3grand . one new comp.

Hey all. Wife just got a new laptop and told me i had 3thousand $ to get a new desktop.

Would like some sugestions from you all on what is decent. I am really lookin at intel quad core. I always owned amd , but wanted intel ( amd was always cheaper ).

The problem i have there thou is. i read Nvidia cards dont do well with intel. I and so Hate Radion cards ( spellin is bad i know).

I know most will say build the comp myself for most bang for the buck. But i am lookin for prebuild, Putting it together is no problem i built one before. Its the sofware and bios that gives me issues. So i dont want to mess with that again and take a chance on messing it up.

I am still lookin at 5 boxing and quakewars. So any sugestions is apreciated. . ( sry for terrible spelling, i know).

$3,000 US?

Do you want monitors included in that?

Bios settings on modern machines pretty much set themselves, it's come a long ways in the past 5 years... software, the worst you'll have to deal with is installing a few drivers.

Premade machines, I'd be at a loss to recommend one, if you want to spec out a system to build, I can offer some suggestions in that price range.

Any prebuilt machine that will cost $3000 you can likely build yourself for $1500. These days if you want a quality machine you should really bite the bullet and build it yourself. Plenty of people here can give you a shopping list for newegg.com and help with instructions to build a box if you need assistance.

Well if worse comes to it , i can have the tech here in town put it together cheap. Looking at atleast intel quad core 6600, want vista 64 so i can get more than 4gigs of memory , be nice to have duel 8800 cards. i been reading alot of reviews last few days on new egg and all. Seen tiger has better deal. Can get quad core/2gigs mem /mb for 399.

anyway thx for imput. much apreciated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 'zanthor',index.php?page=Thread&postID=48881#post4 8881

Bios settings on modern machines pretty much set themselves, it's come a long ways in the past 5 years... software, the worst you'll have to deal with is installing a few drivers.

---

Uh, I beg to differ. Most modern motherboards set default timings and voltages that are supposed to work within the basic JEDEC standards but all combinations are not correct. I just went through this with Crucial and Gigabyte. On my board, the defaults set my Crucial up as 5-5-5-18, 1.8v, where the specs for mine are 5-5-5-15, 2.0v. Without the correct settings, you may still see data errors, even if they're rare. The short version is that you need to educate yourself on what the correct timings and voltages are supposed to be per the manufacturer and then verify that your system is setting them correctly. The major memory manufacturers have either datasheets that state the specs and/or memory configurators that tell you if your motherboard is recommended for use with the selected memory models.

Another thing i am lookin at with a prebuild is the warenty if something screws up.

I know i can get better parts and more for the money.

Anyone have a sample set up ? looking at 22 or 24" lcd also. if it comes down to it i already got full dragon tower from last comp i build. it still runs just buggy. was saving it for daughter. One of the things i am lookin at is i want extra hard drive to run OS on and other for my games. Many thanks again everyone.

This is one of them i am lookin at .




Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)

Processor
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor2 Q6600 (2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB cache)3

Memory
3072MB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-1024 & 2-512)

Hard Drive
1000GB 7200rpm Serial ATA II/300 hard drive w/ 16MB cache & Raid 0 (2-500GB hard drives)4

Optical Drive
Hybrid Blu-Ray/HD DVD Player and SuperMulti Format DVD-RW DL Drive (Vista ONLY)

Optical Drive
16X Super MFDVDRW/DVD-RAM+/-R Double Layer

Video
Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GT 512MB Factory Overclocked with SLI™ Technology (Dual DVI, VGA adapter and TV Out)

Sound
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card

Media Card Reader
9-in-1 Memory Card Reader

Speakers
Logitech® X-240 2.1 Speakers

TV Tuner
Analog/Digital TV Tuner with 3D Comb5

Application Software
Microsoft® Works® 9.0 & Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 (60-day complimentary trial)6

Backup Media
Gateway FX540XV Recovery DVD V1.0 - MENTOR

Chassis
Gateway® 7-bay BTX tower case

Color
FX Logo Accent - Black Steel

Expansion Slots
(1) PCI Expansion Slots, (1) PCI-E x1 Expansion Slot, (1) PCI-E x4 Expansion Slot, (2) PCI-E x16 Expansion Slot

