03-16-2003, 11:33 PM
Building your own PC is only worth it if you are willing to put in the research time. Roland gave some good links to start with, but don't just rely on Tom's Hardware for reviews. Find about 3 or 4 review sites and weigh your options. I could give good reccomendations a year ago, but everything changes so fast that I am as obsolete as my computer :) My only major advice was going to be: don't get THE top of the line processor, and don't get THE top of the line graphics card. They carry a large premium on cost for usually a marginal increase in performance. But at the price range you are looking for, those wouldn't be likely options anyway. For what it's worth, I've had very good service buying from Newegg. IIRC, http://resellerratings.com can help to check on the service records of the online vendors.