Ok....my pc is almost 5 years old.  Here's the specs...

 eMachine W3080

3000+ AMD Atholn XP Processor

512 mb RAM

I added a 2nd HD 3 years ago that went belly up last month....

In March 2007 my main HD went belly up and I replaced it with a 320 gig that my BIOS doesn't support and can only use 137 gigs of it unless I put a SATA adapter thingie in it, which the guy who put the HD in could have told me about  in March!

Upgraded the Video card 2 years ago to a 128 mb NVIDIA card.....

Added recordable DVD drive 2 years ago too.

 NOW...here's my question.  its behaving badly.....sometimes now it won't recognize cd/dvd drive....its getting slower and slower and I mean it is technically almost 5 years old......

 Should I spend more money on this machine as in the SATA adapter, more RAM (can go up to 2 gigs), bigger video card.......

 Or should I let it be and look into getting a new pc for Christmas?

definately a new machine is in order for you. but why not build your own?

just to point out, the fact that your hard drives were breaking so regularly, odds are on that your power supply was faulty. hard drives usually last for many years, if they are of decent quality. my advice is get western digital, samsung, or seagate hard drives. for cpu, look into getting one of the newer intel dual cores. for RAM, look into getting some corsair twinx. at least a gig of it. graphics card of course should be nvidia. probably 8600 series. and dont skimp on power supply. get a good antec power supply and the like.  

if you dont want to build your own, look into getting a base unit with no operating system on it, and put your old xp on it. you will get more bang for your buck from xp. all in all, you can build a good machine with above specs for under a grand (euro) 

See thats what I'm thinking!  I've never built a machine but I did add my DVD drive and graphics card to my pc so.........muhahahahahahahaha

 I so want a dual core processor!  OMG I would be in heaven and hubby would be so jealous of the attention it got!

My currect hd is a seagate. 

 Now...new question.....Can I built a new machine by buying bits and pieces as I go?  Like.....getting the motherboard w/dual core processor one month....then the next month the power supply....then next the RAM.....then the graphics card......

We're one income family.  I don't work so that I can suffle two boys to football....bowling....golf....BETA club.....etc.....Saving up money for one whole purchase is hard cause everytime I get a few hundred $$'s saved....something comes up it gets spent on.......

Building a pc is easy. If you can fit a drive and graphics card, you can learn to build a pc from scratch.

You can get the parts in installments, but don’t leave the gaps between purchases too long.

Firstly, choose a cpu. A dual core intel isn’t too pricy.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338082

that will dictate what type of mainboard you need (socket type)

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=331973

then RAM. Don’t skimp here. Its not how much ram, its how fast the ram you have is.

Corsair twinx. Two, one gig sticks. Matched pair. See if you can find something nice here. You should get it for well under two hundred quid

http://www.ramboy.com.au/

hard drive. A western digital 320gig sata2 caviar drive, no questions ;)

case. Go antec, thermaltake, or lian li. They are quality, without gaudy. They will silence, cool and protect your parts, and provide easier assembly than a cheap crap case. Aluminum is good case material. Thermaltake seem best for price here, but look around. My antec is beautiful. Cost a lot, but soooo quiet.

http://www.pccasegear.com/category25_1.htm

you case may have a power supply. If not, get something nice. Your parts need an accurate and stable power source, without the power supply bleeding off too much as heat. Mine is a nice antec neo.

http://www.antec.com/us/pro_p_NeoHE.html

graphics card should be Nvidia for program stability. My latest is ATI, and I hate it.

A 8600gts gives great power for your graphics programs, and great for games.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/426/

after all the big bits, its time for little bits. Two 120mm case fans. One in front to suck air in, and one in back to suck air out.

Thermal compound. It must be this arctic silver.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

of course your cpu should come with a heat sink, but if not, hunt down something good.

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/

as for assembly, there are plenty of websites with info. and lots of forums with people who specialise in hardware that will be glad to help you. good luck with this.  

KOOOLLLLL!  My husband is gonna freak!  TY for all this info!  I'm definately gonna build one!

hahahahahahahaha!  Thank the Godds he loves me!

lol. tell him you will be able to pay for it from the millions you will make when you are a kick ass cg artist. :)

good luck, and happy hunting. ;) 

yeah!  I can see the look on his face now!

 hehehehehehe he pressure washed my rims Sunday and decided to just spray the rest of my car off........I now have a baseball size spot with no paint on my back door drivers side.......He wants me to spend $2000 to have my whole car painted........YEAH RIGHT!  Its worth maybe $4000...........I told him the car ran fine its my pc not running real well.......