should i build or buy?

i am thinking of buying parts from newegg and building a computer

the parts i think are very descent and it would be cheaper to build than to buy from somebody like gateway
which i think tech support could improve a lot
but i need advice
i'll post the specs




Seagate 120GB 7200RPM $85.00

DDR RAM 512 MB $78.00

AMD Athlon XP 2800 Barton Core $121.00

ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB $52.00

AMD Motherboard Socket A $49.00

Creative Labs Audigy PCI $48.00

X- Dreamer 352 Watt Power Supply 2 Fans $51.00



Total: $477.00

also i'm stickin to a budget of under $500.00
since money is limited

Looks like you hit your mark (assuming you already have a case, and modem/network card). I know I buy 'em at work -- sometimes prebuilt stock, sometimes custom -- but the one I'm using now was self-built and I think from now on that's the way I'm going to do it for my own PC's. I like the benefit of having what you want and not being stuck with some manufacturer puts in there.

thank you so much
my cousin has built many computers and he says hes going to stay that
way too

also the x-Dreamer is the case and i think my friends has a network card he will give me if not
they are cheap

another thing

should i go wireless or wired

we already have wireless networking

802.1G

There's no substitute for the feeling you get from building it yourself. With that you also tend to know your system and its' expansion capabilities better.
I'm guessing that this is meant to be a personal/home system whos build isn't on a deadline, If this is the case I suggest building your own and getting the experience/satisfaction from a self-built system.

building your own PC's gives you allot of experience and confidence <- most of the time It also gives you the satisfaction that if something goes wrong you can fix it yourself

I say go wireless, looks like you allready have pieces in place to go that route anyway

try here as well...top-quality parts and PC's just like you built it
yourself but without the hassle. My next one will come from here
and I know several people with one from these people already:

http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

actually i'd rather build so i know every piece of hardware on the computer

good for fixing

I'd build, but don't skimp on the motherboard...

I just spent $139 on the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard (Regular retail is about $160-180 for this version of the A7N8X, but I know the guys at the local PC store so they give me a discount).

I'm glad I spent the extra and got a GOOD board. On-board 6.1 Surround, dual on-board NICs (one is 10/100, one is Gigabit LAN), 8xAGP slot, 5 PCI slots, 6 USB2 ports onboard, 2 Firewire ports onboard.

And it's fast like you wouldn't believe..

Oooh, and no more annoying beeps! The bios has VOICE capabilities...

"System completed power on self-test", "Computer now loading operating system" is what my PC says out of my speakers when I turn it on

Very true, very true.



very cool, you can turn it off if you want though right ?

Yeah, I can turn it off, and there's this neat lil editor for Windows, so I can actually store my own sound files for the BIOS to use...

It tells me (audibly) if there's a keyboard error, FDD error, HDD error, etc. If there's a problem with the processor, or the memory, etc.

And it's fast as hell.

more than likely it is playing thru the PC's speaker (the one that beeps) not your regular speakers

I would agree with that, i never trust the market, then never do their jobs so u can always go and ask them for help so they can take some money.

Nope, it's coming through my regular speakers (the mobo has on-board 6.1 surround, and it pumps it through that).

If my speakers are turned off, no sound. If they're on, the mobo speaks through that