@TOSGamer.

Definitely dude. I built my first computer when i was 15 or 16, taught myself and have been teaching myself about computers ever since and now I'm learning to program. But not everyone needs to take it that far, but knowing computer hardware isn't nearly as hard as people make it out to be.

@wiggles.

There's another site called cyberpowerpc (i think) that is the same as ibuypower. But if you want individual parts, I would go with newegg.com and tigerdirect.com but newegg usually has slightly better prices. Those are the sites I used on my first build, and on my new build (November-ish) I bought exclusively from newegg. They have very quick shipping and as I said, awesome prices. Good luck with your build!

I just pop a disk into my 2007 built PC and everything works fine... or just buy it on steam and it works fine...

Software isn't really driving hardware anymore, and infact newer GPUs and the i7 Quad core processor are nowhere near being maxed out by most of the newer games. The last game that really challenged PC hardware was Crysis in 2007, but developers have not been dumping money into maxing out PC versions of games because they are focused on the PS3 and 360. Battlefield 3 is the only real exception to this from what I can tell, but I think that when the PS4 and the next xbox get released, you'll see devs start to push PC hardware once again.

I've got an i7 920 Processor, 6 gigs of Memory and a Geforce GTX 260, and I don't plan on upgrading anything for at least another 3 or 4 years, or even more depending on what developers are doing to push the boundaries in graphics.

Yep its always good to learn a little about the things you use. Otherwise your always at the mercy of others when shit hits the fan. Honestly, you could watch some youtube videos and learn how to build a pc in a few hours.

really? I never heard of that site. Thanks for the tip! I am going to check it out tomorrow!

EDIT: @bob is it possible that you can have them just send the parts so that you can put it together yourself? I have always been interested in building my own machine, I just worry that certain parts won't play nice with others.

If buying parts newegg and tigerdirect are great (I'm not even from US), also tomshardware forums are great if you have questions about parts, compatibility etc.

So, you're calling 95% of the World's population thick, is that right? I know brain surgeons who wouldn't know how to START any PC they don't at work let alone many journalists,writers,professors of history, English and the Arts that wouldn't have the first clue about components.

To many people gaining that information is like learning another language-whether that's the reality or not it's the perception so they don't learn when console gaming is now not the comparative eyesore and feature free zone it once was.

It's great that you and I are capable(but, seriously, you NEVER had any compatibility issues when building gaming rigs?)of making and updating a decent P but dismissing those that can't because they probably, actually do something much harder is WAY unfair and the kind of elitist bunkum that gives PC gamers a bad name.

I know I'm not dim but wouldn't like a pair of physicists saying I must be because I cannot make nuclear bombs from bare materials. Same kind of attitude, no? Though, I do admit it isn't the minefield many fear it's still something you need to want to keep up with and spend the time doing so in order to keep your PC cutting edge. It takes time and effort and to some folk other priorities come higher than mods, building rigs or a few extra pixels when weighed against the ease of console gaming.

As for console gaming being responsible for the dumbing down of gaming-unless you've been asleep for years you'd have noticed EVERYTHING is being dumbed down which is why we should celebrate the odd gems we get on whatever platform and lose this tribal, platform following habit. I love my rig, and always will, but even as a former complete PC gamer I confess t playing more on PAS3 of late-oddly enough mainly because I find K/M too effective in shooters and I never got a taste for MMORPGs.

Don't most people playing tourneys and junk turn their settings wayyyyy down?

Yeah, when I was a CS freak the lengths me and mates went to to get that edge ended in what we called the arms race-newest/best K/M set up, nest/best GC/SC whatever and though never as dear as made out it did make for an unfair advantage for the rich guys.

On the other hand I paid 40 quid for L4D 360 and compared to the game I got for less than half that off Steam for PC with stronger dev and community support, more options, higher basic quality(bigger difference than any console port should have below a PC counterpart as well-Valve have yet to TRY on a console imho)and, for such a tiny and limited game, the life supporting mod scene. So I know why PC can be greatest even today.

Still, a lot to be said for the relative even playing field of consoles-esp if, like me, you like to know the guy killed you because he was just better on the day rather than had a better set up or had the backgrounds desaturated and enemies highlighted!! I also tired of mouse as a control for shooters-because it's silly effective in SP games which allied to aiming on two separate planes takes me too much out of the game these days.

I'm, even relative to other gamers, a better shooter gamer with K/M even now(i.e I SUCK with a pad compared to more gamers than I did compared to them when we were all using K/M!!)when I play every shooter(console or PC) with a pad!!

Best to just say that there are great, subjective pros and cons which make gaming on any platform a true matter of actual preference. From controller pref, the "level playing field", having the highest GFX and FPS settings or even the plug and play ease of a PS360. Just enjoy the gaming and hate on real gaming issues like devisive fanboys, cheats(cheaters to my US brethren) and, worst of all, the bare faced theft merchants who commit piracy.

When we start JUST saying these are the things wrong with GAMING and not just one of it's branches we might start getting somewhere rather than feeding the divide and rule tactics the industry has used to keep us down at every turn. Inclusion and mutual respect for whoever games on what is the way forwards-it isn't "our" little world anymore and if we forget that by in fighting just who is going to lobby an already greedy games industry the next time the ask us to all bend over?

People like us need to fight for the rights of every gamer from Farmville to WoW to Halo to Starcraft to Mario to GOW to Paper Toss!! I know a lot of us can come over as arrogant and it has to stop or we lose any bloody voice we ever had withn gaming and Zynga/Popcap will keep rolling over everything eventually-esp with slash and burn idiots like Kotick at our industry's head.

^ Wall of text of epicness.