Am wanting to build a new system and give my old one to my son. It's been several years since I've done the research but I'm trying to catchup. Could you tell me how this would work or what changes I should look at. I'm trying to stay under $800. My old system is:
Celeron 900
Tyan S1854 Trinity 400 M/B
384MB PC133 SDRAM
Samsung 48X CDROM
HP 9100I 32x8x4 CDRW
SB Live Value
Diamond Viper V770 16MB AGP 4 Video
Mwave Case W/ 300 PSU
I do not overclock and I do play some games not but not like QUAKE ECT..Mainly use it for internet, and Office type programs.
Here is what I am looking at:
A7N8X MB (The Deluxe??? Do I need it??) How is the onboard sound? I have a SB live if needed.
XP2100+
MSI TI 4200-TD AGP 4X 64MB Video Card
Seagate Barracuda 60 GB 7200 UATA-100
2 sticks 256 MB Kingston PC2700 333MHZ Ram
Lite-on 48/24/48 CDRW
Pioneer DVD-119 16X DVD ?? Do I need one?? Don't watch movies on my CPU.
Antec 630II Case or SX835II but they only have a 300/350 PSU?? will this be ok??
1FDD
Maybe would like to go from 98 to XP ??
Don't want the fastest but want to upgrade using MB the next 2-3 years. Don't want to just throw money away if not needed. Also thought about the MSI KT4 Ultra SR MB. Also right now I have a 15" monitor but will be getting a new 19" after the system is built. Thanks for any help or ideas

I realized I didn't explain some of my choices. I would recommend you go with CAS 2 RAM. The Corsair is so rated. That will cost you more than what you have. I am not telling you can't use the Kingston, just that there will be difference in speed. One article I read said using CAS2.5 RAM vs CAS2 RAM is like going from a XP 2100+ to an XP 2000+. If you can get two sticks of the Corsair RAM that would be great. One 512 stick at CAS2 would be better than two slower 256 sticks at CAS2.5. You could take my system and add another stick of Corsair RAM later when the cash becomes available.

I guess it depends on how flexible your budget is. You can use the Kingston I just wanted you to know the difference.

You can also save some money on the video card if you are mainly using Office apps, internet and light gaming. You could go with a ATI RADEON 9000 PRO 128MB AGP for $124.95. I like the 128 MB, but you could probably get by with the 64 MB.

<font color=red>The solution may be obvious, but I can't see it for the smoke coming off my processor.</font color=red>

Looks good to me, though I've heard mixed reviews on the functionality of the board. I saw the reccomendations of an ATI graphics card, and while you can get one for cheaper, their drivers are usually more of a hassle/pain to update involving extra steps rather than just 'running the executable' with most other cards (usually involves at least removing a program from add/remove programs).

I'd also counter the argument for a maxtor harddrive: In office and internet unless you are bringing up a huge file, the HD speed isn't as important. If you are doing a lot of important work, I would go with a Seagate because where I work they seem to have the lowest failure rate of anything.

From personal experience: I'd suggest avoiding the MSI vid card, they seem to have some probs in the GF4 area. I like the ASUS cards myself, again, not quite the performance, but at least reliable.

Athlon XP 1600+, MSI K7T PRO2 RU (POS), 2x256 MB CRUCIAL PC2100 CL2.5 memory, Asus V6800 DDR Delux (GF 256) video card, 6.4GB+27GB WD HD, 40GB IBM HD (all 7200RPM). My computer is an acronym