New
#51
If he's got a $700 dollar limit then here's a decent build:
NZXT Beta Evo Case - $40
GIGABYTE GA-MA78LM - $50
Patriot Viper II 4GB DDR2 1066 - $93
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black - $100
NVIDIA 9800 GT - 1GB 256-BIT GDDR3 - $100
Antec 550W PSU - $50
Cooler Master 120MM Case Fans (4) - $10
2 x NZXT 140mm Case Fans - $20
Caviar Black 640GB HDD - $75
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 - $55
SAMSUNG SATA DVD WRITER (24x, 16x) - $25
Total: $615 before tax and shipping.
You really don't need the latest and greatest quad core CPU for gaming. Especially if you're not planning on playing games on super high settings. Quad Cores are great for multi tasking but they're not being utilized by most games. Most of the newer games can utilize a dual core cpu but many of them can't even come close to utilizing a quad core cpu. Nor do you need a system with USB 3.0 or DDR3 if you're not planning on doing the latest and greatest. Moral of the story... Instead of buying the latest motherboard and processor, spend that money on your graphics card, you'll see more of a different gaming. Keep in mind though, that graphics card will need to be replaced in a year or two, you'd need a GTX 260 if you want it to last longer. That would cost you an extra $100.
TipAs mentioned many times before: I don't recommend that you skip buying a sound card because Realtek onboard sound absolutely sucks for gaming. You do not want to rely on an onboard sound card of any kind for your gaming needs, it's just ludicrous.
In response to Hexoroot: That's the point though, he'd be able to play the games now but he wouldn't be able to play them in a year or two when they all of the higher end games start requiring the newer spec. Even the GFX card I recommended would need to be replaced in that time period. It's really a matter of whether he wants something cheap that can get him through a few years or something that might last 3 or 4. Plus i was talking more to the people that recommended he buy a brand new quad core cpu with ddr3 ram and skip buying a graphics card to rely on the onboard junk. A gaming system will rely on graphics twice as much as it will a quad core cpu. Quad core is for multi-tasking, not gaming, atleast not yet that is.
I agree in that he won't need to upgrade a newer dual core cpu or ddr2 to ddr3 for gaming. The only thing he'd need to upgrade is the gfx card and the sound card if he doesn't buy a PCIe card at first.
Other guy: He doesn't need a quad core CPU for gaming. They don't use 4 cores. Max of two.
For the same price, he can buy an AMD Athlon II x4 620/630 and overclock it to 3Ghz, which is a safer bet than trying to unlock the other 2 cores of the Phenom II x2.
Any Nvidia card that is used for gaming right now is kinda like a gamble since Directx 11 games will get popular and would thus require an Directx 11 capable graphics card (ATI 57xx and up), although the Nvidia Geforce gtx470 and 480 are good options, that would be pushing it.
1. No clue if he wants to or knows how to overclock
2. There's no need to buy a quad core cpu if he's using it to game. Games will utilize quad cores in a few years but they're just barely utilizing two cores now.
Note: That's not to say that some games like Supreme Commander and GTA IV don't utilize quad cores, they do. It's just that 80-90% of games on the market don't. Nor do most source engine games and that's what a lot of the PC gamers play (TF2, L4D2, etc)
Everything here looks good. Although I really don't think that 6 case fans are necessary. I'm running a Q9550 quad core overclocking to 3.2 with a stock Intel cooler, 8GB of G.Skill DDR 800 RAM, 1TB WD Black, and an EVGA 9800GTX+ and the stock fans on my Antec P182 (3 x 120mm) provide more than adequate cooling. Remember, the OP requested a quiet PC as well