I will check out Boxx and Falcon Northwest.

I would still like some more detail as to your comments about "Velocity Mtcro = Garbage" and "PCNirvana = Crap". I have read a lot of favorable comments about PCNirvna on various forums, and Velocity Micro gets very positive reviews on Resellers.com. Can you give me something more detailed to go on here?

Velocity Micro = Overpriced
PCNirvana = Cheap components. No 64bit

I tried configuring similar systems on Falcon, Velocity Micro, and Alienware - which appear to be similar quality-wise. This pricing didn't seem all that different from one system to the other - to the extent I am truly comparing apples to apples, which may not be exactly right. In any event, Velocity Micro did not appear to be overpriced in comparison. Are there differences in components that lead to your overpriced comment?

FYI - I am comparing Intel systems, which is my preference.

Seriously consider a Boxx!

Seriously consider an AMD 64 Bit processor.

Make sure you get a nice power supply.

My comments on Velocity Micro were stems from the fact that you can go to www.newegg.com and buy all of the components for .5-.75 the cost. That goes for all of the others as well (not just Velocity Micro).

The problem with Audigy is, well, it's a gamer card. The audio is less than great. But it is multichannel for games (I wouldn't use its multichannel for DVD authoring, if that's something you're after). But as I only do stereo, I dunno what to suggest in a multichannel game board if you need that. Maybe whatever audio is built into these chipsets (my nForce 2 has this, and it's functional, though not great sounding. I use a MIA when I need quality).

Good call on the 2 hard drives - you NEED that.

Any cheapo PC you'd get will have crappy parts - icky power supplies, not much expandability, integrated video, etc. (Integrated audio isn't a problem; sound quality sucks, but it won't drain system resources). But you can dig this info up on the net. Most builders offer higher end models with fully featured motherboards. Not many people would complain about something like a Dell XPS.

Part of the savings from building your own is from not getting (or paying for) OS, office software, etc. But if you can get this cheap, you can do well.

I currently have an NVidia GeForce 2MX .

Ignoring game audio quality for now, how does the Audigy 2 compare with the GeForce 2MX for audio quality in the video editing realm? How do they compare for listening to DVD music on the desktop?

Aren't you comparing an audio card and a video card here? If you meant an nVidia nForce 2 (audio onboard the chipset), then the Audigy is a bit better. In truth, the Audigy might be fine for audio-for-video, particularly since it works natively at 48kHz, the DVD standard. But audio guys generally hate this card, and I concur - especially for high quality audio meant for CD. Now, it's also been said that the Audigy drivers are troublesome; as I haven't lived with one for any length of time I can't speak to that. You may wish to search for more on that.

Well, since you aren't going to build and prefer to buy from a manufacturer...

Here's a decent deal on a plain ol' Dell workstation.

Goto www.dell.com, under the "business" section for "Small Business", then click the E-Value Code link and enter 18343-s40924a

The price is $2409 for the system: (NOTE this includes Adobe Premiere Pro, which you can use or sell on eBay to recoupe a couple hundred bucks more.)

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor, 3.20GHz, 512K / 800 Front Side Bus
XP PRo
1GB,DDR333 SDRAM,NECC (4X256)
keyboard
mouse
Nvidia Quadro FX 500 128MB (dual monitor)
120 GIG SATA 7200RPM Drive (room for second and third drive)
4X DVD+RW/+R with Roxio® Easy CD Creator/DVD decode/Sonic DVDit! SE

Duh. (This duh is aimed at myself, so I think it's allowed).

Of course. What I meant to say was Creative SoundBlaster Live! Value.

The Nividia card is a different card. Chalk it up to a long day. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

I would like to hear from you as to what sound card the "audio guys" thknk would be a better choice for working with Vegas, moderate gaming, and listening to CD music.

> That goes for all of the others as well (not just Velocity Micro).

I would include builders like Falcon Northwest in that list as well. While they build exceptional systems they are way overpriced. I looked at the top of the line Mach V for $4906 (after removing a few things I didn’t need like a $741 case!). I just spent two hours looking up each and every part on newegg.com (thank you Falcon for listing the make and model of each and every part, what a great web site) and the system can be had for $3305. You are paying them about $1600 just to assemble the parts and burn it in! That’s a hefty price for the labor.

Suffice it to say that any PC from a builder is going to cost you more than if you built it yourself. I think BillyBoy and others have convinced me to build my next system myself.

~jr