External Ports
(7) USB 2.0 (3 front, 4 rear), (3) IEEE 1394 firewire (2 front, 1 rear), (2) RJ45 connector, Audio ports, and (2) PS/2

Finished Goods
Batteries for Remote Control 2 1.5V AA

Finished Goods
IR Receiver Blaster for Remote Control Vista Black

Keyboard
Gateway® Elite Keyboard (Windows Vista® Certified)

Motherboard
Systemboard with NVIDIA® nForce® 680i LT Chipset

Mouse
Soft-touch USB Optical Wheel Mouse

Network
(2) Integrated Gigabit (1000) Ethernet Connections

Power Supply
700 Watt Power Supply

Security Software
Norton Internet Security™ (60-day live updates)7

Software Documentation
End User License Agreement for Non-Microsoft Software

TV Tuner Accessories
Remote Control

Warranty

1 Year Basic (Tech Support - Parts - Factory Lab



sry for big past. it runs 2,100, and a free 19 "lcd. i bought this comp i on now at ibuypower , its really been a decent one. except when i tried to update bios in vista. Had to revert to XP.

I personally hate gateway, had nothing but bad experiences with them myself. But I will still give you some pointers about what you posted.

Also,

Quote:

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Hard Drive
1000GB 7200rpm Serial ATA II/300 hard drive w/ 16MB cache & Raid 0 (2-500GB hard drives)4

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no reason to get RAID 0, performance boost yes but nothing earth shattering at the cost of adding a larger chance of data loss should hard drive die. However getting 2 drives is a good idea, put OS and Apps on one and put your WoW on the 2nd.

Quote:

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Memory
3072MB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-1024 & 2-512)

---

uhh why? if you wanted to be able to get more than 4gb of ram atleast start with 4gb, not to mention matching memory sticks can help performance a little bit. go with 4x1024

Quote:

---

Security Software
Norton Internet Security™ (60-day live updates)7

---

Id recommend uninstalling that and installing antivir, its free and works much better.

Quote:

---

Warranty

1 Year Basic (Tech Support - Parts - Factory Lab

---

that is a skimpy warranty, get 3 years if you can, if not....try dell. a 3yr extended warranty with dell should run you around 250bucks for a system like this i think

Thx. That was a prebuild , not custom. no clue why they listed what they did.

was wondering whats better a quadcore proc. or one of the E6850s ? thx

here is a quick throw together on dell. Yes its over your budget but that is because of the dual 22" ultrasharp LCDs that are on there, 22" LCDs can be gotten for much cheaper so those two moniutors add ~$700 to the price. The other big ticket item (since it was on your spec thing above) is the blu ray player.. If you really want this thats fine but removing it from this spec will knock off around $130. The 4yr parts & labor is $299, you can do a 3yr for $249. Hope this helps.

Recalculating Price
XPS 630

Starting Price $3,202

System Color:
Black Bezel Chassis BBEZEL [313-6078] 2

XPS 630:
Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB) D1Q66H [223-5578] 1

Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium VHP3E [330-0283][420-5769][420-5924][420-6436][420-7622][420-7969] 11

Memory:
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs 4GB84 [311-8296] 3

Hard Drive:
500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache 500S [341-6286] 8

2nd Hard Drive:
320GB - 7200RPM, SATA 2 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache 320SB [341-6279] 23

Optical Drive:
Dual Drive: Blu-ray Disc (BD/DVD/CD burner) and 16X DVD+/-RW, both w/dual l 4XBDDVW [313-6084][420-6464][420-6924][420-6925] 16

Monitors:
22 inch SP2208WFP Wide Flat Panel with Webcam and Mic SP22WFP [320-6298] 5

Optional Second Monitor:
22 inch SP2208WFP Wide Flat Panel with Webcam and Mic SP22WFP [320-6621] 45

Video Card:
Dual nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB NV8800D [320-6362] 6

Sound Cards:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio IS [313-2758] 17

Keyboard:
Dell USB Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard MMK [310-8028] 4

