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The more specific you can be about the purpose of a PC, the more specific you can estimate the cost of it. For example, will you be playing lots of games? Decent graphics cards now cost about the same as the rest of the computer, so this is a significant decision. Also, decide how long you want this computer to last; or, at which point in the future would you consider the computer to be obsolete? Three years? Five? The longer the projected lifespan, the higher the initial spec will have to be. Finally, buy a PC magazine and look through the adverts. You'll probably find that many retailers will offer PCs at a very similar (or cheaper) price than the equivalent self-build, even if it does come with a "windows tax". This is especially true at the cheaper end of the market. Buying from a retailer also gives you peace-of-mind should you encounter a hardware failure within the warranty period. You're also guarenteed to get a working system (provided it's not dead-on-arrival). Having said all that, self-builds can be a lot of fun, but factor in lots of time (usually double the initial estimate) and let us know how you get on! Jeremy -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe. FAQ: www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html