I agree with the other posters' advice to go for an assembled system. Since you're "kinda new at this", it's understandable if you find the prospect a little daunting at first, but there are a lot of helpful knowledgeable people here who can guide you.
You could enlist the aid of a pro or an experienced friend to do the actual assembling, but it will help if you know what you want. The most suitable configuration for you depends on what you're going to use it for. Perhaps you're one of many who do a little of everything - some gaming without needing high-end stuff, word-processing, Internet, etc.
Here's an example of a mid-level system :
- Athlon XP 2600+ 333MHz FSB (being phased out but still available and good value)
- Krypton C18G-400 motherboard (actually a Biostar)
- 512MB DDR RAM (PC400/PC3200) in 2 sticks of 256MB so you can run it in dual-channel mode
- 80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm
- Liteon/Asus/Sony CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
- Cabinet with front USB & audio ports
- 17" Samsung Magic Bright monitor
- 2.1 speakers, multimedia keyboard, entry-level optical mouse
[Just an example, guys - no flames please...
]
Depending on where you live and where you shop, this setup will set you back ROUGHLY 30k.
The mobo has GeForce4 MX graphics onboard which is OK for casual gaming, and it has an 8X AGP slot if you want to put in a better card.
This is just an example, and possible variations are endless. E.g., you can save about 2.5k by going for a non-flat tube monitor. You could opt for an Asus motherboard using the same nForce2 chipset like the A7N8X series (2-3k more). You could substitute the HDD with a 120GB unit. If gaming's not important, you can do with 256MB RAM and save about 2.5k, etc, etc, etc.
And then there are 64-bit systems, and that opens a whole new can of worms.
