if you gonna go for core i7, get a corsair H50 for cooling. Is the best fanless cooling unit out there. I'm running a core i5 at 3.2ghz. temp range from 31-41c on causal use. Max temp i reached so far is 67c and that is having all my core stressed at 100%. Before when i had stock heatsink it was running at 50c on stock speed and 75-80c on 3.2ghz overclocked. Is a amazing cpu cooling unit. And since you're not planning to Overclock the temp from core i7 can still go up to pretty high depend on what your'e doing. Always getting a after market heatsink to prolong your cpu processor. I agree with some of the poster above. The ATI 4700 series are best bang for the bucks right now. But yea core i7 for flash game? kinda waste hehe

first thing that came in mind
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...acture=Corsair
theres this beauty, but you might as well take off your pants and bend over.

that's not true dude.

basic needs can stay the same in the computer world, but your needs will increase, even if the basic needs stay the same.

newer software comes out that you have to get, or use, to satisfy your basic needs.

software is always being developed, and newer software almost never requires less computing power.

Its true for gaming and other processing power intensive applications, but look at what he's using the PC for and tell me a basic dual-core setup won't last him for many years.
He's watching movies, web surfing and flash games. Will movies/internet/flash games ever require a quad-core? Probably not within the next 5+ years.
However, if his needs changed, and started gaming, then he might want to look into something faster.

and let's be realistic here...most people replace/upgrade their computers in 1-2 years anyways...It doesn't matter whether they bought a C2D now or an i7. In 1-2 years, they'll be replacing it with something new, and go through the same process all over again. Buying an i7 now, won't make it last any longer.

get a mobo with USB3.0 SATA3

Haha yeah I saw that and said wtf at the price!
Posted via RS Mobile

+1
and you will also end up with 2 computers instead of 1!

will there be better deals closer to boxing day?

For sure there will be.
But be prepared to be empty handed. Trying to buy something online during boxing day requires a lot of patience to say the least...lol

i.e. Constantly hitting refresh for an hour or two.

didnt necessarily mean the day of boxing day, more like the week before and after

For the most part if you shop around and price match your items the unpredictability of the sales won't really matter. Chances are if it was on sale one week, it will be on sale somewhere else another.

here are the parts for my new build, maybe can help you out

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping
ASUS P6T SE X58 ATX LGA1366
Sapphire Ati HD 5850
OCZ 6GB DDR3-1600
Antec Earthwatts 750W
Thermalright 120e-1366
Samsung 22x
Coolermaster Storm Scout
Western Digital 640GB Caviar black


picked up everything for less than 1400 after tax @ NCIX
just gotta be patient and wait for the sales ;)

that's a sick build! you should add a ssd in there and it'll b perfect

Here's my build that cost me about $1500 with Monitor. I got it through some friends for cheap brand new. It should be closer to about $1800 though.
I just changed up the video cards though, and now it's much more than this.

Antec 900
Truepower 750
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Asus X85 Deluxe V2
Intel i7 920
Corsair XMS3 Dominator 6 GB
ATi 4890
LG W2442PA-BF 24IN

Built it to last me a long time, and to run future games like SC2 and Diablo 3 etc with zero problems. I also use it to mix songs and I plan to do some Video editing. I also had a Auzen X-Fi Prelude, but the 4890 is already too big and it's in the way for me to run it, so I'm switching it up when it sells.

The only things I'll probably need to upgrade is an extra HD, and i9 when it comes out.
I'm still waiting on my 5890s to come in. THe main reason why I went with the 1366 Mobo is because I can upgrade to the i9, and I'll pretty much just need to add stuff to it like Harddrives.

In all honesty, you don't need to spend that much on a comp to last you. But I did it because I have the money to spend it on the new fancy stuff. It's not a need, but a want, and this want will last me longer and run the newer stuff longer and better.

^^^ :thumbsup:

if your lucky 4890 will be about $150 come boxing day
and I saw someone link to a caviar green drive in the thread, get a 1tb caviar black!
no reason to go for a low power/slower drive green series for a performance i7 system, the black series is already pretty damned quiet: i sleep next to 2 640gb blacks running in a tower, the 4890s fan at 28% is louder than the blacks!

Both are way more power than the OP needs. The i5 build I posted (includes a monitor) will be more than enough for what he wants and will last several years.

Thanks ^^
Definitely adding more hdd/ssd in the future, probably going to be doing some cosmetic work as well

ok guys....decided to wait for boxing day to buy a computer and heres what im pretty set on right now. let me know if i should change something

Case:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...4&promoid=1012
89.99
PSU:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...5&promoid=1012
68.89
HDD
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...2&promoid=1012
88.99
Proccessor:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...9&promoid=1012
188.99
Motherboard:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...7&promoid=1012
108.99
Video Card:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...3&promoid=1012
134.99
dvd drive:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...9&promoid=1012
28.99
Ram:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...6&promoid=1012
94.99

total 804.82 + tax

I think the time for LGA775 has past. I would get a low end i5, but this will cost you about $90 more.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...s&promoid=1012

The price of DDR2 has risen while DDR3 has fallen. so you will save about $20 on the RAM.

The net cost difference will be about +$70.