Assembling a system is easy, as long as you know which end of a medium phillips screwdriver is which.
🙂 The tedious part is installing Windows and your software, but that's all it is -- tedious because it takes a number of hours to go through all the updates on your OS and your anti-virus software.
Basic systems from Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. have a lot of deficiencies that will probably get in your way for gaming. For example, most I've seen, lately, even with core duo and Athlon 64 CPU's have only a 300 - 350 watt power supply, which is hardly adequate for getting beyond displaying your desktop with newer CPU's.
Another place you're getting sold short on the system you describe is that 80 GB hard drive. The current fastest standard drives are SATA 2, and 160 GB and larger drives are literally dirt cheap. So cheap, in fact, that you can afford to buy two of them and
a mobile rack, and a copy of Norton Ghost to back up your entire system after each virus scan or before you install any new program.
Ghost literally clones your drive in minutes, and if your drive become infected, you can spit back the last good backup to your main drive. If your main drive dies, move your Ghost drive to the main position, and it will run with no changes.
When you're through backing up your drive, the mobile rack allows you to unplug the backup drive from the system. Nobody has written a virus that can jump the air gap to an unplugged drive.
😎
Depending on where you live, there's a third alternative. You can buy an assembled system from a local shop or a chain that deals in better parts than Dell, Gateway, etc. One chain I like is
PC Club. They have "pre-built" systems, but they'll allow you to swap out any component for another and charge you only the difference in the price so you can get a different motherboard, vid card, DVD burner, case, power supply, etc. or even a different version of Windows (go for XP Home or Pro over Media Edition), and they'll still load it with Windows and your software and warranty it for a year. Most good independent shops will probably do the same thing. Make sure you get good references from people you know.
The biggest advantage to dealing locally is, when you have a problem, you don't have to ship the box. Just toss it in the car and go to the guys who can help you on the spot.
🙂
If you've never built a system, I know it can seem intimidating, and it's best to have a friend around who's done it to help you, but you CAN do it if you put your mind to it. If you want the security of a warranty on the whole thing, a good shop can build you a better system for about the same price as a "department store" brand of computer.
Good luck.
🙂
