I am getting ready to build a new ( to me ) BOX.
Budget is of the esscence as a long delayed separation will separate me , not only from my current address, but from my beloved comp'.
I have in the past been able (over time ) to find reviews and comparisons in magazines to guide me in component choices. For example mid-priced,
over achieving video cards. I'm not a big gamer. I just want good, fast graphics.

Question is: Who do you turn to for buying advice when the best is not important but, the best for the money?

One magazine (?) used to regularly do comparisons and the outcome would always include a mid-priced board for those of us who didn't want/need the latest and greatest but, still had had expectations.

In advance thank you all

I usually turn to the community of posters here in this forum!

Seriously, there is an amazing depth of knowledge here. Post your budget (a SPECIFIC budget) and what you plan to use the system for, and let us have a run at it.

I assume you need EVERYTHING? Monitor, OS, speakers?

In the meantime, have a look here:
http://www.techspot.com/guides-buying.shtml

i have 2 power supplies ( 200watt), 1 should be good. I do not plan on much in the way of power drain to begin with so this should suffice for the short haul.
By not much I mean that a DVD/CD r-rw, HDD, case fans (2), MBD & CPU, and maybe a couple of LEDs to begin with.

I am currently looking at a couple of cases on e-bay to begin with as painting and planned mods will take some time. This is my first step.
I have a keyboard and monitor ( both currently in pieces waiting paint ) that will do for now. I also have 2 HDD ( WD 40 and 80 gb).

I am studying Motherboards, memory and CPUs trying to be ready for the next step. after that i will need a graphics card. Not being a hardcore gamer middle of the road is looking better than it should.
Thanks for the link to the buying guide. I'll burn it up.
thanks Don

Your 200W PSU isn't going to be sufficient for most anything you are going to build. I wouldn't trust a 200W with anything faster than a 1.2Ghz machine with a GF2 Video card 1 hd and 1 optical drive.