[hotshot1]

Hi, my hd seems like it's gonna fail soon and since I've had my computer for over 5 years, it's time to get a new one. I'm not a total computer noob but I can't say I know exactly what I'm doing. Anyway, I want to use this new pc mostly for school, gaming (not hardcore, I'm not gonna play Crysis, maybe a bit of HoN, SC2), watching videos (downloaded avi files), and surfing the net. Pretty basic stuff.

I'm ok with my computer right now and the specs for it are definitely out of date so I'm not looking for some crazy extreme i7 processors. If you're wondering, these are some of my current specs:
nvidia geforce 8600 gt graphics card
2 gigs of ram
pentium 4 3.0 ghz processor
200 gb hd
asus p5gd1
windows xp

So yeah, pretty old school. For my next one, I'd like to have an ASUS mobo, an Intel processor, and windows 7 64x for sure. I don't need a cd/dvd drive as I already have one. So I'm looking to get a cpu, ram, power supply, hd, case (a basic one) ... and potentially a new graphics card. I say this because I'm thinking of keeping the 8600 gt for now in hopes of getting a really nice one during boxing day. Will the 8600 gt work on, for example an i5?

I want to spend $900.

I did some research but I'm not able to judge which mobo or processor is the best bang for the buck. Also, is it worth it to get a ssd now? Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance.