Noob Build on a Budget

[pmgah]

I'm on a pretty tight budget ... preferably under $700 ... the less expensive the better.

I don't game much, mostly RTS games like Command and Conquer.

I do however do a lot on my computer at once. Listn to music (windows media player or itunes), run Trillian Pro, browse the internet (several tabs at once), run microsoft office, and maybe anouther application or two not listed here. I run many, but not ususally all, at the same time. The media players alone slow down my computer, that I have now, to a crawl.

I'm also a computer science major, so I'll be running VC++ 6.0 and VC++ .NET 2003 on my computer.

I would like an Intel Core 2 Duo, a decent graphics card, CD/DVD reader/writer, and USB ports in the front (don't know if this comes standard or not).

I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and OS.
(although any suggestions for a cheap LCD monitor would be great. My current one is bulky and heavy.)

I would like to get this computer built as soon as possible, but I want it to eventualy run Windows Vista, asuming they don't push it back again.

My computers in the past were just the cheapest ones I could find and I'm looking to up the power.

A few final questions.
Should I wait until Vista comes out to build my new PC?
If I do wait, would it be cheaper, for what I want the computer to do, to just buy retail?
If I buy retail, what is a good brand?

Thankyou for taking the time to read my post and reply.

[newbuilder14]

This is quite doable given your requirements.

Most cases have front USB ports.

You could wait until Windows Vista, but I would just build what you want now if you have the money to do so - technology is always changing.

You could have a setup similar to this:

Antec Sonata II w/ 450w PSU
Asus P5B
C2D E6300
2x512mb Corsair ValueSelect (may want 2gb if really multitasking)
Retail Lite-On DVD burner
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250gb?
7600gs or x1600pro (or ATI similar) video card
XP Home OEM

I think you can fit that into your budget - you could always drop a video card and switch to a P5B-VM for now.