K! So im looking at some barebone systems to start making my computer and i just have a question. maybe 2. Are video/ sound cards / RAM / HD all universal? as in do they all go with any motherboard/cpu? And what are the minimums you need to run PC games these days?

Here's what I have so far in my shopping list:

- CybertronPC – Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz / Foxconn 45CM Motherboard / Realtek 5.1 Channel Audio On-Board / 10/100 LAN / 350Watt PSU / Aspire/Apevia Silver/Black X-Plorer Barebone Gamer

- CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel ...

- Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

- EVGA 384-P3-N966-TR GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Am I going in the right direction?

O, first off - a P4 3.0 GHz is 3 gernation old technology. You'll be strainig to run any modern games.

Second of all - modern graphics cards need a *lot* more power than just a 350 W PSU if you want to do gaming. Barebones single 8800 series by nVidia or equivalent ATI will need a minimum of 550W PSU, counting your peripherals and CPU as well.

The RAM looks pretty decent.

Instead to those HD, go to Tiger Direct, and get teh Seagate 500 GB with *32MB* cache - better cache, same price.

i did find all of that on Tiger direct. i have no idea what im looking for though. but thats why i asked

i pretty much just want a computer that will run a game like spore. what would i need people? (and not too pricey please)

depends how much u got to spend really, you should ask people u know what systems they have, that can help, I agree with johngalt on the Seagate HD, i have the 250GB, never had problems with it!!

I don't know much about the Intel systems, I go with AMD as they are more for gaming, as for motherboard look at ASUS boards their very good.

You will need to get a higher PSU to run a good gaming system, say 500+ and as for the graphics go for the 8800 series, I too am looking at getting a new card too

; )