Hi, very new to this, I am in the quest for a new system, something that run very good, Price, is not a top issue (I cant believe Im Writting This :-) ), but I'll have to consider...I have right now a crappy COMPAQ (please dont laugh) 1.3 Athlon, with 512 Mb RAM, and a Gforce2MX 64Mb, I was not able to fine tune my siming experience with this machine, the change in drivers never worked out for me, plus I have had to Reinstall the whole thing including XP home at least every 3 months due to severe crashes and weird things happening.I was looking at the Area 51 by Alienware, they have a very nice and good looking machine although a litlle pricey...Is there any real FS performance difference between an Intel 3.2/ with HT/ 1Gb RAM and a 3.0 with HT/512 RAM, the price is $600 less, also would I be able to upgrade to a faster Processor in the future? I Dont know if it would be difficult to build my own machine, and have a better price...I am pretty much familiar with my System anatomy, since I have upgraded the RAM before... (please stop laughing)I know the Alien case sure looks pretty, but it is not a must...The other thing is that I live in FL and I would have to pay sale taxes, around $130, I could get something with that money!!!!And last but not least, the graphic card they offer Nvidia 5200 or 5900, how does this compare with ATI? I've seen the 9800 Pro 256 is a lot more expensive...If anyone has built a system on or over the 3.0 Ghtz and 512 RAM with a nice according RAM memory and Video Card... could you please show the specs and the price? is it much cheaper that the +/- $1900 Area 51?

Gabriel,I am not sure why people assume that the only way you can save money is bulding it yourself. You can still have Area-51 - like machine for considerable less without having it built yourself.For example there is this lady on this forum who builds PC for living (I think her company is called ProGress, out of Illinois) who has got pretty good reputation and many happy customers. And she knows what gaming people need. I am not saying you should get her to build your PC but you can certainly find places like that that offer very personalized service and high quality product and you will be spared a headache of building it yousrelf.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Thanks...yes headache... that's the right wordLooks simple to plug components in but it should not be that easy....Right now Im serching in the net for somebody that can give me a (free) estimate....

If you are searching .. stop there: http://www.progresssystemsinc.com/She will give you free estimate and answer all the questions (go to the forum).Michael J.

Michael, Thanks again....

Another place to check iswww.gamepc.comKurt M

Building your own pc is like building any kind of contraption. If you know how, it is easy. If you don't know how it can present more than just a few problems.I have been to the progress(sic) site and she does, indeed have very good systems that are well priced.

Check out http://www.pcusa.com/. You can configure your system any way you want it. Configure one with the Area 51 specs and instantly compare the price. They shipped mine in 3 days and it was exactly as I had ordered.Bob

Drop me an email at [email protected]. Put system estimate in the Subject line and I'll provide you with a free estimate for anything from mild to wild.Currently finished my 200th machine. I am A+ Hardware and Software Cert. Net+ Cert and MCSE.Have a great day.Bobby