Many out there in PC land have opted to buying a Pre-Made computer from companies like eMachines, Dell, And Compaq. I know this because they come into my shop all the time under the arms of unhappy, unsatisfied gamers who thought the deal they were getting was great...until they tried to play graphically instensive games (like Halo PC) on them. To avoid such annoying ( and costly ) visits to your local computer repair-guy. Try and build your own PC. Its really not that difficult, and after you have done it you can show your buddies how smart you are with your custom built rig. First off you cant be afraid of destroying the expensive electronics components that go into the computer. This will probably just make you nervous enough to actually do it. Computers are like linkin-logs that have electricity going through them. It is alot easier than you may think, and computer parts though made of realtively sensitive parts, are usualy quite durable. Second you need money. Depending on what kind of machine you want to build..from the extreme to the minimum sytem requirements for Halo PC. This whole adventure depends on how much you are able to spend. Fortunately when building your own system you can buy the parts from different vendors offering specials or lower prices on the parts you want, and you can get the parts induvidualy, and stack them up in a cool dry place, until the day you have all the parts to put togather. Thus making it able to budget out your final build months in advance (i.e. you buy a part or few parts a month till you got a whole computer). The major (needed) components that you need to buy for you machine are: 1 Power supply (PS)... The more fans the better. keeping this item cool in your case is VERY important as it probably will create the most heat in your case. It is best to get this item from a well known company (antec,coolermaster,thermaltake,soyo,enermax) as the more obscure ones ussually skimp on good components. If you plan on getting a newer graphics card they usually require thier own independent molex 5W dongle ( the 4 pin plug cables ), so make sure that the power supply has plenty of them. Some have independent SATA power dongles if that is what you plan on using. It is always to have a higher wattage PS so its not always working at its max. Having a larger power supply than needed insures you wont have to upgrade in the future. 1 Case (with or without power supply, made of Steel/plastic, aluminum...they come in differnet sizes and shapes depending on what kind of system you are building) 1 Motherboard ( there are alot of brands and configurations, its really up to you on which one you buy depending on what kind of system you are building ) 1 CPU (Central Processing Unit) Come in many different types and speeds, what you get will have to match your motherboards specifications. 1 Graphics Card (from the mild to the wild this is what makes the eye candy happen) Alot Alot of motherboards have integrated graphics on board, avoid buying one of these as they ususally dont have alot of power play graphically intense games (like Halo PC). 1 CD/ROM or DVD/ROM (depending on what you are wanting to do with your pc one or the other should do) Alot of new games are coming out on DVD making the number of disks in the package less, and also with the DVD/ROM you can watch movies with a program made to do so (alot of DVD/ROM drive have such programs bundled in the box) 1 Floppy Drive...now this is an old fashioned component that allows boot disks to function if you are running and OS that requires it. Or if you plan on ever doing anything in DOS. 1-? Hard Drive('s) ...Now some people have alot of games, or music, or videos, or (giggle) other questionable digital media. So what ever you are going to have on the storage drive('s) of the system, "how much" you have depends on how big and how many hard drives you have in the machine. Usually it best to have more than you think you will need, as a full hard- drive is ussually not a good thing when a game requiring 3gigs of space on your drive is in your CD/ROM telling you "insufficient hard drive space". Also having more than one drive is best, because the OS (operating system i.e. windows) requires a pretty big space on a single hardrive, leaving the rest for the games and other programs you choose to put on this drive. So getting a larger primary HD (hard drive) is ussualy a better choice, and having a second storage HD for things like your music, videos, and (giggle) other stuff. 