Newb here - Need some wisdom...

[san21893]

Alright thanks, I'll just wait for the people helping me to assemble a deal for me in the meantime.

Also I bought a hard drive almost 2 years ago that I never used and it is still brand new, here is the link to it.

PROVANTAGE: Seagate ST3300831AS Barracuda 7200.8 300GB SATA/150 NCQ 8MB 7200RPM

Back then the back of this hard drive looked completely different from the one inside my computer so I just shelved it and never used it, I don't know if its outdated its been less than a couple years, and on that link there are some users who have had said it has its faults but if I can save $80 on a Hard drive and use this one I have that would be nice.

Yea u prolly had an IDE drive in your computer which is older, for light use u should be fine w/ that hdd but if u want the newest go for 7200.10

 

[veg1992]

Alright thanks.

But...where are the techies that were helping me with a machine.

I mean I'd like a few people to agree on a suitable PC for me I think, and recommend me places online to buy it before I blow full steam ahead. Also, when the parts do come I will need help assembling!!

..... i'm here aren't i??? lol newegg and zipzoomfly are the best to buy, but buy from the places with the cheapest prices

 

[ssjheero_yuy99]

While you are waiting for parts and stuff, do some background reading about the building of a computer. I'm sure everyone here will help along the way, but it's always good to have some information on hand. Here is one site, you can google and find lots.
How To Assemble A Desktop PC - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks

If you can find it, Leo Laporte and Patrick Notron's how to build a computer video that they did while on Tech TV, is a very good step-by-step process. Its a video (dvd), so you might be able to find it somewhere. I have it, it is a very good tutorial for beginnings, showing the do's and don'ts of building. It's a bit outdated but the steps really have not changed.

I have tried to put together the parts that have been listed into one big list with everything that is needed. (note: this assumes that you have an operating system (aka OS), the OS can be a very expensive piece of software depending on what you want to run.) Since you are going into school, (you didn't say what type), and if it's a college, you might check the college bookstore; sometimes they will have cheap operating systems that the students can buy. (i.e. the college I go to sells full install windows xp pro disks for $5, I was very unhappy after paying the $180 more to get pro when building my computer then finding out I could have gotten the same thing for $5 at college) (note that price was bout 2 years ago, I think its around $120 now, but still expensive)

Ok, now onto the list.
All stuff from newegg. Also please note that these are not my choices, they are merely the choices that have been outlined by other members, all bundled into one nice post. There are some pieces that I would argue against or change, (for cost).

Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model AW-Q170A-B2 - OEM ($30.99)

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ($44.99)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM ($79.99)

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
($304.99)

EVGA 122-M2-NF59-TR Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail ($89.99)

ATI 100-437808 Radeon X1650PRO 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail ($149.99)

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail ($90.99)

FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 450W Power Supply - Retail ($57.99)

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ($129.99)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3600DDBOX - Retail ($61.99)

Shipping for this lot is ~$54. For a grand total of $1,095.80 after MIR (includes shipping)

This is above your $850 budget, I know and again, remember that these don't reflect my choices or preferences; they are merely the parts that have been suggested put together into one big list.

The things that I would suggest are:
1), get different screen, unless you really want that monster 22”.

I suggest the following: (edit -- actually I take that back, I don't like widescreen models; but I will leave it/ reason: too hard to find back ground images that I like for... I know, poor reason)
SAMSUNG 941BW Black 19" 4 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail ($195.99)

2) too much for the sound card. I'd get this. (realize that I'm aiming for a decent mid-range machine, (~$850). My personal sound card is less then this, it's a Live 5.1 SB from creative, and sounds very good on my Logitech speakers, x-530 I believe) . (edit-- my Live card did fine for my sound editing, but I am not an audio person and will step aside to their suggestions)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
($32.99)

3) not sure about power supply, I always go Antec, I'll post what I'd get…
Antec earthwatts EA430 ATX12V v2.0 430W Power Supply - Retail ($44.99), this is what I currently run, have had no problems. Running my system. (although my system is way below these spechs…)

4) I'm not good with MBs so I'm not going to comment on that.
5) Not sure what you need for a video card, so I grabbed a ok one.
EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - Retail ($104.99)

Switching these parts around, it will be $870.90 (after shipping and MIR) The monitor is a big hit. I choose Samsung because they are a high-quality brand, and for video editing it might be nice, (colors and such), but you can easily get a cheaper one.

To help hack off more price…
6) ram: OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail ($75.99)

Ok so that is now $816.90.
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Ok, below is the $816.90
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail ($75.99)

EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - Retail ($104.99)

Antec earthwatts EA430 ATX12V v2.0 430W Power Supply - Retail ($44.99)

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
($32.99)

SAMSUNG 941BW Black 19" 4 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail ($195.99)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3600DDBOX - Retail ($61.99)

Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model AW-Q170A-B2 - OEM ($30.99)

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ($44.99)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM ($79.99)

EVGA 122-M2-NF59-TR Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail ($89.99)

$762.90 + $43.39 shipping = $806.29 (ok I lied, shipping changed for the better)

Ok, so for $806.29 you get a 3600+ (means it will run equivalent to 3.6Ghz Intel, (according to AMD)), a 320GB HD, (throw your other 300 in as well, video editing takes lost of space) (so you will have 620GBs HD), a tower, DVD burner, 19” Samsung, 7.1 surround sound card, 430W PSU, GeForce 7900GS 256MB, and 2GB Ram. Note: no OS, keyboard, or mouse. Some people are suggesting a different CPU cooling fan, not necessary, as it comes with the CPU, but will most likely run cooler with a non-stock fan. You still have ~$45 to play around with until your $850 mark, so could still add in. This one reflects some of my chooses but I am no good at choosing the MB, so if someone suggests a better one, might go with that. (you might note that I just used the one already suggested earlier rather then trying to get one myself.) (I also didn't bother to check on HD or CPU, as the other members have suggested them, I don't see anything wrong with their suggestions.)

Hope that helps, I'll help you build as you have questions, just post away.

EDIT -- Should allow you to run most anything. Dual-core for multi-prossesing, (i.e. video editing on one core, rest on the other), and for the graphics card, you should be able to run games just fine on med-high settings.
For photoshop, movie and film editing you might consider to use 4GB ram, but you can always get another 2 later, if 2 isn't enough.

ps: this took a long time to get together, so others might have already posted something similar.