Mouse:
Dell Premium Optical USB Mouse PREMOM [310-8650] 12

Floppy Drive & Media Reader:
Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader with Bluetooth BTMCR19 [341-6453] 10

Adobe Software:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1 AAREAD [420-7468] 15

LABELS:
Windows Vista™ Premium VPD [310-8626] 750

Speakers:
Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer A525 [313-6139] 18

Security Software:
Trend Micro Internet Security 15-months TM15M [410-1174] 25


Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed):
Microsoft Works 9.0 XWRK9 [420-8103] 22


Warranty & Service:
Get $50 Dell Gift Card with 4Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor QPRO4OS [412-0359][464-5105][902-2473][950-7447][960-8700][982-6223][985-7890][989-2487][989-2488] 29

Thanks Marv.

question about the duel monitors. I didnt think you can do a duel set up with duel video cards . thx

I've never heard anything about Nvidia cards not working well with Intel systems. Not sure if you meant Intel CPUs or chipsets. I suppose I could see an Nvidia card working better on an Nvidia chipset (and that's the only way to go if you want to SLI Nvidia cards).

AMD and ATI products should work well together since they've been the same company for a while now.

Well if she said $3000.00 then I say go for it and here is a damn fine system for that much.

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Hard Drive(s):
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM x 2

Monitor(s):
SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail x 2

Video Card(s):
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTXG92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail x 2

Sound Card:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

Power Supply:
PC Power & Cooling S75QB EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail

Speakers:
Logitech G51 155 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - Retail

Mouse:
Logitech G9 Black 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser Gaming Mouse - Retail

Memory:
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR800C44GK - Retail

Motherboard:
DFI LP LT X48-T2R LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

total transaction w/o shipping = $2831.00 & w/ shipping = $2881.00 on UPS 3-day standard shipping

This system would more then run anything you like with two displays and SLI video cards. It's also future proof in the fact that eVGA has a video card step-up program and also you can upgrade to a newer processor or memory in the future. I even left cash lefted over for a keyboard. :D You can also take away the sound card and use the on-board to save $90.00 that can go towards a drive...blu-ray is the future, but I use the TV for that. Anyways, happy hunting with parts.

-Terrybogard21

p.s. All done from http://www.newegg.com/

Thanks Terry that looks like a sweet set up . thx. Still shoppin around.

Or you could switch out the processor to get a higher FSB. I just ordered the Q9450, which has a 1333 FSB, and i'm putting it on a 790i eVGA mobo with 4GB DDR3 and triple SLI. If you have a budget of 3k......you might as well get the latest stuff. Q6600's are ok, but the 9450 (or X3350 Xeon) has 12MB of cache and SSE4, so it should future proof you for a while.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 'Anozireth',index.php?page=Thread&postID=49009#pos t49009

I've never heard anything about Nvidia cards not working well with Intel systems. Not sure if you meant Intel CPUs or chipsets. I suppose I could see an Nvidia card working better on an Nvidia chipset (and that's the only way to go if you want to SLI Nvidia cards).

---

I'll second that notion, Intel chipsets work fine with nvidia cards.

Man, for another 1400$ to my system I'd add water cooling, solid state drive, switch from DDR2 to DDR3 mobo and swap out the 8GB of RAM I have for the DDR3 type, and add 4 more disk drives (6 sata ports on my board). Or you could go with the stupid large overly expensive monitor route. Or stuff in an extra video card and get two more monitors for a total of four.

My Q6600, 8gb ram air cooled system was only $1,000 before I added monitors.

