I have built PC’s in the past but really didnt want to go to crazy this time around so my parents got me a pre-built HP and i kind of Frankenstein’d it for under $200 to where i wanted it (the model i have is like $550 at Best Buy or Circuit City). It has: 3.2ghz Dual Core Processor (you want Dual or Quad core at this point in time though have read you really dont need a Quad core) 4 gigs of RAM (expandable to 8) you are going to want about this much RAM Now the onboard sound card and everything else was fine for me but im a hardcore gamer so i bought a new 600watt Power Supply off www.newegg.com with a EVGA Nvidia Geforce 9800GT, got them together with rebates at the end cost me around $110. I love my system now, if you go this route and try and save money make sure the Power Supply and Video Card you buy have plentys of fans.