Looking for a new computer

[wethepeople]

So my last computer has inevitably become obsolete and I'm now in the market for a new computer. I was hoping that it'd be compatible with certain games (Oblivion and COD4 specifically), to the point where there would be minimal lagging. However, in that I'm only sixteen I only have so much money to spend. I was wondering if anyone had any reccomendations, because I'm sure many of you are experienced with this kind of thing (where as I am not).

Oh, and, hi everyone. 

[feyd]

Pretty much depends on your price limit.  If you have 500 USD to spend you are in good shape to build yourself a decent machine.  It won't be top of the line but if your main idea is to play oblivion and cod4 then an alienware, no-named/self-built machine will generally cost you around that if you are willing to shop around.  If you decide to build the machine yourself then you can get packages which include processor (CPU), motherboard, and ram.  Take your hard drive, optical drives, and any PCI devices out and implant them into a new shell.  You'd have to buy a motherboard+processor+ram combo pack, a new case and likely a power supply which should only run you around 300 USD.  Then you have to decide how nice you want your visual applications to run (video games, internet videos, photoshop, etc) and spend accordingly (a nice video card is going to run you about 200-300 USD for either agp/pci). 
    On the other hand if you want a top of the line machine with a PCI-express video card, dual channel high speed ram, a dvd/rw, a sweet motherboard, CPU, and power supply you are looking at minimum 800 USD.  Your best bet, if you don't feel confidant with building it yourself, is to just buy an alienware and be done with it.  They are good for gaming, roaming the internets, and double as work computers.

[oneofchaos]

Have a friend build a computer for you.  It's cheaper than buying from a company as you can obtain all the parts individually and cheaper.  My friend did, and my PC was looking to be about 2800 from Dell, but we assembled it for around 1500 from Newegg.

[wethepeople]

Have a friend build a computer for you.  It's cheaper than buying from a company as you can obtain all the parts individually and cheaper.  My friend did, and my PC was looking to be about 2800 from Dell, but we assembled it for around 1500 from Newegg.

Hah I remember talking to you and Glix about this about a year ago. My uncle gave me my last computer for free and for the past few years it actually ran really smooth. He works for IBM and he's really the only person I am friendly with who is good with computers, let alone be able to build one. Though, I'm not gonna lie, I kind of prefer to buy something that comes built. That being said, once I cash yesterday's paycheck I will have a little over five hundred set aside.

[oneofchaos]

I actually just a thinkpad for college, I've had it for 3 days and I'm loving it.  TMD action on the go!