Heres a build i came up with:

Case ( Tuniq 3 Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Silver )
Case Lighting ( None )
Power Supply ( 750 Watt -- Thermaltake Toughpower W0117RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready )
Processor ( [=== Quad Core ===] Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (4x 2.4GHz/8MB L2 Cache/1066FSB) )
Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
Motherboard ( Asus P5N-E SLI nForce® 650i SLI Chipset w/6-channel CODEC, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 Dual PCI-E MB )
Memory ( 4096MB [1024MB X4] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )
Video Card ( 2x NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )
Video Card Brand ( === High Performance === eVGA Brand Video Cards [SLI enabled] Powered by NVIDIA )
Hard Drive ( 160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache] )
2nd Hard Drive ( 160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache] )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD/DVD Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Beige )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( None )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Speaker System ( 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System )
Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
Floppy Drive ( None )

Monitor ( LCD Monitor [--- Special ---] 20.1" LCD 16:10 Wide WSXGA HD(HDCP) Monitor Support DVI Video up to 1080P(HDMI) )
2nd Monitor ( LCD Monitor [--- Special ---] 20.1" LCD 16:10 Wide WSXGA HD(HDCP) Monitor Support DVI Video up to 1080P(HDMI) )

Keyboard ( None ) Mouse ( None )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in USB 2.0 Ports )
Meter Display ( None )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Black )
Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 32-Bit ) Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
MP3 Player ( None )
TV Tuner ( None )
Video Camera ( None )
Headset ( None )
Power Protection ( None )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )
Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

Final price:$2,148.00

Has 2 20inch monitors. Quad core, 4gb of ram. plenty of harddrive space. Gives plenty of leftover to change stuff in that setup, i went with some basics in there but this should give you plenty to 5box on. And you have $800 to take your wife out to dinner for letting you have $3k to buy yourself a new computer. Also room for expandability.

Configuration was made at ibuypower.com

just to add, I have that motherboard and it is an excellent choice.

thanks all for imput. THx for build Shigan. Still gonna check my options. Dont want to rush it get something and be like damn this was better and cheaper.
Also go the computer lady in town gonna give me a quote on a system build also. ( be nice to have support here in town.)

As far as another 1400, 2-3k is the limit. Told wife i would make reasonable choices. ( :evil: ). Thanks for all the post. peace.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 'boneshadow',index.php?page=Thread&postID=48908#po st48908

Another thing i am lookin at with a prebuild is the warenty if something screws up.

---

well.. i guess if you took care of your machine (psst dont download pron!) and keep it environmentally sound (don't put it in the bathtub) you should be ok here...
even if you do get a virus or trojan or something they are fairly simple to remove you just need the right tools...

if you're scared of viruses or something, i would recommend setting aside 70$ from your 3k to get kaspersky (it's really worth it IMO)

not virus i am scared of. using trend micro . since i got work discont on it. its updated bios and stuff. but for most cases my comps run fine . The first one i build has got something wrong with it. And guy i took it to said he fixed it. but it doing same thing. It still runs , but takes like 5 mins to boot up . and everything pulls up real slow. And it want keep no internet connection info. Like ports and stuff. Guy said it was a virus that wiped them out and kept wiping it out as he tried to fix it. so he did a clean reboot. ( yea i know need to tech guy here. hopefully the new lady will be better.) but when i got it back same thing.

anyway thx and peace.

Get 8GB RAM

You Might as well, it'll still come in Waaaay under budget.

Also a coupleof hundred extra Watts on the PSU wouldn't go amiss.

might be a little overkill for 5 boxing, and this would he would DEFINATELY have to upgrade to 64 bit, which the drivers are hell for and amount of memory used is doubled (in theory). At least if u have 4 your not losing out on a lot of ram. Roughly 512mb with eight, add 4gb to that ><

It *might* be overkill for 5-boxing WoW.

But my way of thinking is "If you can afford it, do it." I love extra RAM :D

If you want to go retail, check out www.cyberpowerpc.com and build out a system. Here is a sample configuration for ~$2400

[*]*BASE_PRICE: [+825][*]CAS: NEW!!! CoolerMaster Cosmos S Gaming Full Tower 420W Case w/ See-Thru Side Panel [+168] (Original Color) [*]CASUPGRADE: 12in COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT [+10] (BLUE COLOR)[*]CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (3 x Fans [+6]) [*]CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit [*]CD: (Special Price) 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR) [*]FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR) [*]FAN: CoolerMaster Hyper TX2 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent Operation at only 22dBA + Overclock Proof) [+19] [*]HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+66]) [*]HDD2: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive [+135] [*]KEYBOARD: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard [+80] [*]MOUSE: Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse [+36] [*]MONITOR: NONE[*]MONITOR2: NONE [*]MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard [*]MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory [+150] (Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader [+100]) [*]NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD [*]OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate w/ Service Pack 1 [+209] (64-bit Edition [+19])
POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies [+59] (CoolerMaster Unit 600 Watts eXtreme Power - SLI Supports) [*]RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS [*]SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT [*]SOUND: Creative Labs SB Audigy SE [+30]
USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports [*]VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB 16X PCI Express [+269] (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA [+5]) [*]VIDEO2: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB 16X PCI Express [+269] (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA [+5])

