Help with new build,,,, really

[suitcase]

Ok, in 2000 I read Maximum PC and they built a pc and I thought, hey I can do that. With the help I got here I did and I'm still using it today with a few upgrades. Thanks PC Mech. Now I'm retiring soon and traditionaly the guys take a few bucks to give the one leaving. I want to use it to build a new PC. As you can see, a build in 2000 will greatly differ from one today so how about helping me out. I'll give you idea what I need.
I do game. Last one got was Fear and it played "OK" on my system.
I may do some video work, e.i. converting VHS to DVD.
I want to keep it around $1000. I know that won't get me a power unit.
I want to stay with XP for now but I want a drive big enough to have another OS on.
Give me some ideas please. I've been reading some posts and am confused.

[Cricket]

Are you planning to re-use anything from your current computer or will you build a new computer from the ground up?

I'm assuming you want to stick with Intel so a Core 2 Duo or a Core 2 Quad would be the CPU you'll be looking at. If you don't do a lot of multi-tasking you don't need a C2Q.

RAM is very cheap now so get at least 2GB.

Look at the ASUS P5K motherboards.

Make sure you get a good quality power supply...450 watts and up should be fine, depending on the video card you get.

Since you're going to be doing video work you'll want at least one good sized hard drive but getting two may help with organization of data backups and such. I'd get two 500GB HDDs.

Can't help you with the video card choice, I don't follow that market.

Cricket

[Alaron]

For the video card, the best bang for the buck right now are the Geforce 8800GT cards. They come in around $250, so that could be a stretch on the budget. If so, take a look at the Radeon HD 3850 cards. A bit less expensive but still good performers.

[suitcase]

I would like to stay with Intel. I've built five PCs but they were all built before PCI express came out. Do I need to concern myself with board chipsets and all that. I guess what I wanted is someone to say "use this board, this ram, this video card. The only thing I might use is the power supply. I was using the antec 350W that came with my case but upgraded when I got the new video card. I got a Sparkle 450 or 500 W. I've used crucial ram and guess it's still quality ram. Sorry that it took so long to get back to you guys. Thanks for the help.

[kmillerusaf]

Chipsets do matter. nforce chipsets are generally recommended for AMD processors and intel chipsets for intel CPUs. You should be fine with the Sparkle power supply so long as you arent running like a beast of a video card, cpu, and have like 4 HDDs and a bunch of USB devices

[suitcase]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128067
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148071
this is a Gigabyte board. I've used them twice without any problems. I looked over the Asus recommended and theres a lot of complaints
How about the processor. What's the difference in the names. Like conroe and all?
the crucial ram. which would be best the DDR 2 800 or DDR2 1066 the board excepts either