Photoshop based system - decent budget

You can consider the Antec 300 illusion, comes with extra fans for the same price.
Unless of course you don't like dim blue lights, then the other one is better  

At least according to the just published charts: Tom's CPU charts
There is a very miniature difference between 2600k and 2500k in CS. So I would say, save yourself 100 bucks and get the 2500k. $220

For memory a good 1.5V CAS9 1600Mhz kit from Corsair, Gskill, Mushkin or Kinston possibly also Patriot will do fine. You could maybe save a couple of bucks by getting just 4GB, but memory is cheap so just go with the 2x4GB. $75-80

Power supply, you don't need anything overly fancy with that video card setup, so get a solid PSU from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic or XFX in 450-500W range.
Such as Antec EarthWatts 500W $69.99.

For mobo this one is a bit pricy, but has the features you want. GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 $169.99

The a HDD for storage Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB $74.99

Toss in a DVD+/- drive or use an existing one, at $20 no big difference.

Which would add up to about ( case, psu, mb, cpu, memory, dvd, hdd ) $700.

Doesn't leave room for a CPU cooler, but probably if you select a less pricy Z68 board which still supports Virtu, you can fit in a decent CPU cooler for overclocking.

Hi there, welcome to the forums.
It looks like an interesting request. Can I get a little more info and ask you to fill out this form? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advic... It would help tremendously in organizing and obtaining information about your needs. Basically, I don't have to ask questions  

And I also agree with Rvilkman if it matters. There's some things I would change, but we'll get to that later.

Cheers!

Doesn't the CPU come with a cooler already, or are you talking about after market?
Thanks for the CPU suggestion though and case as well.  

lol sure

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks

Budget Range: under $700


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Home, surfing the internet, Photoshop CS5, watching movies


Parts Not Required: video card, keyboard/mouse, monitor, OS, harddrives,


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.canadacomputers.com www.ncix.com www.newegg.ca


Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: open to suggestions for quality and price, would like 4 SATA connections, minimum.

Overclocking: Nope


SLI or Crossfire: SLI

Monitor Resolution: 24" widescreen 1920x1200


Additional Comments: no bling needed - save the money and put it into components

Alright, thanks for that. It really did help.

Here's what I think.

CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681... $190

mobo: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD4863&v... $126

Antec 300 http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10370AC8944&v... $55

PSU: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC3744&v... $50

Ram: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD5211&v... $68

DVD: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12600DR0411&v... $25

SSD: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950DR9070&v... $99

And... That's about it!

now, I'd like to talk over a few things. The 8800GT was a great card back in the day, not so much now. It'll get the job done, but if you want to game a $160 GTX 460 would give you a MASSIVE improvement. Keep that in mind.

The second thing is, what kind of hard drives do you have? It's important that they are Sata.

I hope this helps!

Great, thanks for the recommendations.
Another quick question though in regards to the CPU.

The i5-2500 3.3GHz, would it be a huge difference over the i5-2400 3.10GHz?
The price difference is about $40-$50 and if the processing speed is big enough, I'll go for the 2500, if not, maybe the 2400 would be a good buy?

Thanks


Still undecided on a MoBo though - as long as it has 4 SATA inputs or more, I'm happy.

It's not worth the price difference.

^^ Not worth the price jump.

Thanks guys.


I'm looking for the RIPJAW series RAM from Canada Computers like the one linked above to DirectCanada, can't find it.
http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?cPath=24_311_312_6...

NCIX has it here I believe.
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=57953&vpn=F3-12800CL9D-8G...

CComputers is closer to me though.

Question for any of you guys.

How do you know which video card to get if they're all 1G and all 460 based with 336 processor cores?
I'm assuming there's a difference since the prices seem to reflect that, but which do you get and how do you choose?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=EN...

Thanks.

What you want is the cheapest you can find that is 1GB, and is not an SE. Don't worry about the Superclocked editions, they don't matter. Try and find one that is cheap and has a rebate! That's all there is to it!