Quad-core build for under $1000?

[Dr. V]

See? Beautiful. That's $120 left to have some fun with. I'd go with a different case plus a better PSU - that's really the only place you have to go after this...unless you get another 2GB of RAM...

ACTUALLY - grab a nice 5.1 kit:
Newegg.com - Logitech X-530 70 watts RMS 5.1 Black Speaker System - OEM

AND

A Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeAudio sound card:
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio VARPAK 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - OEM

A perfect match-up for the system bringing it just under $1000, and making it the perfect all-around system for what the recipient needs.

Beautiful.

[insomnia]

Originally Posted by ST!X

See? Beautiful. That's $120 left to have some fun with. I'd go with a different case plus a better PSU - that's really the only place you have to go after this...unless you get another 2GB of RAM...

ACTUALLY - grab a nice 5.1 kit:
Newegg.com - Logitech X-530 70 watts RMS 5.1 Black Speaker System - OEM

AND

A Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeAudio sound card:
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio VARPAK 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - OEM

A perfect match-up for the system bringing it just under $1000, and making it the perfect all-around system for what the recipient needs.

Beautiful.

Those speakers are pretty nice for the price *I picked some up around Christmas time* Only tip I have is when I went to plug them in, they didn't work properly because I was following the colors on the plug-ins for my onboard audio, and for some reason I had to switch the orange and black plug-ins and it worked. Might not be the case for everyone, but something to remember if your having a hard time getting the surround sound to work.

[gvblake22]

Lookin' very good there YH, rev. 3 is the best so far I think. Although, you could save some more money (and an epilepsy attack) by going with a more modest CAS 4 DDR2-800 memory kit; plus the memory will be in a case without windows so you won't see the "pretty" lights anyway...
OCZ Platinum
A-DATA Extreme Edition
Mushkin

[Dr. V]

OCZ all the way from those 3. I'd actually say Crucial Ballistix but I may be a bit biased :P But from those 3 I do like the OCZ kit the best.

Honestly, the lights are useless in that case, blake's right.

@insomnia - it's very possible that either the colour of the connectors coming from the speakers (VERY unlikely) or the connectors on the motherboard (much more likely) got messed up somewhere - it happens. It doesn't mean that's alway the fix, and you have to be careful when putting random things in random holes.

Edit: Yes I did catch that one, I can't wait 'til Joker does.

[Elysium]

That OCZ kit looks great, thanks Blake. I think I go with that one.

He already has a pretty good sound system, so I think I pass on that though... thanks anyway!

Rev. 4:

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - XFX PVT84JUSD4 GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Newegg.com - Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail

Total: $850 with shipping/tax

[screwballl]

I have those X530 speakers with the x-fi xtreme audio, very good when paired together. very clean sound and good range of frequencies. I can crank up the bass if I want on the sub and the x-fi has plenty of audio adjusting options.
I do some gaming with the system in my sig and with this video card I still get 130-200 fps in CS:S and the audio encoding just flies...

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

Nice trim power system Yellow ... any reason for the mid end video card?

Even though that is a great case and PS option ... I would suggest ...

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W
Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Computer Case

There were additional codes for $$'s off on those recently as well ... dono if they would still be good.

With these additions ... the system has all the room for growth on a solid foundation.

[Dr. V]

I was gonna suggest going with a better PSU and a different case, but I wasn't sure if it would fit the budget...

Not only that, I'm not sure that's a main concern for him as of yet. He can always grab a different PSU (newer) down the road when he needs it. The one included with the Sonata will do perfectly fine for the system.

With that revision (4) you're better off just adding the X-Fi sound card for $49.99 which will bring you a bit over $900 and call it a build.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Tech Geek Deluxe

Nice trim power system Yellow ... any reason for the mid end video card?

We've already discussed that the person using this system will not be playing any serious games, but rather will be focusing on audio work.

That case and PSU is just fine for this build, no need for a 700W PSU and a bunch of fans for a 45nm processor and a mid-range video card...

[Elysium]

Urg, I hate friends... I just talked to him today at school, he said he only has $400 right now and will have the rest in 1-2 months... why even tell me to start planning the build then? Also, he said he wanted a "cooler" looking case...