What should be my build ?

I am building a desktop for my friend. He needs to do tons of multitasking - Continuous Music + 30 diff tabs on chrome open at same time + Corel Draw + Photoshop ] ( At Least ) Movies and Games ( like battlefield 3, etc) in full res - done separately also word, excel, PPT open along with all mentioned before.
The desktop needs to be sturdy, stable, well cooled and non lagging.
Thanks in advance.

You will need a processor, some memory sticks, a motherboard, a 3D video card, a computer case, a power supply, a monitor, and a keyboard and mouse. Don't forget about speakers, they are crucial if your friend wants to listen to music.

[QUOTE=teetee1;51404220]You will need a processor, some memory sticks, a motherboard, a 3D video card, a computer case, a power supply, a monitor, and a keyboard and mouse. Don't forget about speakers, they are crucial if your friend wants to listen to music.[/QUOTE
gee, thanks !

[QUOTE=botham;51404312]

Quote from teetee1 : You will need a processor, some memory sticks, a motherboard, a 3D video card, a computer case, a power supply, a monitor, and a keyboard and mouse. Don't forget about speakers, they are crucial if your friend wants to listen to music.[/QUOTE gee, thanks !

You're welcome. A computer spec. request without the budget equals to no request at all.

[QUOTE=teetee1;51404348]

Quote from botham : You're welcome. A computer spec. request without the budget equals to no request at all.

Ah sorry, I was wondering where did I make the mistake. It should be mid range, I have no concept of the cost of the parts required so I would like it to be as good value for money as it can get. I want the desktop to last and be scalable but not have to keep replacing parts because I compromised on the cost a lot.
Thanks again.

Decent mobo with i7 CPU and min 8 gigs of ram with an SSD for the OS and a big spinner for data.
Naturally, he'll want a good GPU and that's just a matter of determining the price range and watching the specials, and once you know approx how much stuff is going into the PC, you can look at which PSU best suits you.
The real heart of the machine for speed and power is the processor and the SSD, and in your case, because of Photoshop and games, you have to go to a good graphics card and you can't be cheap on ram, as those are ram hog programs.
If your friend wants to be able to modify and upgrade a lot in the future, then he/you should build himself, otherwise, some of the prebuilt PC's like Dells, are unbeatable for giving good value and having rock solid components.

Quote from RockySosua : Decent mobo with i7 CPU and min 8 gigs of ram with an SSD for the OS and a big spinner for data.

i7 is mid range???

I'd say i5 2500k or one of the FX 8 core suckers. 64GB or 128GB SSD Boot drive w/ secondary standard drive of whatever size he thinks he needs. I would boost the 8GB to 16GB of RAM if he is really doing that much multitasking.

And after everything is said and done send him to computer reeducation camp, because no one should have that many apps open at once.

Quote from RockySosua : Decent mobo with i7 CPU and min 8 gigs of ram with an SSD for the OS and a big spinner for data. Naturally, he'll want a good GPU and that's just a matter of determining the price range and watching the specials, and once you know approx how much stuff is going into the PC, you can look at which PSU best suits you. The real heart of the machine for speed and power is the processor and the SSD, and in your case, because of Photoshop and games, you have to go to a good graphics card and you can't be cheap on ram, as those are ram hog programs. If your friend wants to be able to modify and upgrade a lot in the future, then he/you should build himself, otherwise, some of the prebuilt PC's like Dells, are unbeatable for giving good value and having rock solid components.

Thanks a lot. Any good pointers towards a good scalable mobo and a well cooled case. Is the liquid cooled system any good ? What is a very good GPU which can run high demand games at full res without lagging ?
You also mentioned ram, are there some better than others ?
He is down for I7 ( should he look for specific builds in this ? ) and a SSD primary drive for the OS.

Quote from brbubba : i7 is mid range??? I'd say i5 2500k or one of the FX 8 core suckers. 64GB or 128GB SSD Boot drive w/ secondary standard drive of whatever size he thinks he needs. I would boost the 8GB to 16GB of RAM if he is really doing that much multitasking. And after everything is said and done send him to computer reeducation camp, because no one should have that many apps open at once.

LOL, he is an artist, very abstract. But I get your point. Thanks.

Quote from brbubba : i7 is mid range??? .

I thought he meant mid range prices, but if he meant a mid range components, I suppose an i5 might be more appropriate.

What's your friend's budget?