Dependable Shopping

I am trying to get a new gaming rig. I'd build it myself, but other than hardware that 'plugs in' I don't trust myself to not screw it up, even with all the online guides. So I have been searching all over the net for the most customizable machine at an affordable price ($1200 US).

At this moment I have three absolutes that would take a lot to change my mind. I want an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Geforce 7600GT (preferably an XFX), and I'd like it to include the OS, Windows Media Edition with free Vista Premium Upgrade.

I've looked on Digital Storm and decided I liked this: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/ [...] p?id=41479

On CyberPowerPC I found a similar machine for less, but needed to upgrade the case, and have decided if I bought from them I'd buy the video card from New Egg, as I don't want an eVGA card.

There are also a couple of machines I've found on TigerDirect, but to get what I want, I'd have to go over budget or settle on a CPU or video card I don't want.

So my questions are; how dependable is CyberPowerPc? I've read from a couple of sites that they aren't... but those reviews are a couple years old.

Has anyone here bought from Digital Storm? They seem to be on the up and up, but I can't find anything definitive from 3rd party sites, or those that aren't linked on their site.

Is there a better site that I just haven't come across, yet? I'd prefer to be able to customize the machine as much as possible, another reason I don't really like the TigerDirect machines.

Years ago I got a PC from jncs .com and was very satisfied, will send you all the boxes and manuals of the components. They use all mainstream components, i.e., you know the brand and model you're getting. Can buy an assembled mobo with CPU and memory and put everything else together if you want and it would be cheaper because you could get the case, drives, etc cheaper at newegg than at jncs but you can also get it fully assembled. Called them about a laptop for my wife and they recommended the least expensive one given how she was going to use so they don't try to sell you what you don't need. Suggest you take a look. I bought a case and assembled mobo and did the rest myself. After that I had the confidence to build the entire machine the next time.