Need Help building a new computer..

[MagnumsizeWVU]

Hey guys ive been out of the loop for a while...havent built a computer in about 3 years and havent read about parts in just as long..so can someone please hook me up and help me out here...whats the BEST possible configuration I can buy for $1200 or less...its for games, internet, office work...the games are mostly old type games like the Civilization games....I want the best possible parts for everything down to the speakers for $1200 or less including monitor

 

[Special K]

If you're dead set on building your own then I'll let the other members help you, but if you don't have a hatred of Dell you might want to check them out. It seemed that 3+ years ago you could save a lot of money by building your own vs. buying prebuilt, but in the past couple years I have found the opposite to be true. My current rig is a Dell and I honestly could not beat the price of it by buying parts individually from Newegg. That didn't even include the cost of the software.

 

[TJones2]

Yeah, buy a Dell and support the GOP. ;-)

 

[tcG]

What is with all these Dell bots?

Custom built computers will ALWAYS perform better than their pre-built counterparts.

 

[engiNURD]

Dells are good if you dont have special needs, like overoclockability and good gaming performance. If you do have those needs, then build it yourself. Building it yourself is best for any specialized system. For budget, go with Dell or some other pre-built. $1200 including monitor? what size? do you get charged tax? will you be buying from newegg?

How about this:

$200 - ViewSonic Q19WB-2 Black 19" 5ms Widescreen 16.7M colors ($40MIR)
$185 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$105 - Biostar TForce965PT, LGA775, Intel P965 Express
$240 - Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 PDC22G6400LLK ($50MIR)
$175 - HIS Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB ($20)
$75 - WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200RPM SATA300 16MB Cache
$60 - Sunbeam NUUO SUNNU550-US-BK 550W PSU
$45 - Cooler Master Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP
$40 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm CPU HSF
$30 - Lite-On 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA SH-16A7S-05
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$1155 + $95 (tax?) + $35 (shipping) = $1285 - $110 (MIRs) = $1175

The CPU can be OC'd to 3.2Ghz with that cpu/hsf/mobo/ram. The RAM uses Micron ICs, so they should be able to OC very well. The Biostar can reach 505+Mhz. The E6300's are avg'ing 3.2Ghz. The X1950pro will drive the 19" LCD very well. If you want DX10, I'm afraid you'll need a higher budget until the lower end DX10 cards come out. The case has good airflow with 2x120mm fans. The PSU is made by Andyson, so its a good solid unit; there's a review on it over at jonnyguru.com, so check it out if you're leary. If you can wait, do so. New Core2Duos will be coming out at the end of April, along with price cuts. By then, the R600 will be out and NVIDIA's lower end DX10 cards as well.