)

X2 3800+ or 4200+
Asus A8R-MVP
Normally priced ram..no need for extreme. Simple generic or corsair value should do great
Samsung 250 gigs HDD SATA
BenQ or liteon burner..
The Asus board has hi-def sound onboard .. will do good for sure.