I wouldn't build new PC it cost less money but gives you more troble
I would go and by assembled PC in stores

Just to put this into perspective, I've built numerous PCs for myself and others and none of them have ever had problems (yet), and many are older than most bought desktops out there..

It depends on the components and how well you put it together, closely followed by how you install the OS on it later and all the necessary drivers. Too many people start installing their games (the reason many get involved in this) as soon as they see the Welcome screen and that's where things can go wrong.

Mass produced PCs often use cheaper components to keep the price down, or have other limitations (no expandibility). They also have custom BIOSes and other bloated applications that make it difficult for the owner to do much with them without a lot of hassle, and features that the owner doesn't actually need.

The advantage of building your own PC is that if anything DOES go wrong you can fix it easily.

If that happens to a branded or mass-produced PC, unless you're in warranty it is likely to need a lot of messing about, quite possibly a third party's (the manufacturer's) involvement, and shedloads of cash to get their custom parts.

Each to their own. If you can, why not build one? If you can't, then of course: buy one.

Hi all,
I want to make a new desktop with these in mind.

Moderatley big case for airflow, expansion, and room of course.
Be designed for games, homework, fireworks editing of images lightly though, online gaming, music playing a bit, but not really any downloading. MAinly online gaming.

For about 1,000us dollars or less.

What can I get, or what parts would u suggest.
Integrated audio is fine with me.
I already have a geforce4 7600gt card that is a few months old I can swap in.
Would like it to have good heat dissepation, quiet fans, cool cpu, cool harddrive. No liquid cooling. NOT intended for overclocking.

SATA hard drives, AMD processor in it 64X2 or the 3400+ forget which one anandtech was talking about.

Integrated audio is fine to start with, no speakers needed, only using heaphones for now.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,
Chris

$1000 + VGA... hmm...
Your biggest concern would be MOTHERBOARD. ($150) I suggest that you go for the latest NVIDIA chipset, vista-ready and SLI-ready if you VGA is. Avoid ASUS. Their download site wasn't updated since forever.

Memory... If you won't overclock, than go for the cheap ones (<$100). I suggest that you go for the 2* 512 Megs stick, and, by all means, CONSULT THE MOBO MANUAL!! Trust me, if the brand/model is not on the "compatible" list than it means that it won't work as it should even if the declared timings of the sticks matched the timings supported by the mobo. Took me ~ a year to figure out the right settings for my memory sticks (yes, I didn't read the manual and, yes, avoid GEIL - no customer support whatsoever)

On-board audio... can't really avoid it. Make sure it is 7.1 output.

PSU... don't go under 500 Watts ($50)

CPU... I say AMD 64X2 - the more the merrier(not sure about the price, at least $300)

I suggest you go for AMD in any case if you plan on gaming. Intel is not the gamer's first choice. Just can't beat the 3d-now! routines that AMD has.
Off course, mind the socket (AM2, 939, 940...)

HD... optimal price/capacity ratio would be $100 worth. (new stuff)

For the cooling solution, go for the Thermaltake. It's a cheaper copy of Zalman. (CPU and VGA cooling). Rough est. for the whole cooling solution ~$50

Pioneer 110D DVD burner - $50

CRT monitor - $150 (Samsung, belinea...)

The rest of the deal you would have to balance as you go. I you don't mind the look of it, you can get the keyboard, mouse and the casing for $50. Just keep in mind that casing should have the mounting holes for the 12 cm fan on the side. Or you can cut them yourself (like I did).

Last but not least, avoid shopping on-line, for you'll never know if the paperworks (warranty and stuff) are bogus. Although, you can use internet to find out the rough prices of the components.

Edit: $1000 straight!

Just a quick comment about online shopping.
Newegg.com or TigerDirect.com offer really excellent prices and really excellent customer service. You will save tons over some horrible brick and mortar place such as circuit city...
I've now built 3 pc's buying only from them, they are always good.

changing to new hard drive recieved error
Intel Base Code, PXE-2.1 (build 083)
Copyright (C) 1997-2001, Intel Corporation
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-MDF: Exiting Intel PXE ROM
what now

(This hould've been new thread)

Your new HD needs to be partitioned and partitions needs to be formatted in order to be bootable. Put in a windows setup disk and boot with CD first boot sequence. Partition and format from there.

I wanted to play this PC game that my PC couldn't handle. To buy it at Dell, it would cost about 2,200 for one that could handle it. Honestly, I bought the book, Building a PC For Dummies no lie, i read the book and went to newegg.com and ordered everything. thats a great site because it makes it simple to find the parts that are compatible with each other. I selected the motherboard and it tells you what socket the possessor is so you can view at only those possessors and decide what you want. It tells you exactly the type of memory you need than you can look at only that type and decide what you want. I took the book out again and followed the steps. It was awesome

P.S. $625 is what i spent

Let me quote Nike, "Just Do It". No.......really. Dont be afraid to venture into the world of hardware. Its all a puzzle............you good at puzzles......right? Just make sure everything is compatible and you'll be fine. And.......you'll save money doing it yourself :-)