Self built system meets/beats Name brand PC's

[51mm]

I built this system myself(all parts from newegg.com) w/tax and shipping for 1700$. I have less than a year of computer experiance. It's really not that hard to do, just some screws,cables and reading the manuals.

Here's my specs and Passmark:

MoBo: Abit AN7, 100$
CPU: AMD 3200+, 185$
RAM:OCZ EL400 DDR400, 240$
Hard drive: Western Digital WD800JB, 70$
DVD-RW: Nec 2500 (40x read / 8x write) , 70$
Floppy: Unknown brand , 10$
Vid card: ATI 9800p , 240$
Audio card: Audigy2 platium , 170$
CPU fan: Thermaltake V-11 , 25$
Power Supply: Okia 550ATX(500w) , 30$
Case: Ahanix "Black Night" w/digital temp controls , 40$
Case fans: (4)Antec 80mm , 40$
Monitor: Remanufactured HP 19" , 100$
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech "Cordless MX" , 100$
Operating System: Windows XP home, 85$

My system "version 1"
Retail $: 1700.00
Passmark v5.0: 435.0
OC'd to 220fsb/2.43Ghz: 457.7

Gateway "Gamer700GX"
Retail $: 3299.99+tax/shipping
Passmark v5.0: 425.5

Dell "XPS"
Retail $: 2466.99+ tax/shipping
Passmark v5.0:457.8

The same perfomance would cost 2500-5000$ from a name brand company. You can check the baselines, not many beat this. If at all possible build it yourself.

ps. Alot of these prices have gone down since I built this.
Also you could shave another few hundred $ off with less/less expensive; RAM,Soundcard,MOBO,CPU fan(if you dont OC), Keyboard/Mouse.