Hey Gerbils,
I recently upgraded my computer's CPU, MB and RAM, and now I'd like to use my old parts in a build for my mother. She has a nice 42" LED-LCD 1080p TV and a 5.1 home theater system. (We've got a nice receiver for that.) The computer will mainly be for streaming video, but also web browsing and some gaming. (Skyrim should play decently.) The most important feature is that it be quiet: this thing will sit in the living room. The parts I have from my old system are:
CPU: Q6600 B3
Motherboard: Nvidia 680i
GPU: Nvidia 8800GT 512MB
RAM: 4 x 1GB DDR2 800MHz
Case: (Some twelve-year-old POS)
A Samsung 830 SSD is on order already, and we're looking at the NZXT H2 for a case. The old case will work fine, but it's ugly and may not be very quiet.
Where I'm stuck is the power supply and graphics card. My old 8800 is loud—so loud that I prefer to use my new CPU's integrated graphics. I also suspect the 8800 will struggle with some games, but I don't know enough to say for sure. On the power supply front, I'd really like something with Active PFC and decent build quality; the house gets frequent power outages and dips. I don't know how power quality is at most times, but I don't want to take any risks. That said, I don't want to throw more than $80-100 at a PSU. Am I being unrealistic? (I really don't care about having modular features or anything.)
The total budget for remaining parts (case, PSU, GPU) is $325-425.
Any advice? What GPU would be appropriate? Should I grab an aftermarket cooler for the 8800GT? The Samsung 830 will be limited to SATA-II speeds on the 680i; are there any cheap SATA-III controllers?