What are some good sites for buying

[Imanewbie]

Pre-built systems? I've seen ibuypower.com and newegg.com

I know most of you guys just search for the parts and piece it together on your own, but I don't think thats my option. And is there a site that will OC for me? Sorry to be in the dark, but I've learned alot by pecking around here...

What I think I know that I want:
I'd like to spend around $1300-1500 (w/o monitor), but would like this to be around $1000
Processor is up in the air, something around 2GHz or so
I want 512 Ram (DDR from what I've gathered)
40-60G HD
Geforce 4 128M video card, 4400 I think
A normal CD or DVD Drive and an add'l RW drive
A decent sound card/speaker set up (this is a price vs value issue for me)
XP Home as an OS? Maybe Pro if its worth the upgrade.
And I want it in black if I can...
I've really learned a good bit, but the good bit I think I know is weak! I need mobo recommendations and the like, and as the original question asks, where can I get it built like I like it!

Thanks!

 

[jankphil]

i wouldn't suggest pro at that price, a full version of pro will cost ya almost half what you wana spend. I would suggest a P4 1.6 or 1.8 and overclock it to 2+ ghz. Aside from that, prices tend to be about the same, you buy 2 items at one site will almost cost the same at others. I suggest www.newegg.com I've had good experiances with them and recommend it to everyone.

 

[Atolsammeek]

http://www.ubid.com. When amd 1800 was the newest chip I payed $900 that with 1.53gb of ram and gf3 ti 500. 21 inch monitor. two 80 gig hard drives.

 

[JackFrost]

I wouldn't use ubid, also don't use fticomputers.com b/c they take forever to ship what you buy.

 

[PCcashCow]

Ok little secret, OS, XP is a head ake. Get a friend with a disk 2k youll be better off. Also If you really want to get into good prices, and 1000 bucks can get you very far my friend!. try:
www.tcwo.com
www.tccomputer.com
www.tigerdirect.com
www.googlegear.com

Out of these four youll yourself under a grand easy. Youll save some cash on non-oem and have some left over for an extra stick of ram or overnite shipping. If you would like help on a budget let me know. I did it for living, and now a hobby.

-Tim

It seems that every time I reboot my wallet gets smaller.

 

[williamc]

<A HREF="http://www.jncs.com" target="_new">http://www.jncs.com</A>
<A HREF="http://www.directron.com" target="_new">http://www.directron.com</A>

I've used both and can personally recommend them as great places to shop.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[williamc]

XP a headache? Never had a problem with it since day 1...just put the disk in, start setup, and your essentially done...

XP is highly recommended if you go with p4 hardware. Its the first MS OS to natively support p4 hardware and has the best performance with it.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[Quetzacoatl]

I have a friend that has some decent experience with Tigerdirect.com, although I myself prefer Newegg.com

Fast, reliable, and good pricing.

"When there's a will, there's a way."