I agree with the building thing. Cheapest, most customizable one.
Nowadays, Graphic Card memory doesn't really matter too much [and 256MB is small by today's standards AltF4
]. Its the rest that matters. I've also heard that the CPU clock speed isn't that big an indicator as well, as an i7 2.4Ghz Quad will run single threaded stuff better than a Core 2 Duo 3Ghz Duo I hear.
As far as building goes, this cost me $600:
3Ghz Core 2 Duo [E8400]
9600GT [512MB GDDR3 is you care about that].
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
600GB or so Hard drive space [7200rpm]
Pretty decent PSU [550W, 2 12V rails at 22A each, 75% efficiency].
The usual DVD burner [Lightscribe isn't that expensive, should have gotten it].
Got this about half a year ago I believe.
And I had an Antec 900 case, which at the time was EXPENSIVE [$120 I think]. 4 fans. Really, the computer would have cost me $550 or less if I had a more reasonable case. XD
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Since you haven't built a computer ever and don't understand how, I'll help you "start out" by typing out a list of parts. Useful first step to learn about:
Motherboard
CPU
RAM
CD/DVD
Graphics Card
Powersupply
Hard Drive
Case
*Optional* - A CPU Cooler, depending on what CPU you buy it might come with a crappy one. Mostly if you plan on overclocking
*Optional* - Thermal paste, if you buy a CPU Cooler. I hear the Arctic Silver 5 stuff is good.
*Optional* - A Sound card. Not necessary since Motherboards have built in Audio, but sound cards give better sound.
More stuff I can mention, but it'd be too long. I can only mention a few tips to keep in mind.
1) The CPU must match the motherboard. Motherboards have a socket "type", and only a CPU of the same type will work. For example, LGA 775, AM2+, and AM3 are all socket types [the first is Intel, the latter 2 are AMD]. They don't tend to be backwards compatible, forward, or anything, THOUGH I hear AMD CPUs can do that to some extent.
2) The RAM must match the motherboard, but on the DDR number. DDR2 RAM will only work on a DDR2 Motherboard, DDR3 RAM will only work on DDR3 motherboards. The RAM SPEED doesn't matter as much, a DDR2 1066 motherboard will support a DDR2 800 RAM. Though, I don't know if you can put RAM of a higher speed on a lower motherboard [like, putting DDR2 1066 RAM on a DDR2 800 Motherboard].
3) Don't skimp on the Power Supply. I skimped, and I THINK that's where my reduced performance is coming from [that or TF2 is just getting worse in min specs, I had to enable multicore and TF2's multicore is...unstable at times].
4) I'd recomment SATA for your CD/DVD and your Hard Drive. Don't get IDE.
