Quad-core build for under $1000?

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

That PSU should be fine with that hardware (including the HD 3850).

That's actually a 3870, but do you think I should go with a 3850 and put that money towards something else?

[azianai]

yeah that 500W should be more than enough. Granted my build's a bit weaker in power consumption, but my seasonic 500W works with no issues at all.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

That's actually a 3870, but do you think I should go with a 3850 and put that money towards something else?

Depending on what kind of audio editing he does, he might get a decent boost from more memory. You could always look in a 4GB kit, then again you have to take into consideration he needs a 64 bit OS (and make sure his programs are compatible).

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by polobunny

Depending on what kind of audio editing he does, he might get a decent boost from more memory. You could always look in a 4GB kit, then again you have to take into consideration he needs a 64 bit OS (and make sure his programs are compatible).

It's not that heavy audio editing, he mainly mixes different songs together and whatnot. I was thinking maybe upgrade (or is that a downgrade?) the E8400 to a Q6600 or something.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

That's actually a 3870, but do you think I should go with a 3850 and put that money towards something else?

OH, sorry, I thought it said 3850 Either way, they aren't too much different.

If this person isn't a gamer, or is only a light gamer with a lower resolution monitor, you should be able to save some money and just get a GeForce 8600 class or HD 2600 GPU. If they really don't plan on playing any games, then I would go cheaper yet and snag a GeForce 7300/8500 or HD 2400 class GPU.

[Yellowhello]

He does play some games, like CS:S and WoW. So HD3850 looks like a good choice.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

He does play some games, like CS:S and WoW. So HD3850 looks like a good choice.

A 3850 would be a fine choice for those games. If you're running tight on cash, I would drop the GPU down to an 8600GT or GTS rather than dropping CPU power or RAM since his primary use is not gaming.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

It's not that heavy audio editing, he mainly mixes different songs together and whatnot. I was thinking maybe upgrade (or is that a downgrade?) the E8400 to a Q6600 or something.

The Q6600 is a good processor, but you're likely better with a E8400 than a Q6600, seeing what he does. Overall, quad core is really far from necessary right now, as softwares developpers are still optimizing their code for multi-threading. The E8400 will likely create less heat as well as consuming less energy (45nm does that) and perform really well. One could suggest the E8500 as an interesting upgrade, but I don't consider it to be the "bang for the buck" processor out there, as it's slightly more pricy than the E8400 for barely anything (160mhz) more.

Originally Posted by gvblake22

OH, sorry, I thought it said 3850 Either way, they aren't too much different.

If this person isn't a gamer, or is only a light gamer with a lower resolution monitor, you should be able to save some money and just get a GeForce 8600 class or HD 2600 GPU. If they really don't plan on playing any games, then I would go cheaper yet and snag a GeForce 7300/8500 or HD 2400 class GPU.

Ditto. There's nothing wrong with owning a 8600GT if you're barely going to game.

Edit: Just read yellow post. Go with the HD3850 then. The build is under a thousand, which is very nice.

[Parker]

The list looks fine Nate, except for that 3870... for the same price you could get an 8800GT:

Foxconn 8800GT-512OC660/1940 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Way better than that ATi card, IMO.

edit:
(oops, didn't realize something was already said about that, but even an 8600GT would be great for him!)

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Parker

The list looks fine Nate, except for that 3870... for the same price you could get an 8800GT:

Foxconn 8800GT-512OC660/1940 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Way better than that ATi card, IMO.

Yeah, he's not a big gamer so I think I'll go with the HD3850. But thanks anyway!