Work Machine, requesting help / advice

[Vanilla Coke]

Building a computer for a friend for work, he does financial analysis and runs streaming stock quotes. Looking to run 3 monitors and running multiple apps at the same time (youtube, itunes, excel). Doesn't care too much for graphics, won't be gaming at all. Trying to keep the budget around $500. Can anyone make recommendations for CPU / MoBo / RAM ?

Thanks

 

[Dangman]

Please answer the following questions so that we can help you better:
3) Where do you live?
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
6) Will you be overclocking?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

 

[Vanilla Coke]

3) Where do you live?
Seattle

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not reusing parts

6) Will you be overclocking?
No overclocking required

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as possible

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Looking to run 3 monitors if possible. could get by with 2

thank you

 

[Dangman]

4) What exact parts do you need for that $500 budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

 

[Vanilla Coke]

Cpu, ram, motherboard, case, psu, hdd, cd drive

 

[Dangman]

$159 - AMD Athlon II X4 630 + MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard Combo
$80 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$40 - PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$55 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$20 - LG iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$110 - Antec Neo Eco 520C 520W PSU + Antec 300 ATX Case
---
Total: $464 plus tax and shipping

IIRC, you can have up to 4 monitors attached to the above PC since you can use the onboard and dedicated outputs at the same time

For a bit more cash:
$176 - AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU + Biostar TA785G3HD AM3 AMD 785G HDMI mATX AMD Motherboard
$80 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$40 - PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$55 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$20 - LG iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$110 - Antec Neo Eco 520C 520W PSU + Antec 300 ATX Case
---
Total: $481 plus tax and shipping

 

[lkiller1231]

Danny's build a pretty much a perfect one for the money, however I think the PSU and case is pretty much of an overkill.

Antec VSK-2000 - $49.99

Antec EarthWatts 380W - #39.99 The PSU will be able to handle your rig without breaking a sweat, especially with its 80PLUS BRONZE rating, this thing can last for years. Your rig will consume about 100W during normal use, and it will never go beyond 160/170W during maximum load.

<edit> There is a combo deal going on for both of the products I've listed above, $59.98 for those two items after rebate. Sweet deal.</edit>