A friend has asked me to help him build a new pc: his budget is $700 US. He said he would prefer an intel (i5 or i7) build, but I am open to good amd build suggestions.

Machine will be used for moderate level photo editing and graphic design, home office work (spredsheets, web, database work, etc.). He is also a gamer and wants to be able to play games at decent settings: for example he told me he would like to be able to play bioshock, l4d2, dragon age, etc.

He already has and does not need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

He does require an OS, and says he wants Win 7. He has also requested the HD be at least 500GB.

Thanks in advance,

Vorlon92

vorlon92

i5 or i7 at $700...good luck with that... I would go with an Athlon II x4 build...I'll go see if I can put something together at that price.

A lot of desktops can't play Crysis on high, I doubt you'll find a laptop especially in that price range that can.

The technology for SSD has been around for a long time, there shouldn't really be anything to worry about.

[QUOTE="okifoxjl"]

Is a intel core 2 duo 2.8GHZ decent? Because I know graphic cards need a good CPU to function well in games, im upgrading to a 4770 so I would like to know if the 2.8 GHZ core 2 duo would be a good mix with it

29121994

The i3s and i5 are LGA 1156 socket, a comparison to those is hardly applicable.

A 4770 isn't a high end video card, so that cpu should be a good match.

[QUOTE="sourfacedcyclop"]

At least ATI doesn't just re-brand three generation old gpu's and call them state of the art...

Daytona_178

I just find it to be morally wrong business practice, nothing more. Nothing against the product themselves.

At least ATI doesn't just re-brand three generation old gpu's and call them state of the art...

the i5-661 is duel core and has hyperthread tech. Also, it is 32nm so it should overclock insanely and takes less power. Bad side is that the 17-860 is the highest upgrade you'll be able to get on 1156 socket.

The phenom II is quadcore and has 2mb more of L3 cache and the AM3 socket is more future proof.

Both are good choices....

I would get this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

and this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159102

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16868100049&cm_re=nintendo_dsi-_-68-100-049-_-Product

^that