Well I've managed to put off a new build for a while, but it's definitely time. I don't want to spend too much money on this build as I plan on getting a high-end system or maybe just a laptop in ~2 years. This one is just to fill the gap.

My current system is this:

Pentium 4 Northwood 2.6Ghz
1GB PC3200 RAM
Geforce 7600GT

i plan on reusing the seagate barracuda 7200.7 120GB hard drive to keep the cost down a little bit, and i'll also reuse the optical drives.

and this is what i plan on buying:

Case: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530AC0791

Motherboard: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=24630BD7356

CPU: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD3219

RAM: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10840BD1450

GPU: http://www.directcanada.com/produc [...] cture=EVGA

i'm also going to use a 500watt psu that i bought from a friend and only ended up using briefly. It has 24A on the +12V rail, so it should be able to handle the 8800GS.

I'm completely open to any suggestions you may have! Also i do plan on overclocking this build.

Check prices on NCIX also... i have bought a fair amount from them and find them very good.

I would consider ebay.ca for a Vid card, get a used GT or GTS...

***edit**
Does the new motherboard have the connections for your old HDD / Optical drives? I noticed it is SATA like most everything now days.

Also... as much as i dont like AMD right now, for a "low cost" build they might be the way to go.

my hard drive is SATA150, so that's not a problem. and yeah, maybe AMD isn't such a bad idea. an athlon x2 4200+ and a 780G motherboard. that was actually my original plan. My only concern is overclocking, as the E2160 is apparently a great overclocker, and that would be significantly faster than an amd setup.

As far as AMD is concerned, I think the best CPU they're presently offering is the 5000+ BE. Its got low heat and power usage and overclocks like crazy, besides being fairly cheap the last I looked. Before buying my present Intel setup, I had been thinking of getting a 5000+ BE with a 790FX board, but then I decided to go whole hog with an Intel machine. That probably wasn't the best idea, but I shouldn't have to upgrade anything but graphics cards for years to come.

although the 5000+BE is a great chip, it would put me over-budget. In terms of AMD, i'm limited to either the 4200+, or the 4600+, which is 90nm, and probably not the way to go. any suggestions?

ok i think i will go AMD. this is what i've picked out:

Motherboard: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11430BD6242

CPU: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=1036169153G

tell me what you think please!

i think you need to get a 5200+ windsor 1MB L2 cache is weak sauce: http://www.directcanada.com/produc [...] acture=AMD

well i couldn't wait anymore so i ordered my build. Thanks for all the help guys.