hey guys, I'll start off by saying i'm pretty computer stupid when it comes to hardware. My 4 yr old laptop is a Compaq (or as I call it Comcrack) Presario X1000, dual layer DVD rom (had to replace stock dvd-rom becuase it wouldn't read anything), 1.256gigs of ram (had to replace 1 256mb module because it craped out ), and a crappy Centrino processor. I also had to replace the HD because the first 1 went corrupt as well as the replacement they sent, so I cut my losses and purchased my own. The computer has served me well, but it's showing it's age and is no longer reliable. It's locking up and restarting itself (most likely due to overheating), and the cooling pad I've got isn't doing anything really.

Anyways in short, I need to replace this thing, it's years of service as my primary PC has come to an end. It's just not reliable anymore. I'll still use it for my general school work and taking to class to write note and what not, but I can't be working on a computer that craps out while I'm writing my final papers for a class like it did last semester.

I don't really know anything about PC's anymore, I can build them once I've got the parts, but thats not really hard to do. I have a few things I want the PC to be able to do

1. run dual monitors is a requirement, I'll be using a PJ as secondary in all likelihood. I'll have a 15" on my desk to use for my everyday work.
2. enough power to be able to run photoshop and video editing software, some gaming would be nice but I've got an xbox 360 for that
3. have a TV tuner card in it so I can use the PJ as my TV (HD would be nice)
5. 5.1 sound capable

I don't know if this is possible, but I'd like to be able to run the Xbox360 over the projector as well, I know i can buy the VGA cable for it, but if I don't have to that would be a big plus. Plus having to switch out my 5.1 computer speakers over and over is a PITA if I have to pull them out of the back of the computer.

I'm trying to keep the costs down to $1500 or less, I've got the keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers already so this would just be for the PC. Projector will be a whole nother entity, but any money saved on the PC will go towards the PJ. I'm giving the lumenlab EVO a hard look because of it's small footprint and if I'm not mistaken it can do 720 (would like to be able to run my 360 on it at that.)

So can someone help a noob out???

1. Dual Monitor: Need a dual dvi out card ATI Radeon 1950x basically leads in the pre DX10 world BUT if you want to play DX10 capable pc games that are incoming you'll need something in the 8800GT flavor by Nvidia. A raging debate can be had as to which card to get and whether DX10 is worth anything or not, but right now Nvidia is the only one w/ a DX10 capable card (though who knows what ATI will have coming out soon)
I dont actually run dual monitor so someone who does might want to comment from their own experience.

2. Horsepower: Core 2 Duo by intel is currently holding the horsepower category although realistically any of amd's dual core processors are probably gonna be quite sufficient for your needs. You could even go for a quad-core processor. I think you definitely want to go with at least a dual-core something though as you sound like a multitasker who will have some big programs up at the same time.
3. TV Tuner: sry, i dont know what the leading HDTV tuner cards are right now, someone else can respond or you might look through the HTPlog
4. hmm
5. just about any motherboards nowadays have built in 5.1 surround.

I personally have had some bad experiences with the on-motherboard sound. You can get a nice 5.1 or 7.1 card with digital out to run to your A/V receiver for $30 or so. Or try one of the MB with the sound, if it gives you problems, pop the card in later.

I've heard there will be some more AMD pricecuts soon too, bringing down the prices of some of their more powerful cpu's might be a good deal to get in on for some extra horsepower.

dont count on cheap prices for the fx range them chips is expensive and always is gonna be

my reccomendation is to look at some of the 1500$ range of prebuilt desktops then check out how much the components cost and see if you can get anything better for example if in the prebuilt system theres an 8800gts and when you total the components you have some spare upgrade to an 8800gtx.

I don't need a screaming machine, most of it's use will be typing up papers and cruising the internet. I'll probably hook in a switch so I can switch between the computer (for movies, TV, and general use) and my xbox360 (for gaming). I've looked around at prebuilt machines and haven't found a good deal on any of them, so it looks like building is the better way to go.

Can someone give me some recommendations on the following

Motherboard
Video Card(s)
TV tuner Card
Sound Card (5.1 preferably)

Well I can give you the setup I am planning on using if you like the total for my parts will be considerable less than 1500 though. I already have my analog and HD tuners but if I had it to do over again I would chose the ones listed below. You should also pretty much forget about running you x360 through your computer as the picture quality would be horrible.

Motherboard & processor The DFI motherboard in the top combo has optical and coxial audio outputs in addition to the regular 5.1 outputs. The 3600 brisbane processor also overclocks to around 2.5-2.8ghz making it equivalent to the 5000 processor.
The top one

Video Card
x1900gt

I would go for two tv tuner cards
HD Tuner
Analog

accidentially posted again

This is my HTPC (I also wanted photoshop & Video Editing Software to run extra smoothly on it. It runs them perfectly, perfect video capture (Ulead Video Studio 10 +) with ease at even the highest PAL DVD settings (using an external usb2.0 grand av capture card), Photoshop 7.0 runs perfectly as well, & it can copy 2 sets of files at about 1gb per minute). It can run GTA San Andreas (with high resolution, maxium graphics settings, & all the best mods including 10x draw distance) very smoothly. It cost me about £250 at most.

HTPC Components:
Intel 3.2 Pentium 4 Socket 775 processor 541
Foxconn 865G7MF-SH motherboard
Heatsink and fan included
Intel chipset
Expansion Slots: 1 x AGP 8x, 3 x PCI
Integrated performance graphics
IDE: 2 x ATA 100
Serial ATA SATA / RAID: 2 x SATA I/150
Integrated 5.1 channel audio
LAN: Fast Ethernet 10/100 for networking / broadband
Corsair Memory VS1GBKIT400 PC3200 2x512MB CAS2.5
80GB 7200RPM Maxtor HDD
Pioneer DVD+-DL R/W
Samsung DVD ROM
ATI Sapphire Technology Radeon 9550 256MB AGP DVI-I VO
400W X-Power PSU
Salvaged Case from old PC that I got for free
80mm CoolerMaster 12V DC Fan used as intake fan
OS's: Microsoft Windows XP with Vista Transformation Pack 6.0, Freespire Linux