Building new PC,advise me

Hello
I've had my pc for 5 years and 8 months, and my hdd started breaking apart. I took it as a sign that it' time to move on, before other parts break too. My current build is: 1GB kingston, amd 2.2ghz, 149 GD Western Digital, Codegen 300W.
Won't need monitor, keyboard, mouse.



So, basically what i'm leaning towards is performance pc, not gaming, but more like workstation. What i'd like most is good performance running ADobe creative suite, and overall multitasking. Because now, if i start something resource demanding have to close other applications. I'm okay if i run VLC and opera, but if in addition i start Counter strike, for example, it's already on the edge.
I'm not oriented towards gaming, hardest game for my pc i run is Team Fortress 2. When i get new pc, i might broaden my choice of games though.
Preferable budget for me is 350$, max i can go 400$.
Others applicatons i run often is browsers, skype, VLC, winamp, utorrent
I'm not hardware enthusiast, so i want i noticeable upgrade from my current pc, that will last at least 4 years, as is doubt i will run more demanding applications than now.

 

I'd look at an i5 CPU combined with a board that has on-board video. 4GB of DDR3 should be enough to start.

This may go a bit over $400; however it will blow you away on its Adobe performance, especially if you do video editing. You can also upgrade it with a discrete video card and/or more memory if you ever need more power.

Good luck on the new build.

 

Dont build it, buy it off the shelf. with a $400 budget you will get more bang for your buck on prebuilt. I agree with the i5 suggestion