well my awesome dell is down again

Just recently I was doing about 8 things at once and the screen just froze up. Thought nothing of it and rebooted. It lasted maybe an hour before locking again. Ive pulled all my memory except one sim with no avail. Its not overheating either. We did have a storm a few days ago but I didn't notice anything until yesterday.

Any thoughts would be great. I guess I'll be building a new box but would still like this one around

Also havent built a computer in quite some time so I could use some help on that front as well. Just shooting for middle of the line the most I do is photoshop and CSS

That kinda stuff was happening to me. It would randomly lock up, and do other stupid stuff. Ended up being my Motherboard. You can attempt to reset your bios, beyond that Im really not sure.

So, do you have a budget? There are many levels of "middle of the line", I personally consider middle of the line to be about 1200$ for everything minus monitor, but I know everybody has their own opinions.

Wow how is $1200 middle of the line. Just looking around newegg the shuttle barebones kits + processor + gfx card + hdd looks to be about $600

$600 is around what i would spend

I guess I am just a big spender.

You'd have to do some looking, (newegg doesn't carry this particular processor anymore) but a E4300 would probably be a good choice for you, its a dual core, clocked at about 2ghz, and it is popular among overclockers because of how much it can be overclocked from stock.

An 8800GT is the best bang for your graphics card buck imho.

As far as cases, its worthwhile to spend more on a case, Lian-Li and Silverstones entire lines are good cases but the P180 by Antec, the M998 by Ultra, the Tempest by NZXT, Aurora by Gigabyte, the 900 by Antec and The Coolermaster Cosmos Or Stacker are all very popular cases, though some may be a little large for your tastes and needs. I've owned a microatx (which, a shuttle is even smaller) case and haven't been super pleased with it. They run hot, are impossible to work with because of their size and tend to make more noise than you expect. A suprisingly good place to get cases is amazon, because they are priced fairly well, and typically qualify for super-saver shipping. I ordered my m998 from there, and my only criticism is that the packaging for the case itself was they shipping packaging (They didn't put it inside another box or anything)

Watch newegg, they put specials on DDR2 800 ram, (the speed you'll more than likely be looking for) for ~$50 [2 x 1gb dual channel]

that processor is $150 on amazon does that sound reasonable?

I'm not one to constantly mess with my case so size to work doesn't really bother me. Just looking for a decent barebones kit

iirc Newegg is selling the E4400 (Which is faster, but may not be as much value per dollar as the E4300) for about $150, so to answer, not really. You can't really go wrong with any Core 2 Duo, they're all quite good. I will tell you though to look for the ones with a 4M Cache instead of the 2M cache, these are usually marked as Exx50, though not always. The major standouts (IMO) are the Q6600 if you're looking to make a high performance, and the E4300 for value. I'd steer clear of AMD.

Also, you're looking probably to buy the standard packaging, just as a heads up. An OEM processor is just the processor. No warranty, no heatsink, no paste, just the processor. If you're going to get an aftermarket heatsink (FrostyTech.com has exceptional Reviews and Through Tables) then I'd advocate going OEM getting whatever you think is the best value, and some Artic 5 Silver Thermal Grease/Paste. However, the Intel Stock heatsink is actually a decent choice as well.

Sites to look at:
newegg.com
tigerdirect.com
microcenter.com (I don't know if they have one where you are, but they are decently priced store that actually has all this stuff in inventory so you can look at it in person, and typically have helpful staff)
tomshardware.com (Look at the CPU & VGA charts as well as their monthly VGA round up)
frostytech.com (For aftermarket heatsinks)
I regularly look at
bjorn3d.com
hardocp.com
for reviews of hardware.

I have a ton of amazon money so if its a little more that's fine

The also have the E4500 for $150 and E6550 for about $180. I think I'm going to order this weekend just need to pick out the processor. Leaning towards the E6550 but need help seeing if its worth. Thanks thusfar

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/proc ... 2,403.html

I think I already gave you this link, but they have CPU charts as well as GPU charts that rate the processor's performance at certain tasks. It makes it really easy to compare 2 processors.

From base specs the E6550 looks better couldnt really find info on which is better OCed, does that one sound good then? That price looks about the same everywhere as well.

EDIT: ok so its either the E6550 for $180 or the Q6600 for $220 tough decision. Amazon has an eVGA 512mb 8800 GT for $139, that will use the remainder of my amazon money. Then guru has talked me into going up to micro atx and looks like i can get the case and mobo for ~$170. Then I just need to figure out my memory and Ill be good to go. Net cost of ~$200 (amazon money was basically free)

started to get a part list together

tell me anything wrong w/ anything you see
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813188022
case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811108060
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6822136076
memory: Havent decided on brand but 2x2gb ~$80 (still need input here)
gfx: http://www.amazon.com/e-GeForce-512MB-P ... D4QGGXKKFL
proc: http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Q6600-Quad- ... y_e_text_b

or so you dont have to click links
intel c2d q6600
eVGA 9600GT 512mb
eVGA microATX mobo
400gb sata HD (looks like best cost/gb atm)
I am just pulling the dvd burner I have now
Still deciding on memory


Thanks again for the help

Your video card won't fit in that case. The rear PCI slots are "low-profile" so the video card will be too tall. You will need to find a new case or a low-profile video card. The only place I saw this mentioned was on the picture of the back. The case needs to have full height expansion slots.

He's right, you will need a taller case. Also, 300W may not be enough power for a Q6600 and a 9600GT. 400+ Should be okay.

If you get anything from EVGA, register it with them on their website!! They have really good warranties and deals, but you have to register the product with them

Happy Hunting

Sounds good I was between that case and another that had a 420W psu

Should be ordering before next weekend to catch the evga rebates