A majority of that stuff has been/will be purchased from Newegg, but Amazon's wishlist is easier to navigate, IMO - hence more of the Amazon links.

So it used to be the case that it was always cheaper to build your system than it was to buy it. However probably 5-7 years ago that rule inverted in that it was generally more expensive to build your own system than it was to buy it. The reason you build them now is because, you like it, your want a really custom system, or you want to reuse some parts(which may make building cheaper).

Alot of the sites people have listed are good resources for parts reviews etc. Depending upon where you live newegg can be a great resource or amazon or a few of the smaller set of retailers.

I built my current desktop/work machine last year but it's designed to be a high end compute machine/media server(since I do high end alg work) so it may not be that representative to you(it's a dual Xeon system), but if you all want to know I'll list all the parts and why I picked each of them over other alternatives.

One thing that wasn't mentioned that's worth considering is thinking about power issues. If you only plan to turn it on a bit each day then it's probably not a big issue. BUT if you plan to leave it running 24/7(say a media server) then you choices should consider power aspects. Because I know my system may be running often I chose to select a more efficient power supply to try to conserve power. Over the long run the less power you use, should make up for it.

I chose an 80PLUS gold rated power supply. You can read about what 80PLUS means here....

http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80P...rSupplies.aspx

This is the specific power supply I chose.

http://www.corsair.com/power-supplie...-2/ax1200.html

Right, but is it cheaper when you consider bang for your buck, system longevity, and system performance?

I work in supply chain, I think about this kind of lifecycle costs stuff for a living.

It's cheaper to replace my current motherboard, CPU and RAM than it is to buy a new computer.

Got the money to buy a new computer. Plan on building one that i can do some gaming on and watch my dvds.

Went to newegg and started putting on together based off of loochy's model.

Realized i have no idea what alot of that shit means. Gonna have to post what i've got here and see what you all think of it.

Now is not a good time, bro. Can you wait a couple months?

AMD's new 4+ GHz (slot AM3+) 6 and 8-core processors are hitting the shelves in October. Also, PCI-E 3.0 video cards are going to be coming out soon (Radeon HD 7000 series). We're pretty much on the cusp of a new generation and investing in the current one is going to seem like a big waste of money very soon.

What's your budget?

ROFL

You disagree?

It's never a good time to buy a new computer and investing in a current one is always a big waste of money.

No, just laughing at you

Well, we're hitting the next big step here, these are pretty fundamental changes (like you will need a whole new mobo just to be able to utilize this shit). This is not an incremental change, this is the next generation.

Good to see you don't disagree, Saul.

There will always be a "next generation" just around the corner. The technology never stops developing. If you wait till then to upgrade, there will be something equally as enticing to wait a little longer for.

Just build your shit as best you can when you're ready. No matter when you build, it will be outdated in a matter of months.

Fantastic.

Well, there's outdated and then there is outdated.

I will, say, however, that the prices are outrageously good on the current gen stuff right now. You can build a real beast without breaking the bank, Sofa, so maybe you shouldn't listen to my advice and build yourself a nice machine right now. Link up your choices.