[QUOTE="simplyderp"]

Everything looks good except for the monitor. Does he use photoshop and video rendering professionally? If so, he's going to need a decent monitor.

FPS_Gamer123

Whatever you do, don't get him a monitor with a TN panel in it. I would personally recommend the Dell U2311H, the monitor I'm using. It has great contrast ratio, color accuracy, black levels, response time, and input lag for the price. At $239 it's a steal, but at the current price, there may be other options out there.

Check out these review sites:http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htmandhttp://www.flatpanelshd.com/reviews.php

Are both LG's the same series and calibrated (at least not set to vivid with "enhancements")?

For me, it depends. If I'm watching a movie, I prefer to watch it on my HDTV. But if I'm gaming, I prefer a smaller screen (a.k.a. 22" monitor) so I can comfortably sit close to the screen and notice all the details.

Everything looks good except for the monitor. Does he use photoshop and video rendering professionally? If so, he's going to need a decent monitor.

i 3rd the motion.

acsam12304

Objection! :)

I recommend to take the Scythe Mugen II over the Hyper 212+. Better temps + better fan + quieter = better bang-for-buck. It's only $10 more on most sites and only $2.44 more on newegg.com.

Benchmark comparing Scythe Mugen II and Hyper 212+ on overclocked i7-870:http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lga-1156-heatsink,2535-14.html

One thing to note: neither of these heatsinks offer best-of-****temperatures, so if you want to do a lot of overclocking, then maybe the Noctua NH-D14 and H50 will be better for you.

Some reviews:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/scythe-mugen-2.html(rev. B)

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article961-page1.html(rev. A)

720p is actually the sweet spot for Xbox 360 games.

I see you are looking at a plasma. If you want the best PQ, then a plasma is your best bet, especially at that size. I would recommend saving up a little more. $600 can land you a great 720p plasma, but you said you wanted 1080p. A little extra cash will get you a nice 1080p one.

WiiRocks66

Yeah, I should go check out the 42" 720 Panasonic plasma at Costco. Maybe I won't notice the difference between 1024x768, 1336x768, and 1920x1080 at my viewing distance.

What's your budget for the surround setup? I would personally go with a pair of floorstanding speakers + receiver if my budget was under $700, although most people would recommend a non-HTIB surround setup.

There is the Panasonic U2 for $599:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6272303&CatId=3653

EDIT: though for not much more that S2 is the better deal.

NVIDIATI

Yeah, the main difference that concerned me about the U2 was the 900 lines of moving picture resolution vs the 1080 lines on the S2 series. I don't know whether I'd be able to notice the difference though.The S2 is only $50 more - but I'm wondering if there are any other options for decent HDTVs at that price point?

Looking to buy a 40" 1080p HDTV around $600 (lower if possible) for my living room in a couple weeks. It will be used for standard definition cable, DVD, and Wii. Picture quality is most important. I don't care about aesthetics, internet features, 3D, LED energy savings, and speaker quality. The TV will be at angle with respect to the seating position, so viewing angles need to be decent. 1080p/24 is nice, but optional.

Currently looking at the Panasonic 42" S2 series plasma (pushing the budget).

AD700 is very nice for competitive gaming. They are quite lacking in bass though, but that's the sacrifice made for excellent imaging.