New Build - Been A Few Years

Can you give us an idea of your budget?

MB = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131297
189.99 Asus P5Q Deluxe : one of the best board, full of features and good if you OC.

Mem = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220293
17.99 after MIR Patriot 2*2 Gb, a 4Gb ram kit at only $18 after MIR...

CPU = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017
184.99 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, a core 2 quad and one of the best CPU for around $200, it will last long since most newer prog will eventually take advantage of quads...

Total of $392.79

Make sure you have a good quality PSU like Corsair...

What OS will you be using?
Vista 64 will be best to take full advantage of the 4Gb of ram.

Edit: add some comments...

no more comments required, noc nailed it, story done!

That RAM may be cheap, but it requires 2.2v to get 4-4-4-12 timings. You're better off getting RAM that runs at a lower voltage since it should run cooler, last longer, and have more overclocking headroom.

mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731 $49.99 - $20.00 MIR

or

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231209 $49.99

I think there's two ways to approach this. One is more cost effective. The other much better in preformance. If you want to do the cost effective setup, go with the setup posted earlier.

The other one would be to go with an i7 setup. Due to your use of video editing and MS Office 2007 you would see a signicant increase in preformance when running these applications. This however would cost more in the range of $750-800 (MB: $300, CPU: $300, Ram: $175) instead of $400. This is still faily new technology however and that's why there is the price preium. This setup is not really geared for gaming, but for enterprise type applications such as encoding and crunching numbers...ect. (Still best cpu in for gaming on the market, just not made for it).

If your willing to spend in this price range, let us know and we can start digging into this for you. If not i'd suggest the setup noted earlier in this thread. That is a very nice setup, I just feel it might start showing its age in a year or two.

Forget the budget. I plan to look for bargains after the holidays - I am patient. I have put together at least a dozen machines in the last 10 or 12 years, so it's not like I am new to the process. For me, installing the hardware and getting the box running are the easy part. Getting Windows to load (and re-load, and re-load) and finally work is typically the most time-consuming and frustrating part... I have found over the years that you should never skimp on the MB, PSU, CPU Cooling, keyboards or monitors. You can usually find rock-solid - albeit slower - cpu's, memory, video cards, hard drives, etc.

My objective here was to gather information quickly to steer me to a few motherboard/CPU options since I have been out of the game for a few years (other than my usual upgrades of different components). I want to understand what the best technology would be to purchase in the next couple of months so far as CPU/MB and AMD vs Intel. Everything else I do will fall in to place once that decision is made. I have no experience with Vista, but want to take advantage of 64 bit technology, particularly to make video editing more productive and enjoyable. Consequently, I am interested in a motherboard CPU combo that is proven to work with Vista 64.

My strategy in the past was to purchase a strong MB using a socket that was likely to be around for a while. I would generally follow a strategy of continuous upgrading and purchase of components as the prices dropped or budget permits. The parts I replace would then be shuffled around into other machines in the house. (For example, two of my other computers have socket 939 boards, one identical to make this even easier.) I have no desire to spend tons of extra money on the latest, fastest processor, RAM or video card when they can be had for 1/10 the price a year later. If I did video editing 8 hours a day or was an avid gamer, that song might be different.

I should also mention that heat and noise have recently become an issue. One of the things that has changed in the last year is that I now work at home. I have a laptop and desktop running all day. In the winter, no problem. However, my office really heats up during the summer, so much so that I would have to put a fan outside the door to blow cooler air into the room to keep ambient temps down. Running this thing all day is the equivalent of leaving a small hair dryer blowing in the room. I just can't force myself to turn the thermostat down and freeze the rest of the house just to keep my office cool... This is not a deal-breaker, but certainly an important consideration.

Ya sounds like your in the business of i7. The LGA775 socket cpu's are still great processors and can handle the most demanding games and software fairly well. Its just that their lifecycle is coming to an end and the upgrading paths for these cpus and motherboards are coming to an end within a year, maybe two.

AMD is falling behind fast. Even with their new line up about to come out it shouldn't touch the power the i7 has. I wouldn't reccomend an AMD really unless your talking about a sub $500 dollar rig.

I disagree with EXT that the i7 is highly overpriced. I personaly think its quite affordable upon a newly released technology. I think its the items around it that make it harder to swallow the such as the $300 mb and $200 in ram.

my opipion, I took the jump to vista and never looked back. When it first came out it had its problems. Many of those problems have been worked out and many harderware items have drivers now that support vista where as when it first came out they did not.

I have not had a bsod or a lock up in ages with vista. The only times i ever did was because of my own fault. pushing an overclock to far or I messed up an application that i was writing code for.