Background: I'm building a computer for my brother. He's big into music and that's about it. He gets his gaming off the Wii. Anything he might do, other than music playback, is going to be something a 386 could handle. Stuff you won't see listed: Case, PSU, mouse, keyboard, monitor, thermal compound, DVD drive, sound card. These have been taken care of. Price: He probably doesn't want to spend more than $600 on this. I want to make it future proof, and I'm willing to back down on things that he doesn't need (high end video cards, etc). If you know of better deals or if you think there is a model for the same price but more powerful let me know. Keep in mind that this is just a rough list of two builds and he may not buy for a month or two so combo deals may not apply. i7 Build: CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail GPU: BFG Tech BFGEGTX2801024E GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail HDD x2: Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - One of my friends found a 1TB for $89 but I want at least two drives so he can store all his crap on one and have his OS on the other. I may upgrade them both to 1TB if he wants to do that. Who knows. RAM: OCZ 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3X1333LV3GK - Retail Price: $1,000. QCore build: CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail Motherboard: ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail GPU: PNY VCGGTX260XPB GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail HDD x2: Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - See above (i7) for explanation. RAM: OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N10662GK - Retail Price: $600.
A GTX260 for a non-gamer? Wholly unnecessary. OCZ memory is also pretty poor. Here's a more suitable build. Also, you say the PSU has been taken care of, what did you actually buy? There are a lot of terrible (and dangerous) power supplies out there. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161262
I threw the GTX series on there just to show him what the prices looked like for those models. I was likely going to reduce them. Guess I should have mentioned that. Anyway, the PSU is from a computer that was built by another of my brother's friends recently. The guy is known for going overboard so I'm sure it's fine. I'll inspect it and if it's low on the amps or doesn't have enough connectors then I'll upgrade but I see no reason in worrying until I can see what he has. Besides, PSUs aren't difficult to pick out. It's a matter of having the necessary power to run all of your equipment.
It doesn't matter how many watts it says it is, there are a lot of bad PSUs out there, a LOT. I strongly suggest you find out what brand it is.
