I'd agree with Tiretool roverman, stick with what works. Alienware does make decent machines, albeit at a hefty price. I'd stay away from the new Intel chipsets with RDRAM, since that situation gets worse and worse every day, and I personally think Rambus RAM is gonna die a slow painful death over the next year.
Really, though. If you're considering taking the big leap and putting your own machine together in the near future, why not start now? You could build this beast for about 500 bucks cheaper than you could buy it, and probably get an upgrade here and there on a couple of components for the same price.
Hell, I built my first computer with nothin' but the motherboard manual, and everything worked without a hitch. Just a matter of reading the instructions and plugging everything in. It ain't rocket science, ya know.
If you do decide to go prebuilt, though, those machines at Alienware are a good standard to go by for a gaming rig. You might take those specs to a local shop in your area and see what you can get one custom built around town for, might find a good deal. I'd get my list of components together and check the OEM prices for each part over at
www.pricewatch.com. That way you know what your dealer is spending on parts, so you can judge the value of the whole pretty accurately.
Xayd
[This message has been edited by Xayd (edited 07-12-2000).]