And i mean that with respect...

Urk i need to build a new PC - Box only.

I chop and watch some video, listen to some music, do a little video editing and rarely game.

do i go intel or amd???

the link is for a parts list for my local shop....can any one offer suggestions for a system....dont want to break the bank either,,,

http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

Cheers in advance J x

As an option to a build your own box, for what its worth, it sounds like you'd be happy with a Mac Mini. Currently at about $600. The Mini will run Windows XP as a stand alone box, as well as all your current Windows software just fine.

hmm, not a mac man..

hmm, not a mac man..

I’ve just built a new computer and went over the top on everything it’s easy to end up spending a lot of money. Whilst having a look round it seems that Intel is the way to go at the moment.

If you’re not gaming it would be best to go for a quad core cpu vista 64 and 4gb of ram. Should be fast enough to run Photoshop very quickly.

when I built mine I was on a tiny budget. Turns out I built the most stable machine I've ever used.
Amd X2 4000+ (75.00)
2 GB mushkin DDR-2 800 (100.00) (just saw newegg has Corsair 4gb for 80.00)
Abit NF-M2S MB (75.00)
Radeon X1650 256mb (does ok for 75.00)
520 watt PS (80.00)
320 gb seagate 7200/ 80 gb seagate 7200
XP home

Had this for 2 years never reformated or had any freezes.
can run Internet, Photoshop, MP3's at the same time with no slowdown.
Closest I got was 3000ph X 2000pw and 40 layers took about 15 seconds to save.
If price is not an object go quad, otherwise dual Amd should work just fine. At about half the price of intel it's a bargain.

From your list-
asus M3N-H-HDMI -133.00
AM2 x2 5000+- 74.00
4GB Kit-800(2x2G) kingston- 103.00
512M 9600GT MSI (optional)
Seagate SATA 250gb / times 2 -59.00 x 2
ASUS VENTO TA-861(nice looking case, see if the'll swap for a 500/550 watt PS)- 75.00
Total- 503.00 not bad

I have another solution for you

My first advise is go to
http://www.pricewatch.com/

then....QUAD...QUAD...QUAD.....oohhh, you said BUDGET.

Buy a Board and processor combo....never try and mis-match because of price. If you get a board made with a chipset in mind...use the chipset. INTEL or AMD makes no difference. One is as good as the other as long as it's in the right board.

Memory....as much as it will hold....4gb is getting to be the norm now vista is hogging everything... so if your running vista..get 8gb.

Next buy a GREAT GRAPHICS CARD. This is where you will SEE the difference. So BIGGIE size this order. If your going anywhere near 3.0ghz on the processor and motherboard....go ahead and get something like a 9800gtx. ..o.k....that may be too big for the budget but you get the point. If it does not have at least 256mb onboard memory....don't waste your money. HDMI output is nice as well. I have a old radeon 9250 with 128mb on a 1ghz computer for the kids...i miss hell out of it.

You go big on the motherboard combo, graphics card, and Pwr supply. After that you can go cheapo. It's all about the same anyways. Even on sound cards....unless you are running a studio.

No joke! Get 8!

Cheers all for your hints and tips.

Stewie, thanks for going the extra mile..

J

Didn't read the whole thread but it caught my attention.

Anywhoooo.... I recently built my own box. Pentium Core Duo Quad Core, 4GB of RAM, 500GB SATA drive, dual Samsung 22" widescreens, etc. Even with the case and PSU the whole cost was around $1400. I could send you the specs.