StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I've been fiddling around on iBuyPower.com and have come up with this computer so far. Admittedly I am a novice when it comes to this so any input would be great. I would really like to shave as much of the price off as I can without hampering preformance too much as I am on a tight budget. Any suggestions?

Case ( Raidmax X-1 ATX Mid-tower Case w/420W Power Supply Silver )
Case Lighting ( None )
Power Supply ( Standard Case Power Supply )
Processor ( [939-pin] AMD® Athlon-64 3800+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology )
Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
Motherboard ( eVGA nForce-4 SLI Chipset Dual DDR w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB )
Memory ( 2048 MB [1024MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )
Video Card ( ==[New !!!]== Nvidia Geforce 7600GS 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )
Hard Drive ( 250 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache] )
2nd Hard Drive ( None )
Raid Configuration ( None )
CD/DVD Drive ( None )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Speaker System ( 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System )
Fax Modem ( None )
Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
Floppy Drive ( None )
Monitor ( LCD Monitor ViewSonic 19" VX922 TFT LCD Monitor [Extreme Gaming; 2 ms; Silver/Black 2-Tone] )
2nd Monitor ( None )
Keyboard ( Logitech Deluxe Keyboard Black )
Mouse ( Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black )
Meter Display ( None )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Black )
Operation System ( [Special !!] MS Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 )
Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None )
IEEE-1394 Fire Wire Card ( None )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
MP3 Player ( None )
TV Tuner ( None )
Video Camera ( None )
Headset ( None )
Power Protection ( None )
Printer ( None )
Printer Cable ( None )
Wireless Network Adapter ( [Special !!!] Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps PCI Adapter )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )
Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

The word on the street is that Core 2, which is (correct me if I'm wrong), mere weeks away, is vastly superior to equal valued AMD processors. That and in a similar timeframe prices on processors are going to get slashed 30-40%; waiting a month or so is really the best option right now.
That, and socket 939 is now out of date; it's been replaced by AM2.


Things to keep in mind:
Monitor - Chances are you'll find a better buy over at www.slickdeals.net, but you'll have to check their Hot Deals board once or twice a day and be ready to jump on a deal.

The $4 speakers - These are $4 speakers, just so you know. Don't expect much.

7600GS GPU - If you want to play modern games now, and in 1-2 years, I'd suggest something better; I think the 7900gt is a great power/price card; but I dunno what is honestly worthwhile in the sub-$300 range.

RAM - Honestly, you don't need 2 gigs of ram, 1 is enough especially if you are on a budget. A better GPU is much more important.

Do you think it would be a better route to go through iBuyPower or attempt to build a similar comp myself? I am very new to this and afraid I may screw things up.

Building the comp yourself is always the cheapest way to go, and iBuyPower is always the next-cheapest way if you're afraid of opening up the system yourself. If you're new to this, I'd say to stick with iBuyPower. You get a warranty for the slight amount of extra money.

However, keep in mind the price of Windows- the one thing about Dell and manufacturers is that they get really cheap deals from Microsoft and include it with the system. XP Home costs a fortune from retail, though you can buy OEM ones online real cheap.

tbh the reviews for ibuypower.com have been rather mixes. A few weeks ago I bought a new computer and decided it was worth it to spend a little extra money for peace of mind and bought a custom computer from Velocity Micro which got stellar reviews and I am very pelased with my new computer

Save some money and don't go for an SLI motherboard, you can save roughly 40$ from going down to an nForce4 ultra chipset, which is 40$ to upgrade your CPU/GPU.