Best PC for my needs ...

[Nestle]

I am moving to another area soon, so although I have no problem with my current computer I am going to buy a new one (can't take this with me there)
My current computer is a 900Mhz Athlon, 768MB PC133, Asus A7V, Geforce MX 32MB. I got it 1.5 years ago and it still works fine. But since I am getting a new one anyways, I want a really fast one that will last for at least 2 years. Still I don't want to waste my money buying something that will be an overkill and will not be needed even after 2 years.
This PC is going to be used mainly for internet content creation (Dreamweaver, Flash, HTML XML PHP editors etc), for some image processing with Photoshop and similar apps, office applications and watch DVD movies.
I also play some games from time to time, but that not a major thing.

My budget for the whole system is around $3000. That will include a relativly expensive ($900) LCD monitor.
For CPU, Motherboard, video-card, sound-card, memory, hard-drive(s) the budget will be about $1500.
Whats the best combination of parts for my needs that will fit my budget? e.g would IDE RAID with 2 or 3 hard-drives be better than more expensive CPU?
Thanks.

 

[Leokor]

You don't need RAID. A single WD1200JB with 120GB of storage and 8MB cache should fill all your needs. Just make sure you don't confuse the JB version with the BB version (the latter only has 2MB cache, for a dramatic difference in performance). It can be had for somewhere in the ballpark of $200.

Leo

 

[Mavrick007]

I would get an Athlon XP 2000+ or 2100+, 512Meg DDR ram, and a decent 3d card that will process your graphic apps. You don't need raid like the Leoker said. I would probably get the WD 120Gig JB drive as well cause it's a very sweet and large drive that should last you a long while. If you get a new mobo, cpu, ram, and 3d card, then you will be around what you were expecting to pay for the new machine(~$1500). Get a good psu like one from Enermax, Sparkle or Antec and a good case and things will be sweet for a long while to come.

 

[Nestle]

I see in most internet content creation benchmarks Intel CPUs come first. Should I consider a P4 or not? So far I always end up buying AMD since my 386DX CPU. the only Intel CPU I had was an 8086. Should I stick with AMD? Would it worth to wait for the .13 micron AMD CPU?
Also, what motherboard and video-card would you suggest? As i said before I don't play lots of games, so I work mainly with 2D graphics apps like photoshop. Still, i woould like a card that would be able to produce very nice looking 3D, but i don't care about very high frame rates in games.
I agree that if I go with one HD setup the WD 120Gig JB is the best at the moment.
The hardest decision is about the motherboard and the graphics card.