So it's time for my bro to get a new comp. His budget is $2500 - $3000 including monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. He's going to use the comp. for the following:

1. Picture editing with apps. like photoshop
2. Movies
3. Gaming
4. Music

Basically, an all-around good computer. Oh, and he wants a 24" flat screen monitor that will be good for gaming and movies. Let's get a list of builds so I can choose one so my friend can build it. Thanks!

wheres you're build? why can't you enter in this competition?

imo something around
Q9450
X48 (rampage)
DDR2-1066 (8gig why the hell not?)
1x 320GB primary HD
1x 1TB WD HD (seen for $200)

9800GTX (GX2 perhaps)
W/C perhaps

For starters, lets be smart and try to stay around $1200 ish. Probably go with the following

X38 motherboard
Q9300 or 9450
8800GTS or 9800GTX
4GB of memory
650w PSU

Hi, normally not a big fan of open forums but I am a graphic designer and a "good gamer" too so here's what I would get:

-Core 2 Quad 9450 (O.C. to 3200MHz)>you can O.C. more if you want... but this way it's quite safe and super-stable.
-A Noctua CPU cooler NH-U12P/Thermalright 120-Extreme if not available
-Motherboard : P5E WS (eSata on this one) OR Asus Maximus Formula. The X38 chipset is way enough as used with DDR2 RAM)
-4 GB (Vista 64bits needed) Patriot DDR2 1200MHz (ratio 4:3 with FSB)
-1 x Raptor 150GB, system/apps. hard drive only
-1 x 750 GB Western Ditigal HDD for the rest
- nVidia 9800GTX graphic card
-Pioneer 212D Sata burner
-Case Antec P182
-PSU Corsair HX620watts
-Any good Logitech laser kb and mice... (wireless is too lazy and heavy for gaming)
The screen:
-A Mac display(23" ) is not match for color accuracy but so slow for gaming so I would get a Samsung 24"...
*I would wait the next X-FI from Creative this summer and keep mobo audio for now.

About 2,6k$


Hope it help

Q9450

TRUE (with a good fan like scythe s-flex, noctua or yate loon)

Asus Maximus Formula/Gigabyte X38-DS4/Gigabyte X38-DQ6 (if he want eSata)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131227

2x G.Skill Pc2-6400 2x2gb kit (you don't need faster RAM, total waste of money and barely provides any benefits at all)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122

2x Seagate 7200.11 500Gb in RAID OR 2x WD 6400aaks in RAID (the WD way is better)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218

Nvidia 9800GX2http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143128

Any decent dvd rw drive (your choice totally, i recommend the samsung ones)

Coolermaster Stacker (doesn't really matter which one you get as you won't be able to fit all the side fans with a TRUE anyway - those side fans are overkill anyway - i've got the stacker 831 with red mesh)

Corsair Hx620

Steelseries Ikari Laser/Razer Deathadder/Logitech G5 (i have the ikari )

Keyboard doesn't really matter, but the best choices are the saitek eclipse (first version is much better than 2nd, leds aren't bright enough on 2nd version) or the Logitech G15

For gaming a Samsung SM245B is good, or if you have money to spare the Dell 2407wfp/2408wfp are good monitors (however I have heard that they have a bit of an input lag issue, it's really response time for samsung, or better viewing angles with the dell)

For the sound card I'd say a Asus D2X or Auzentech X-fi (DO NOT GO CREATIVE, they've f'ed up all their drivers and don't really care about it either)

If you need speakers go for the z5500s, for headphones i'd recommend AD700s or HD555s

I've not checked if this is in budget, but if it isn't you can knock some off from the hard drives by going for one wd6400aaks, a p35 chipset mobo (like the asus p5k premium) and by using onboard sound instead of a sound card

Good luck on your build

DDR2-800 Is a waste of money, get DDR2-1066 instead. Your most likely going to bottleneck your RAM and have to up the hell out of the dram volts. 1066 = Guaranteed to run at 1066 so you won't be OCing too much. Good call on TRUE + yate loon.

Rest of Az00013 build is solid, apart from get a Seasonic modular (m12 series)

Corsair's hx620 is made by seasonic, just branded as corsair...
Also, i doubt ddr2-800 would bottleneck his cpu, a good set won't bottleneck anything except a 45nm dual core..
Most 45nm quads hit the wall around 450 fsb, a good set of ddr2-800 from gskill, corsair or crucial will be able to hit ddr2-900 quite easily, also considering g skill run at low voltage anyway they'll be able to overclock and keep low temps

I went a little over the $3k ($3176) mark but there are several areas that can be altered that would bring the price down to or below the $3k threshold.

Highlights: 2 x XFX8800GT, Q9450 (used the Xeon version as a placemarker), 8gb DDR2 1066, 1 dvd burner + 1 Blue-Ray dvd player/burner, 7.1 channel sound with 7.1 channel speakers. I chose the EVGA 780I MB and most importantly, the Antec 1200 full tower case.

I did not add the Raptor HD as the new 7200 RPM HD's are benchmarking very close to the speed of the Raptor and the value is much greater. Used 2 x Seagate 7200.11 (500GB). The Seagate is my preference but any of the 3mbs drives would be close to performance and value. If it was available I would add the new Raptor xxxx but it is definately not necessary. Here is the link for the entire build. Let me know if it does not work.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio [...] ID=7852932

Link does not work and the pub version has not been posted yet. I will update ASAP.