Build me a rig for $1000

[[T]BludShoT]

No I'd tell them that building your own PC is not just as reliable as a pre-built one - it's WAY MORE reliable (unless you are dumb).

[Long Bow]

Well the whole "their dumb" approach is most likely to work, parents love their children telling them that and will almost always submit to anything you ask of them as long as you call them dumb

I would take some time and find some of the numerous websites out there listing how to build your own computer from scratch and print off a few guides to have on hand. Second I would double check everything you are going to buy is compatible with your mobo and PSU and make a check list to track that everything is. Now take these guides and check list to your parents, show them you have done some homework. Tell them that you want the oppurtunity to undertake the challenge, that you can't garuntee that it will go 100% smothly but that is how you will learn from this experince. The physicall assembly of computers is not complex as there are only a few key components that are needed to get the computer working. The software and setup can be more complex but if you stick with a standard windows installation and follow the guides you can have a working computer fairly easy. A profesionally built computer will have the same or similar components as yours, that won't change it is all of the drivers and software that they install which can be a bonus. However all the hardware you buy will come with the appropriate drivers to get you going. If you need to update any of them you can do that later as the computer will be up and running with the drivers shipped with the products. I strongly recommend you check to see if there are improved drivers and firmware updates for your hardware as some will require an update to overcome some bugs and enhance performance.

Do your homework first, be sure you understand the basics and have printed off information to reference if you need it. The biggest thing is to always ground your self to the case before touching anything. Don't underestimate this as static electricity so faint you can't even feel can fry things. Don't be scared by this as I have assembled a handfull of PC's and done numerous upgrades without ever destroying anything simply by touching my hand to the metal case frequently. The only trouble I have ever had building a new system was a faulty stick of ram, the computer would only turn on and beep at me. Removed the faulty stick and ran the computer on one stick of ram fine. I just RMA'd the ram and put the new ram in when I got it back from the manufacturer, everything else ran fine.

Lastly post in these forums if you run into trouble as there is a wealth of knowledge here. Or find a forum dedicated to PC building and ask there. The biggest thing is doing the research ahead of time, that way the build itself won't be frustrating and you will spend less time trouble shooting. If your parents still won't let you then respect their decision and ask them if there is anything you can do to change their mind? Remeber your trying to make your parents think your mature and responsible, bitching and moaning isn't going to convince them suddenly, just keep bringing it up in a mature manner. Good luck

[LeoBloom.]

Thanks alot Long Bow, alex already said that my components should work together and I've been finding alot of websites which say that building a computer is easy so I will show it to them.

[LeoBloom.]

Well, my parents had just managed to convince me out of getting a computer. I don't know how they did it, but they made me feel like it is a stupid choice to get one now. However, I still have another question. If I want to get an additional USB hard drive thats fast and all, will I be able to install BF2 and PR on it while keeping my other programs on the other old drive, and not wait 3 minutes for a map to load.

[Long Bow]

Just a guess but an external hardrive is going to be slower compared to an internal drive. No way around that. I don't know the transfer rate for usb2.0 off the top of my head but if you have firewire input that may be the fastest option for an external drive.

Glad to hear you and your parents came to an understanding. Be sure to build your own computer when you decide the time is right, very rewarding and you almost always end up with a better system (gaming wise) for less money/headaches then from a shop.

[.Intense]

AMD X2 Dual Core +4300 (2.2ghz/CPU)
MSI 1066 FSB Dual Channel Compatible (PCIe x1, PCI x4)
2x1GB DDRAM 888mhz PC5300
HardDrive isn't great
nVidia 7900GS (EVGA)

I can run EVERYTHING @ High @ 1280 x 1024 @ 75hz I rarely drop below 60FPS (Human eye cannot detect more than 60 frames per second)