Don't worry, I'm not a complete idiot....I know the graphics card "upgrade" to intel onboard graphics is crap.....what I am looking for is a computer that has a good processor/cpu speed. The rest I plan to customize to what I want
As you can see the trend is toward recommending that you build this yourself. The only real advantage to buying pre-built is the warranty but once you start putting third party components in that's less valuable as the warranty won't cover them and may actually be voided.
So, in that vein and considering the above quote, here's what I would do (keep in mind you haven't hinted at budget). I priced from NCIX since I've heard that name but I'm US so I would Newegg or Tigerdirect it so please verify good online Canadian vendors...
1) CPU
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... ture=Intel
2) Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... e=Gigabyte
3) Memory
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=CORSAIR
4) HDD
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=Seagate
5) Graphics
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... cture=eVGA
6) Case
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... ture=ANTEC
7) PSU
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=CORSAIR
Optical Drive
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... lectronics
9) Monitor
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=Samsung
Some side notes:
- I saw several "bundle" deals in there as I was looking so you could shave off quite a bit of money with smart shopping.
- Monitors are subjective so seek other recommendations as well. I was a CRT loyalist till I bought my 1st Samsung LCD. I have 4 Samsungs and not one dead or stuck pixel in the bunch YMMV.
- Cases also are subjective, I love my antec P180B (black) but there are many cases out there that work well (Sonata, 900, several Lian Li's).
- The key is the GPU for gaming and graphics. Currently the 8800 (G80) cards are on top. the 8800GTS 320mb is a bit of a quandry, if you can afford a 640mb GTS I would go that way and if you can get a GTX even better (but ensure it will fit in your case!). AMD/ATI has the yet to be released R600 but even when it is released will initially only be released in the "top of the food chain (read expensive) models. The 8600s perform alongside todays top end card but add DX10 support.
Anyways my two pence....