[*]PRICE: ( $2428 )

Looks like i gonna be going with a prebuilt system. Decided to do some other things with some of the cash. Can i upgrade to a 64bit system in the future if i am running a 32 ? the one i am lookin at caps at 8gigs mem. 500hd, duel 8800gt cards. Only drawback is psu. and 3gigs of mem , due to the 32 operating system. Also could someone explain to me how you duel monitor ? thx.

In the future you can upgrade from a 32bit system, there wont be any problems there. And as for setting up dual monitors, most of the time it is basic plug and play. I would reccomend installing all video card drivers using only one monitor at first, then once drivers are installed, go ahead and hook up the second.

sry for being a newb. Is there 2 hookups on the back of a single card ? anyway thanks all for help and advice.

Most PCI Express motherboards come with two DVI ports per card.

Ok ill admit I havent really read the post... but if you are planning on using 4Gb of RAM and programs randomly shut down. try taking out 1 or 2 Gigs. This happened to me with itunes. for some reason it wouldnt work when i had 3gigs in:/

Well this is the comp i am getting. spent some of my money to get my mom a new comp. So i am settleing for this.

Gamer Infinity 7300 Desktop PCsView Pic
[17]
CyberpowerPC Gamer Infinity 7300 Core 2 Quad Q6600(2.40GHz) 2GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT Windows Vista Home Premium - Retail
Cache Per Processor: 8MB
Form Factor: Mid Tower
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512MB
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
Model #: Gamer Infinity 7300
I know i will have to upgrade the power supply , will do that when i finally upgrade vid cards. Syste is already 64 bit. and motherboard holds 8gis. ( i got 2 x4 gig sets , crucial balistic how ever you spell it. )
This will do for now , i could 3 box with hardly no lag on my amd X 2 5000 and only 2 gigs of mem and 1 working 7600 card. and even 4 box with alittle bit more lag. So this system being cheap should still be a nice upgrade .

I also got my 22'' lcd coming with the mem.

Would like to thank you all for the sugestions , man i hate comp shoppin. peace all.

how could you hate it?! its like my favorite thing to do XD

lol , dont really hate it just takes to long. i spent 6 hours infront of the screen other day compairing parts hehe,
Didnt get nothing done in wow.

Like they said, you can build a 3g comp for 1500 if you know what your doing.

The first computer I built, I went to Alienware.com (high preformance gaming computers) and copied the speccs and pieces that they listed for their top machine (around 2g at the time). I went to newegg.com, bought all the parts for about 1100 and built it myself. The actual construction of the computer is simple. The drivers and installing windows is also very simple as long as you run into no snags.

The only hard part about building it yourself is making sure everything you buy fits together.

So I would suggest, either beg someone here to select all the parts for you on newegg.com or tigerdirect.com and just buy it, or do what I did, go check out a top brand comp, and just look up every part they list, and find them on newegg.

do what sensenmann says

an easy thing you can do is go to eggxpert.com or tech-forums.net and just post your setup there and ask for people to make sure things are all compatible..
thats what i did you can usually get a response within a couple hours if not right away. and the people are extremely friendly too

EDIT:another quick thought, if you are buying all your parts online make sure to compare prices at newegg.com and tigerdirect.com cuz there are some major price differences when it comes to sales and what not you can save a good amount by buying from both sites

I done it before . putting one together is np. As far as getting it cheaper. The last one i listed a few post up . i did the parts comparison and checked to see how much it would cost to bulid it. I cant build that one for the same price. it got up to 800$ just for parts and os , that was still with out a Vid card.