need system config suggestions pls

[volsfan0911]

Hi - Noob here on this forum. Am going to put a rig together for GF. No high end gaming. Photo editing (not professional level), surfing, MS Office work, etc. Have a copy of XP already (thank God) so no Vista. Total budget $1000 for the box - am going to re-use an old monitor until she wants to pop for newer, bigger, mo' better. I've built PC's back in the dark ages (8 years ago taking the A+ course) but not anything recently. No OC planned although I'm seriously leaning towards a Q6600 which seems to OC up to 3.0 or so with no problems and very simple BIOS settings. Still undecided there. Reasonably roomy case is preferred since I'm an old fart now and hate working in something I can't see, get my hands in, etc. :p She will want a gazzillon USB ports up front (so 6 headers off the MOBO would be nice) and could care less about firewire. Everyone on here seems to love Corsair for the PSU and that's fine by me. Rather buy a good one up front, save myself headaches and never have to deal with it again! Greatly appreciate any suggestions and advice. I've been really happy with Newegg in ordering anything (doesn't that go for everyone?) but don't have to order the whole shebang from them if it's cheaper elsewhere. Thanks!

[RickyTick]

Alright. Check this out.

I like the Q6600 too.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80864
on this motherboard (awesome price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030
inside this case (which has 2 USB ports and the mobo has 4)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
a very strong video card but not too expensive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130334
and this ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
and this huge hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
all powered by this psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

Add in a DVD R/W for around $35 and it comes to about $925 or so. This is top notch stuff too. You won't be disappointed.

What do you think?

[volsfan0911]

RT - Looks very good - the basics should hold through a few upgrades. The Q6600 is almost as cheap at newegg ($249 currently) so that'll work either way. I don't know if there's any reason to throw more than 2GB of RAM at it, but I could even add another two sticks in there for 4GB and come in under budget (or close enough for government work). Appreciate the suggestions!

[RickyTick]

2gb of ram is plenty for a Widows XP 32 bit system. 4gb would be good if you have the 64 bit version.