New Build, Need Advice

[GJX]

Hello,
I'm building a PC for a friend and i need advice here. The Budget is around 1000-1200$
I need something very simple, meaning, no OC-able parts needed, just stock speeds and good performance. It will be mainly used for audio editing etc. We already have a sound card, so exclude that.

Here is what i've come up with so far:

CPU: Q6600 (I know there will be those of you who will say go with a dual core, but for some reason his mind is set on it. Audio editing is mainly CPU usage, and this is a great price/performance chip)

CPU Cooler: Since it's mainly CPU usage in this case, maybe stock cooler won't be enough? Say what you think.

Motherboard: Need help here. I need a simple P35 chipset board, with no additional OC capabilities.

RAM: G.Skill 2GB 800MHz CL5 should be enough. 4GB if he decides he wants to go for Vista.

HDD: Probably need a fast OS/Program drive + Data drive. should be a total of ~500GB

PSU: I'm thinking of a Enermax Liberty 500W. Good quality and sufficient power. If you know of a good PSU, which is cheaper say so please.

Video Card: Need to see if he wants a good GFX card. If so ill put in a 8800GT stock speeds for him. Should be more than enough. But recommend a lower price/performance card please, just incase, its too expensive.

Case: Not sure. Something medium sized.


Please give your thoughts on each part. Keep in mind we dont want to exceed 1200$.

Thanks.

 

[akhilles]

You got it right about audio editing cpu usage. Quad will help def. I'm sure you've seen some benchmarks.

The stock intel cooler is fine for a stock pc. They made sure of it.

GA-P35-DS3L/R, IP35-E/PRO, P5K, or any of the popular ones is fine.

Seagate 7200.11 is a bit faster than the old ones.

Earthwatts & Corsair VX are another good psu choices.

I don't think he needs an 8800gt if he doesn't game. Not even the 256mb version. 8600gt is more than enough. My suggestion is look for nvidia 8x00 or ati 2x00 with passive cooling - a large heatsink & no fan.

Antec cases are well made all around.

 

[GJX]

Thanks man, just one quick question, what is the difference between the GA-P35-DS3L and the R

 

[Smoked Turkey]

Yeah, for any kind of audio or video editing a quad core will help big time. AMD just released their Quad Cores and while not quite as good as Intels Quad, it is way cheaper and will still perform better than a Dual Core. If you are not going to overclock use the stock cooler. As far as MotherBoards go I would stick to a Asus or GigaByte and maybe even look for something with integrated Video to save some $$. I would also look for something that has SATA2 and a built in RAID controller and setup 2 HDD's in a RAID 0 for performance (especially with any kind of editing where you are pushing massive amounts of data through arrays) Western Digital has a 7200RPM Drive SATA2 250GB for like 75 bucks on Newegg. Most of the DDR2 800 RAM is pretty competitive and since you arent overclocking you dont really need anything special; Gskill has 2GB for like 50 bucks. For PS I would go with a ThermalTake (they are usually priced well and well made). The important part is to be sure the PS has the CE logo on the side/sticker. This is the european equivalent to a UL listing and means that it has actually passed a "certified" evaluation that the PS is for real and not some mass produced POS.

 

[aevm]

Thanks man, just one quick question, what is the difference between the GA-P35-DS3L and the R

The DS3L allows a burner and 3 hard disks, while the DS3R allows a burner and 7 hard disks. The DS3R also supports RAID, has some better components ("ultra durable" etc etc) and has a newer onboard audio chip. I think you'll need lots of hard disk space for your audio editing, and RAID can help improve speed, so I'd go with the DS3R if the budget allows.

Edit: not sure right now, but I think the DS3L comes with 2 SATA cables and the DS3R with 4. I paid $9 for a SATA cable recently, btw.