Hi! I'm looking into replacing what seems to be a broken PIII Toshiba Satellite notebook.
I got it in 2001 and it has done an excellent job in what it does and has served its purpose...
I have 3 routes I can take and some questions.

First, I'm looking into this Acer Extensa Laptop: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] 6469485969

*AMD TL-58 DUAL CORE CPU
*2 GB RAM (4 GB MAX)
*ATi Radeon X1250 IGP (896 MB MAX)
*Vista Home Premium
*etc...
*Price? $500.00! :-)


Secondly, HP Pavilion a6200n:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP- [...] tDetail.do



*AMD X2 5000+
*2 GB RAM
*GEFORCE 6150 SE (128 MB Dedicated Memory, 623MB total with shared memory)
*Vista Home Premium
*1 open PCI-X 16X slot (upgrade video card later...)
*1 open PCI slot (will purchase X-Fi sound card in the future)
*Some LCD TFT monitor
*Some HP printer

All for like $660.00 + tax

I'm not sure what type of motherboard this has and the PSU power though... But I plan on upgrading the PSU as I add in other components later...



Thirdly, I need a recommendation of a BYO Desktop computer with parts bought from Newgg.com or somewhere reliable to purchase from. The budget is $700.00.

I need the following:

*ATX Mid tower case
*CPU
*PSU
*RAM
*Hard Drive
*Video Card (if the motherboard doesn't include it already)
*Sound Card (I prefer X-Fi unless someone can recommend something else)
*ATX Mid Tower Case
*Case Fans
*The artic Silver paste for the CPU (how much of this do I put?)
*DVD Writer
*Keyboard and Mouse (I prefer wireless...)
*17" or 19" TFT LCD monitor that can also be used for gaming consoles.
*An Antivirus that doesn't eat up System Resources...

I want to be able to upgrade the CPU to a Quad core Q6600 (Intel) or Phenom (AMD) in the future.
I'm not too worried about the type of video card as I can use a motherboard with built-in video. But it would be nice to have one anyway to take away tasks for the cpu to use and so that I can play some older games in MAX settings.
As far as the operating System go. I have a copy of Windows XP Home Full version (a real and legit copy!) Plus a copy of Linux...


I plan on using this computer for a variety of tasks:


-Email and Web Browsing
-Listen to music (I use headphones only!)
-Some Gaming--> Counter Strike: Condition Zero, PGA Tiger Woods Golf 07', The Sims 2, Hoyle Casino in MAX settings and I would like to be able to play a variety of future games as they come out...
-Edit videos from a camcorder.
-Watch DVD movies
-Use music hardware and software such as M-Audio Torq
-Do/learn web development stuff from school.
-Burn music

Unless $700.00 is a bit low. I can POSSIBLY add in $50.00 more just to cover tax and shipping charges. It would help if there's free shipping. All components SHOULD be new! Meaning NO open box.

For what you're doing, gaming and video editing, especially the latter you're better off build. Suggest the ASUS because it has 6 SATA and onboard eSATA and firewire, especially if your camcorder has a firewire connection.
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813131225

A DATA makes good inexpensive RAM, DDR2 800 2 x 1GB, the Cool Master Centurion is a nice case with a good price with a TIER II PSU. The Antic NEO HE is a nice PSU, at least 500w preferably 550 if it fits your budget. Video editing is CPU intensive and games are more dependent on the video card this is where your biggest trade offs will be. I don't game but I don't think most of the games you've require a really high level video card so an 8600GT should work and depending on when your planning to get the Q6600 will have a lot to do with the CPU If you'll be able to get the 6600 in the next 6 months or so, I get an expensive one but if it'll be a year or so, I put as much as possible into the CPU. Suggest you create some Wish List on newegg and price out different options

^Agreed. For motherboard I recommend a P35-DS3x. Here is some really good RAM for about $40 after MIR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145590
If you are building it within the next weeks i suggest you wait a while for the new Intel CPUs to be released. This should reduce prices for the Q6600, etc.

Hi! I was able to find some stuff to buy from newegg, but my budget went a bit overboard. I would like to cut down on costs with what I've picked, but I would like to keep the motherboard for future upgrades.

I saw one guy post something like a $450.00 budget excl. the monitor here somewhere in the forums, but I totally forget who it was.

I will wait until the 45nm cpus are out before getting the parts. Plus, I MAY upgrade the CPU to something a bit quicker...

Here's what I have so far:




MOTHERBOARD


GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
1x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Intel Motherboards
CPU Type: Quad-core / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Extreme / Pentium D
Dual Channel Supported: Yes
FSB: 1333/1066MHz
Maximum Memory Supported: 8GB
Model #: GA-P35-DS3L
Item #: N82E16813128059
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
3 Business Day Shipping $5.84
Your Price:$99.99


MEMORY


CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$65.00
($35.00 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
Free 3 Business Day Shipping



CPU


Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2180 - Retail
64 bit Support: Yes
FSB: 800MHz
Hyper-Threading Support: No
L2 Cache: 1MB
Model #: BX80557E2180
Item #: N82E16819116052
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
Free 3 Business Day Shipping
Your Price:$87.99



VIDEO CARD


Special savings w/ combo purchase, ends 1/18

EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
1x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Video Cards
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 560MHz
D-SUB: 1
DirectX: DirectX 9
Model #: 256-P2-N615-TX
Item #: N82E16814130062
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Original Price: $89.99
You Save: $5.00
Free 3 Business Day Shipping
Your Price:$84.99
Mail-In Rebate: $15.00
Price after rebate(s):$69.99








HARD DRIVE


Get this free w/ ABS power supply combo, limited offer

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
1x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Internal Hard Drives
Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Free 3 Business Day Shipping
Your Price:$69.99





DVD WRITER


Sony NEC Optiarc Combo Drive Black IDE Model CRX320EE/B2S W/O SW - OEM
Cache: 2MB
CD-R: 52X
CD-ROM: 52X
CD-RW: 32X
Model #: CRX320EE/B2S W/O SW
Item #: N82E16827131014
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
3 Business Day Shipping $4.99
Your Price:$22.99




CASE



APEVIA X-JPJST-AL Silver SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Image Viewer

$74.99
($54.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
3 Business Day Shipping $7.59
(Not available in HI, AK and PR)
In Stock




POWER SUPPLY


COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-650-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 650W Power Supply - Retail
+12V Rails: 2
Efficiency: > 70%
Fans: Sleeve bearing 120mm fan
Hold-up Time: 17ms min.
Model #: RP-650-PCAR
Item #: N82E16817171014
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
3 Business Day Shipping $8.22
Your Price:$99.99
Mail-In Rebate: $45.00
Price after rebate(s):$54.99





MONITOR

SAMSUNG 720N Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 600:1 - Retail
$189.99
3 Business Day Shipping $13.18



around $900.00 inc. tax! (minus rebates)