1-?? Sticks of RAM.. depending on your motherboard you may be limited to, or have alot of options on what kind of RAM you buy and how much your mobo ( Motherboard ) can have. I would always say that you stay with Mobo Maufacturers recommendation as far as what kind and what configuration of RAM to use. 1(or ?) Soundcard... Now Alot of newer tech has placed digital 6.1-8.1 surround sound onboard most if not all the new mobo's(motherboards). this is great if you have a home theater system with inputs for such things. If you only use headphones, or dont have to cash to dole out on such things, this is still ok as the onboard sound can be configured to 2 channel stereo. If you want the most high-tech surround experience available, take a look at the line of audigy2 ZS cards from Creatve Labs, this has a little thaing called EAX that makes the surround sound a part of your games. Personally when I heard the ejected shells from my shotgun bouncing around the hard floor of the library in Halo PC, I was sold on the fact that my 6.1 surround and audigy ZS Platinum Pro was now VERY worth what I had spent. Now you should be ready to start buying. Here are a few links to help you make your choices. This is my favorite as far as cases and power supplies go. They are american made and have a great warrantee, plus other companies (try) to copy the advances made by this company. [url]http://www.antec.com [/url] This is by far the most well known and oldest company selling cases and cooling solutions. [url]http://www.coolermaster.com [/url] Here are a few more Case Makers: [url]http://www.thermaltake.com/psu.htm [/url] [url]http://www.lian-li.com [/url] [url]http://www.chieftec.com [/url] [url]http://www.kingwin.com [/url] Here are a few links to Mobo (motherboard) makers. Some makers are newer at the game but have great products. Always make sure you product has a good warrantee that will be around for a while. computer technology is like any other (there are mistakes made) so just in case you are sent a lemon its always nice to know you can get another new one sent to you. [url]http://www.asus.com[/url] [url]http://www.msicomputer.com/[/url] [url]http://www.soyousa.com[/url] [url]http://www.giga-byte.com[/url] [url]http://www.abit-usa.com[/url] [url]http://www.biostar-usa.com[/url] [url]http://www.dfi.com.tw/index_noflash.jsp[/url] [url]http://www.leadtek.com[/url] There are a few different Mobo makers. which one you choose will rely on what option/configuration you want your motherboard to have. Here ae a few links to different Graphics card makers. Depending on how much you are willing to spend and what kind of computer you are building will show you you what kind of card you will buy. [url]http://www.evga.com[/url] [url]http://www.pny.com/products/verto/[/url] [url]http://www.bfgtech.com/[/url] [url]http://www.xfxforce.com/index-interim.php[/url] [url]http://www.leadtek.com[/url] [url]http://www.gainward.com[/url] This is a link to a site that reviews hardware with a serious purpose to find out what kind of value and performance is possible, and if the component is actually worth the plastic and metal it is made of: [url]http://www.tomshardware.com [/url] on this site you can get ratings that actually have real people looking at what is actually worth buying, now its not always what you should buy, but it gives you an idea on what major (or unknown) brands are the most reliable, and worth your money. Now that you have checked out the ratings on different brand you are probably wondering where in the heck you are going to start looking for all these parts, well a site that alot of people use is: [url]http://www.pricewatch.com[/url] This is a site that other re-sellers use to advertise thier specials, and get new customers by beating out the prices of thier competitors. Another site that helps you choose which one of the pricewatch.com re-sellers is the right one for you (as far as how good they are at re-selling) is: [url]http://www.resellerratings.com[/url] *finding a good price is one thing, but finding it at a reseller that has great reviews is better Now that you have all that you need to find the components to build your computer. Your gonna need a little info on what to do with them once you have them. Every computer is basically the same to put togather, but at the same time they are all little different. So to give you a blanket effect as to the essential computer building instructions I will turn you over to a page that not only has VERY helpfull instuctions, it also has pictures. Here is Reg Stevens helpful guide to building your own PC: [url]http://www.regstevens.co.uk/build.htm [/url] *now this link is almost a year old so if any newer tech stuff is troubling you just post here and I will do my best to help you out. Congradulations I hope this helped you to realize your dreams of a killer custom built rig, both this topic and coylters' guide to the PC will go hand in hand like gleeful schoolgirls to help you on your way to building your new computer. My Comp AMD 64bit Athlon 3200 CPU Asus K8V Mobo 1gig matched infineon Xtreme RAM 2 X 120GB seagate SATA HD's Geforce FX 5950ultra (soon to upgraded to the 6800ultra) audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro w/6.1 THX surround speaker system aluminum Antec SuperLanboy w/ 480W PS [Edited on 7/4/2004 4:13:24 PM]