Getting a new computer.

I'm thinking of getting a new computer. I'm don't want to upgrade my current one because it would only be a minor upgrade, and I'd rather get a full Vista-ready computer.

What I have now-

AMD XP 2500 @2.2 Ghz processor
Abit AN7 nForce 2 Ultra 400 motherboard (onboard sound)
1 GB RAM @ 400 FSB memory
WinXP SP2 Operating system
AGP 8X Sapphire X800 XT PE 256mb Video card
SB Audigy 2zs Platinum
8x DVD Burner
250 and 160 GB ATA133 HDD's

If I were to upgrade this, I would get minimal performance gains and maximal wallet drains.

I put together this Dell package and decided to buy a video card seperate. I haven't ordered yet.

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6550 (4MB L2 Cache,2.33GHz,1333 FSB) Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
20 inch E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 2DIMMs
250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 Keyboard and Mouse - Arctic Silver
Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader

$818 after $350 off instant savings

Here's a custom one I built on newegg.com -

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz
ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA - OEM
Rosewill RX950-S-B ATX 12V v2.2 & EPS 12V v2.91 950W Power Supply

$869.19 after $135 instant savings. I also get $70 back with mail in rebates. This one doesn't include a monitor, but I already have one. This one has 2gb more ram and twice the HD space as the Dell package. I could just get two 250 gb HDD's and try a raid array with them. I have never tried that. Only thing I forgot was a case for the cpu, lol. Probably doesn't matter, it cost abou the same as the rebate.

For video card, thinking about these two -

Radeon 3850 ~$180
Radeon 3870 ~$230

So, which one should I go for? I would like to customize and build my system but I am leaning towards Dell because I haven't kept up with the hardware enough and don't want to order parts that may not agree with each other.

i'd say if you can find someone to help with the technical stuff, the custom built computer from newegg would be a better deal. plus, im not a big fan of dell. Otherwise, you could come down to Newport and i'll cut you a deal on a new or open box computer at Circuit City lol

i'm kidding on the circuit city thing. but not really. i have the power to change prices.

I don't trust 'em wireless mouse. You should back check how many DPI it can handle, and whether it will suit your gaming needs.