Jumping back in here to say: many thanks to everyone who's offered advice, particularly Wire, Sweno and others who've made specific notes on components and such.
With that in mind - and the knowledge I am getting a bonus this year, however small - I've pretty much decided to assemble a machine, whether I do that entirely myself or with some store assistance. I'll probably bounce back here if I have any further questions...for now, just digesting what's been recommended and working out precisely how much I should spend, within budget, or possibly over.
In particular - I'd actually almost forgotten, but I did work up a mostly-Asus desktop (case, motherboard, and I think graphics) in, hell, I dunno, 2006? When I was at college. Low-performance even for the time, because I didn't expect to last. Ended up running amazingly until I gave it away this year (rather than, y'know, ship home). See, MOST of my scratch-build and self-upgrading experiences have been terribad, but that thing? That thing and my Asus laptop have been amazing. So, yeah. I know how good it is as a base. Not gonna go cheap on those components.
-- Acyl
With that in mind - and the knowledge I am getting a bonus this year, however small - I've pretty much decided to assemble a machine, whether I do that entirely myself or with some store assistance. I'll probably bounce back here if I have any further questions...for now, just digesting what's been recommended and working out precisely how much I should spend, within budget, or possibly over.
In particular - I'd actually almost forgotten, but I did work up a mostly-Asus desktop (case, motherboard, and I think graphics) in, hell, I dunno, 2006? When I was at college. Low-performance even for the time, because I didn't expect to last. Ended up running amazingly until I gave it away this year (rather than, y'know, ship home). See, MOST of my scratch-build and self-upgrading experiences have been terribad, but that thing? That thing and my Asus laptop have been amazing. So, yeah. I know how good it is as a base. Not gonna go cheap on those components.
-- Acyl