Legit Reviews

The 2 computers i have narrowed down now is the dell xps 410 and one from ibuypower.com(not sure if any1 has heard of this site). I know i can probably build one better, but i like the fact that both these sites give me a 3 year warranty so i do not have to worry about parts breaking down, not to mention im getting the 3-years for free.
The specs for the dell
cpu - intel core 2 duo E6600
ram - 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
harddrive - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
monitor - 19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel
vid card - 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache ( gonna wait till some time after dx10 so i can get a good card then instead of wasting 300 hundred now.)
The motherboard for the dell is some intel 965 which i dont know anything about. power supply and cooling unit is whatever is stardard on the dell. This setup runs $1575.

On ibuypower.com, they let you choose the power supply, cooling device, and type of ram, mobo, which is a definite plus.
psu - NZXT PRC-550 550W Power Supply [SLI-Ready]
cooling device - CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit
ram - 2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader mobo - MSI 975X Platinum i975X Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 Dual PCI-E MB (would prefer some advice if this is good or bad.)
monitor - LCD Monitor ViewSonic 19" VX922 TFT LCD Monitor [Extreme Gaming; 2 ms; Silver/Black 2-Tone]
The harddrive, CPU and everything else is basically the same. This setup runs me $1,843.00.
Is the extra $200 cash worth it for the mobo,fan,ps, and memory difference.

greatly appreciate any input anyone has to offer. But i do want to only considering buying from dell or ibuypower.

I wouldn't buy a mass manufactured computer like Dell. They just plain suck. Buy individual parts and do the assembly yourself, you will save money, and you won't get junk. Dells are made for pirating music and getting filled with spyware.

Also, with the 7300LE you won't be able to play modern games. Keep in mind that to upgrade to DirectX 10 you will have to get Vista. DirectX 10 will not be released on Windows XP.

For video I would get a 7900GS. At $200 I think it is a great deal.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150184
The lowest I would go with video is a 7600GT, if you can get the rebate it will cost only $120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150186

DONT BUY FROM IBUYPOWER!!!!

We bought a system from them and the wiring and build quality sucked beans. Also the Heatsink/fan they used isnt worth crap, its an Athlon XP 2000+ and the thing runs between 60c and 65c. Also the PSU that came with it fried after 6 months. The label on the thing was in another language and I couldnt even read who made the thing!

So again:

IBUYPOWER = SATAN!

Yeah, that's why mass manufactured systems suck. They use cheap parts to save money, and they are overpriced.