2 Gaming Questions.

what's the budget? need to know if he wants to play far cry on maximum detail for a 1920x1080 monitor or if his monitor is worse or better

I would recommend for Far Cry 3: 64bit Windows 8 OEM (has behind the scenes improvements for performance (OEM is required for computers you build)), >=4GB RAM, >=1GB Graphics Card, an AMD Athlon II CPU (AMD = better value for money), 3TB HDD (don't bother with SSD Windows 8, it boots fast anyway).

If you want a rig for recording I would recommend an internal / SATA connected hard drive with at least 6000rpm, but definitely do not get an SSD, they have a limited read/write capacity and will fail much quicker.

The budget is most likely under $1000, he's not going to build one though.

As for recording JB567, do you have a link to one that you think would work well?

Any more suggestions?

for under 1000$ you get very good computers, alienware on promotions.

Overkill.

go for 8G ram, 2Ghz and more, 1G graphic card minimum, 17" screen minimum for games and movies, you can get that for under 500$

more money, more bang.

Avoid ACER ( overheating issues ).

once a model has hit your eye, make a search for it with keywords like issue, overheating etc, check reviews on amazon.

buy online, cheaper, look for deals.

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