I just remembered: the chassis doesn't come with a PSU, so about $150 more makes it about $1,500 by hand. Without the hard drive (and never counting the tuner) it comes to about $1280. WITH those it would come to... $1780? So close no matter what.

Last time I built my computer they offered to put it (slightly preassembled, methinks) together for me for $30. If I could find all of these parts seperate and have them put it together... I just might be able to... :D

Thanks for your quick replies, guys!

I just tallied it up myself (and I found the case: Cooler Master CM 690) and got a ballpark of $1350, so that makes sense.

My dad and I just spent the last week dealing with motherboard problems after building one, and though it wasn't our fault it makes a pre-built monster like this look pretty tempting.

Thanks again!

There is a great pre-built demonstration rig at PC Club that they are willing to sell me (they will wipe the hard drive and reinstall windows before giving it to me)-- here are the specs (from what I can remember):

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU

NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX

10,000 RPM (!) Raptor 150GB SATA HDD (optional, I have a SATA 500GB)

Windows Vista Ultimate x64

4GB DDR2 RAM

16x DVD RW Combo writer w/ lightscribe

HD TV-tuner (optional, I already have one)

//A new ~$100 Gigabyte motherboard//

//A very nice high-quality metal mesh case with many powerful fans, ~650W PSU//

Total: just under $2000, one-year free warranty, three-year for $149.

What do you think? For a pre-built rig, that isn't from the internet, is that a good price? I think it is, but my dad could use some convincing ;) Thanks in advance!

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 for $250. The (similar) AMD Phenom Quad has to be patched to fix a problem it has, effectively reducing its performance by 14% :(

The Q6600 has amazing performance and will last you for a very long time.

What BS, cops are there to help youFilm-Guy

^Agreed.

You should really go to the computer hardware board, but basically...

Press ctrl+alt+delete and hold them all down to either open up task manager automatically (in XP) or go to the useful task manager/log off/lock/etc. menu (in Vista). In stask manager, the first window shows you the programs running in the open, mostly consisting of things you can see in the taskbar, and if you click the next tab to the right, it shows you programs running in the background. Most of these are extremely unstable Windows processes which you cannot mess with upon pain of computer death. So don't.

I find it funny that you say Windows has a crazy and erratic system and then name Apple iTunes as one of the problems. :P

RAM is

Random

Access

Memory

It contains useful information that is needed for your system while it is running. For instance, your password when you're logging on. More of this memory means it can remember more things, such as programs which are running, at a time. More RAM is taken up when more programs are running.

The CPU should always have about 5% taken up at one time. The CPU is just like the brain, and just because your brain isn't doing an SAT doesn't mean it isn't being used at all. That's just like the CPU.

I just checked my Windows Experience Index score, and it told me to check again.

I haven't updated any hardware, but my RAM operations/second and Gaming Grapics score increased by .1 and .2, respectively. When they're in the 2-3 range, that's a big deal.

Pretty cool of it. If anything, my score should decrease because newer hardware is available and it doesn't stack up as well against them, but it actually increased, so I must assume performance increased as well. Go SP1!