new comp for sister

my sister wants a good high moderate/ high computer. budget is around 600 total.

would not need OS i have that, don't believe i would need harddrives.

only condition is the tower must be small or average. not gamer size tower something she can place under her desk and of course the parts must fit everything must fit.

help an asian out

thanks rsbandb

Do you need a monitor with that?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883256202

What is she going to be doing with it?

Take a look at this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc- ... build-a-pc,3443.html

Of course, you'd need to add the prices of Windows onto that. If no games are going to be played on it, and your brother-in-law rarely does video editing, downgrade the video card (or ditch it entirely and use the intel graphics) and get more RAM instead along with Windows.

Compare that system with more expensive ones in this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bui ... -benchmark,3441.html

Does she want it on top of her desk or below? Does she need to game on it, or will the video editing be the primary strain on the system?

Dedicated video may not be necessary for anything they'll be doing, but regarding his Adobe programs, which ones would they be? Some of them can take advantage of GPU acceleration, which may be worth spending some extra money on a decent card if the main purpose is video editing.

Otherwise, no hard drive, no OS, no peripherals.. Basically CPU, Motherboard, RAM, PSU, Case, *maybe* GPU. Perhaps a decent CPU cooler if it'll be stressed quite a bit, that way intense applications don't get on their nerves.

Regarding the form factor, the reason I asked was that this could all easily be put in an ITX case and put on a desktop if they are short on space. But the more I think about it, a midsize case would offer far better ventilation, especially regarding intense video encoding sessions.

Here's what I've got:



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815014 - Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130828 - GPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703034 - PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104387 - RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157315 - Mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 - CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117286 - CPU

So that's $592.93, with $35 in rebates.

The main choices to look at are CPU and GPU. The CPU is a bit cheaper than a comparable i7, as this too is quad-core and is hyperthreaded. The comparable CPU is the i7 3770. The GPU isn't super high end, but it should provide acceleration for the Adobe programs your brother in law will be using. It should also provide more than adequate performance for most games that you'd want to try out.

The case is good quality and has plenty of room, and should be large enough to accommodate the CPU cooler, and will keep the rest of the parts with plenty of circulating air.

The PSU is overkill a bit, but is of great quality and is modular (you can plug in the connections you need, rather than leaving a ton of extra cables hanging off that are unused).

The 8GB of RAM should be plenty for what is going on, or you could consider going 2x 8GB modules if desired.

It does not include any hard drives, as requested.

Hope this helps.

DVD burner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136259

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147123

500GB HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136497

1TB HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339 (notice $15 price difference)

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157315

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117286

Similar setup to before but we ditched the CPU cooler, lowered the quality on the case and a few other items... As you'll see I didn't include a GPU. You *will* need one for this build, but I haven't included one because of the price. After rebates, this will have room for ~$100 GPU, likely from AMD (7770, 7750 (doesn't require PCIe external power, though the PSU selected will provide a 6-pin connector)), but for video editing it may be best off with an Nvidia GPU. In that case, you're likely going to be spending around $150 for a 650Ti or ideally a 650Ti Boost / 660.

Regarding pricing, I'm not sure how far away you are from a Microcenter (in California, there is one in Tustin, but I dunno how far that is for you), but they usually have really good deals for CPU/motherboard combinations. You could likely even get an i7 instead of the Xeon, but performance likely won't change too much.