Computer Building

Hay Guyz...

It's time to ditch the Mac.  With the recent release of Oblivion, I've come to realize that the Gamecube and the Xbox no longer satisfy my gaming needs.  So I'm looking to buy a new computer - not just buy one, build one - I hear it's cheaper and/or better, plus you can come out with a powerful, ill-looking machine.

So here's the question: where can I go to learn more about this?  As a mac user, the building of PC's is foreign to me - the using is not though (haven't always been a mac user).  Also, does anybody know the best place to go for things that are either made of clear acrylic or glowing blue?

Here's the recommended system requirements for that game:

Recommended:

3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Here's the minimum:

Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit
512MB System RAM
2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
128MB Direct3D compatible video card
and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
8x DVD-ROM drive
4.6 GB free hard disk space
DirectX 9.0c (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
Keyboard, Mouse

Here's the site where I got this info:

http://www.elderscrolls.com/games/oblivion_faq.htm

Question is, can one build a  PC from scratch, that can play this game at a lower price than just getting an Xbox 360.

Bill Gates has his pants unzipped and everything. Either way, he's gonna get you...

Anyhoo, good luck.

Dang, Bailing right when things were turning around for Apple, eh?

(Sigh) just look almost anywhere on the net for parts. Maybe Ebay or something. Parts are plug and play. Tho, getting the machine to recognize your hardware can be troublesome at times. Beyond that, It just takes common sense. The inside of a windows PC isn't very different from a Macintosh. As far as glowing boxes are concerned, why all the razzle dazzle?

That is a whole different dimension than building a machine to game on. Instead of getting a really nice looking case, why not get a plain case and put the money you saved into better hardware?

Once I get the computer built, I'll be kicking myself for not putting it all inside something that looks cool.  I mean, I wouldn't go to all the trouble of aquiring high-end Italian car parts and put it all inside a 1978 Yugo.

Maybe, Was just saying that it's an un-needed expense...

Fortunately, I was planning on building a custom Mac mod, from the ground up, myself (Just need to get my hands on a G5 logicboard or two). I was planning on using a PC case in the process. Anyhoo, are these what you had in mind?

http://www.nikao.net/nikaocase.htm

http://www.directron.com/directron/cases---case-fans.html

Found links to these here:

http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/pcreleased/index.html

As far as parts, you can find those anywhere.