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[petro62]

Ok so I have been using the same computer for quite some time and I am slowly starting to see its age.  Ever since I built this computer(6+ years ago) I haven't really kept up with what is out on the market.  I was hoping some of you may be able to help me by telling me what is good right and what is a good bargain at the moment.

First I am not looking to build some super gaming machine.  In fact I do very little to no gaming on my PC anymore.  I play some online flash games and maybe a game of Battlefield Heroes, but I haven't purchased and actual PC game in ages.  The main objective with this computer is stable, quiet'sh.  I multitask a lot.  I always have Folding @ Home running along with at least 1-2 websites constantly opened.  I also do some photoshopping and then listen to a lot of music.  I think I still have a Windows XP media center disc laying around my apartment somewhere that I would use unless Windows 7 is really nice and worth the upgrade. I have a couple old IDE hdd's in my current computer that I would like to hook up to the new one just to drag and drop files, but I want the main 1 or 2 on the new PC to be SATA. 

My price point is in the range of $500 +- some.

I went on newegg(where I plan to buy all parts from) and just picked a few things out, but again I am sure there is better value out there. I have no preference towards AMD or Intel and I also have no intentions to OC.

Case
Ram
Mobo
CPU

Any suggestions and or tips would be great.  Thanks in advance.

[urgannagru]

"Photoshopping" can mean "I need 8GB RAM 3x 10krpm scratch disks and the fastest 8 core CPU with SLI graphics cards" or it can mean "I might open an 8x10 and crop it to 4x5 seldomly," or anything in-between.

If you want stable, I recommend Vista (hooray!) or 7 (honestly haven't tried it yet) over XP any day.

If you want quiet, these things make the most noise (in order)... 1: fans (case, gpu, cpu, whatever else) 2: drives (optical, hard)

[petro62]

Well I don't do "heavy" work in photoshop.  Just cropping and general editing, but nothing too horribly intense.

I guess the big area I need help in is a video card.  I don't think I do anything the requires SLI or crossfire or anything on that level, but I also don't want some that will struggle horribly when I do play games like battlefield heroes or if I were to pick up battlefield 2 or something along those lines(I know two totally different games in terms of graphics I am sure).  I just want a good all around general PC that can handle some heavy loads when need be, but mostly just be able to smoothly and reliably run day to day tasks.

[GideonX]

You should just put together a wishlist and make it public via Newegg. That might be easier than flipping through each component individually.

[blafrisch]

Buy this combo before the deal expires: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.209473

[bliq]

I'm curious about the DDR2-1066 RAM.  If reliability is a concern, you probably shouldn't overclock to the extreme.  But given your chosen chips' FSB of 1066 (quad pumped so true FSB is 266), the RAM only has to run 533 (266 x 2, since it's DDR) to be 1:1.  Is it possible to run the RAM twice as fast as the CPU?  But then what would the RAM have to process if it could only fill every other RAM cycle with data?  Am I understanding this wrong?

Perhaps save some money and get a good DDR2-800 set.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267
is $35 after rebate and seems to be a brand name, good quality set with some awards to boot.

Apply savings to the next higher up video card or something or maybe an E8xxx chip with FSB1333 and twice the L2 cache.

[petro62]

Thanks for the feedback. I will post more when I get a few days off.

Thanks again

[YucA]

Consider saving a few more bucks and get a nice notebook.  You will be glad you did.  Want it on a full sized Mon, kb, mouse...do et!