$1500 build for PS/Maya work

[ripken204]

I have a friend who is asking for a recommendation of what to get.
His work is primarily heavy Photoshop and Maya work.

He is telling me that he does not want to get a professional graphics card yet for it since he just really cannot afford it..

Anyways, for $1500, what would be best for him?
He needs everything case and hardware.

I am thinking at least an i5 with a lot of ram and a 5870.

I have been somewhat out of the hardware loop this year so if you guys could help me decided what would be best that would be great!

 

[cbliss1000]

Fill out the 'answer these questions first' sticky so folks know exactly what you're looking for. Also, there have been quite a few similar builds recently: I suggest looking around if you haven't already.

 

[tiraides]

Simple answer: Core i7 processor, 12GB of DDR3 RAM, an X58 board, and a copy of RAMDisk software.

The long story short: Search the forums -- there are plenty of <$1500 build threads that would give you plenty of ideas and parts to choose from. (Oh, and please answer the questions listed in the sticky.)

 

[Hels]

Agree, CPU and RAM are the 2 most critical component for workstation apps. Gamers need a good value CPU and a beefy GPU. App users need as much as ram as they can cram down their motherboard and a really good CPU.