[Pat]

i built my system for around $1200, so i guess my advice wouldn't be helpful (that doesn't include any software, which i got for free). the most expensive things were the monitor (~$300) and the video card (~$180) which i don't even take advantage of because of stupid cablevision - you can't use the tv tuner without the box, which makes the PVR useless. newegg has some decent deals especially on amd's. they have a great search function. and i'd definitely go with AMD. just watch out, they run a little hotter than pentiums, so don't freak out if your processor temp is at 50* (like mine is right now).