Friend Wants to Build A New PC

I have a friend who would like to build a new PC for himself. His budget is around $1500. (He lives in LA & I live in a different city). He'll more than likely buy the parts either at a store or an online website, I won't be building it for him though. I am just going to give him a list of recommended parts. I have not really kept up with the newer hardware within the last 3 or so years.

I was thinking maybe you guys could give me a good list of PC hardware.

I figured a Gigabyte motherboard, either Kingston or Coursair RAM would do well together (seeing as that's what I have, and I haven't really had any problems with it). I was also thinking of him getting an Nvidia card (maybe 500 series or better), depending on the prices of the Video cards. I know that this will be the most expensive part to buy than the other hardware. RAM is extremely cheap. I don't know if he'll need more than 4 Gigs yet, so it'll be either 4 Gigs or higher. I just know that Coursair & Kingston are good brands.

As for the CPU, I am thinking 2.8Ghz or more is probably recommended. Maybe even 3Ghz. He'll more than likely be using Windows 7. I think maybe an i7 or better would be a good idea (my CPU is also an i7, and it's a good CPU still after 4 years). I just don't know which brand is good for the i7 at the moment.

The PSU of course will be important & needed, & a certain wattage will be required. 700-800 maybe? Just depends on the parts.

Not really sure yet if he wants a DVD drive/Bluray yet (or even a burner), but maybe not the burners. I'll find out when I come back home.

I will be out of my house for the next few hours at the most, so I can't really look for a good list at the moment. I figured he could buy the parts from Newegg.com or something.

I don't know yet if he wants the onboard sound, or a slotted sound card. So that'll have to wait for the moment.

As for the case, doesn't really matter so much, as long as the parts fit inside the case. I don't really think they'll care that much about it, but you never know. Having a list of cases would be good anyway, just in case they want a fancy one. I just know it will also need good cooling for all the parts.

Anyway...I have to go now. I'll check the forum when I come back home, and I promise anyone that helps will get a +1 from me. All I really need is a list of hardware for him to buy (and I don't think the source really matters as long as he can buy it, but I think newegg would be an ideal place, since it's a respectable business). And please don't get a list from Alienware. Since I heard that Dell bought it out, I'd rather stay away from it.

Thank you for the help. It is appreciated.

It would be easier if you could find out what sort of tasks he will be doing with this computer. Is he a gamer, does he just surf the web and check his email, does he do serious video editing or use scientific programs? Find that out and we'll work on what components to get.......it will make things much easier.

As kbrady said, it depends on the intended purpose of the PC. I also agree with essenbe, as long as the memory is GSkill or Corsair, you'll be fine. With today's 8 GBs memory prices around fifty bucks, there's no reason not to have 8 GBs memory, unless the OS will be 32-bit.

I have the GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP5 TH motherboard that has plenty going for, including dual Thunderbolts ports. For quite PC, I like the Antec P183 case, but I believe that it is being replaced by P280 series. In my system the case fans were replace by Noctua case fans to reduce noise. For heatsink, the Noctua NH-D14 is quite and efficient. The temperature in my system is at idle ~27 degree Celcius and doesn't hit 50 when playing games.

For 1,500 bucks, one could get a decent ultrabook, maybe that's all what your friend needs...

Here, this could give you a good startup point when it comes to price for performance in different builds.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...de-dec2012.png

Okay, he finally told me the use of the PC will be "Video & Audio editing". Still waiting on an answer for DVD/Bluray inquiry (he takes forever to respond *rolls my eyes*). Anyway...main use, like I said, Audio/Video editing.

Just need a good list of parts for it, and I'll send it to him. I am at least competent enough to comprehend what will sound good (but again, haven't really kept up with recent hardware). And I'll +1 the people who give me a nice list of what they think will be good for helping out. I'm not quite sure what would be good for Audio/video editing (I know a better idea for gaming than audio/video editing seeing as I've never owned a pc for video editing, nor have I done any video editing). Thanks again!

Essenbe hit the nail on the head with his parts list. I'll give you a list with links to the parts I would use for such a build.....this is not a definitive built list, just some high quality parts that will do the job.

CPU: Intel i7-3770K

MOBO: Asus Z77 Sabertooth

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB Kit

GRAPHICS CARD: EVGA GTX 660Ti

PSU: Corsair AX750

SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB

That is a very basic list of components. If he plans on overclocking at all, consider a closed loop water cooler. The case is more subjective and maybe he has a certain look he wants, or needs to be silent. As far as a sound card, any Asus Xonar would probably be more than enough. Like I said before, that is just a list of quality components I came up with and there are plenty of other good options besides what I have listed.