If you need a monitor/keyboard/mouse and everything else besides the "box" then it is probably best to just get one from Dell or a similar competitor. Piecing it out might save you a small amount of money but with shipping and the limited (in comparison) warrenties (which can be confusing w/multiple sources) it's probably not worth it, especially if your not computer savvy.
I'd like to stress this point. You DO NOT need a 3ghz Pentium 4 to read e-mail, make a word document, and burn CD's. Hell you don't need a 3ghz machine for anything past some extreme gaming or editing a big ass movie.
As such, you can save a good deal by not buying the "fastest thing out there" as you won't need it. I stress this... people have gotten so wrapped up in the numbers game they don't even realize that software/technology hasn't caughten up to the processor so it ends up being underutilized. E-mail doesn't require it, internet doesn't, CD's / downloading doesn't, etc. etc.
So I have to ask, what do you want to do with this PC?
The things I would look at when purchasing a PC in order of importance to me:
- The motherboard
- what is the front side bus speed (most important- 300, 333, 400mhz?)
- what chipset does it use
- enough slots for everything I want
- does it have slots I need for existing hardware
- any features I wouldn't use (onboard audio/video)
- any features I want (DDR ram, Serial ATA maybe, RAID, USB2, Firewire)
- how fast is the ATA (133mhz, etc.)
- The processor
* First decide if you want Pentium or AMD. Pentium is the "industry standard" but more expensive then AMD. I am a big AMD fan for their price, technology, and "non big monster corp" feel.
- L1 and L2 cache size (bigger the better)
- Processor speed
- Front side bus speed it supports
Those are the biggest issues for me personally. I pick the mobo and the processor, all the rest falls into place....
You can find great deals at Dell's "Outlet" which is used to sell used systems (most with part of warrenty left!).. or even in todays market there are *super* deals on desktops, check their "Home User" and "Small Business" sites, you can probably walk away with a schweet PC for less the $600.
http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfb/default.htmAny more questions be sure and ask, this beats work anyday