SPCR

I might have to choose a new tower for my pops. He is having bluescreen issues. I haven't investigated what the cause is but his PC has been having various issues recently anyways. Plus it's pretty old and slow. P4, 3GB ddr2 667 ram, 500gb hdd, ATI xxxx video.
He runs photoshop sometimes but any decent pc should handle that fine.

I don't know if we need the quad core of i5 or can deal with an i3. Integrated graphics would probably suffice but i have a spare Nvidia 9800gt that can fit in whatever we end up getting.
I saw that Dell has some decent i3 pcs in the 500-600 range.
I could easily build it myself for him but I'm very out of the loop on the latest gen of good parts.

Any Dell, HP or Lenovo system from their business range of models will do. Compared to a P4 your dad will get along with any i3 + integrated graphics.

A 9800GT does not bring any relevant advantages while using Photoshop in a "consumer" scenario.

There is an all-in-one which i find interesting (but this is just personal opinion):

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/t ... ries/e93z/

Whether you would rather the DIY approach, for instance that could be a starting point (wish list taken on NewEgg just because it came in handy):



What do you think about?

dont support Dell or HP! they are evil!

newegg has some semi pre built systems..

The HD4600 in the faster i3's to the horsepower of the ancient 9800GT with the benefit of having modern features, connectivity, and 1/10 of the power use. The HD4400 is fine, too for general purpose use, streaming, and occasional Photoshop.

Whether or not you build or buy, go with an i3, an SSD for OS/programs/data*, a HDD for backups. A 256GB Crucial MX100 is often < $100.

*how much data does he have?

What form factor does he want? You could go small.