While Cheap Computer Deals feature some really great computer deals on our front page, there is still a lot to be said about building your own computer. With that in mind, we set out to put together a computer that would be give us the best bang for our buck. We set a budget of $600 not including the monitor. We wanted a system that can do it all; from writing emails to playing the latest 3D games.

Our search lead us to TigerDirect, a well known online retailer of computer systems and parts. The Tiger is like a computer geeks heaven. They offer thousands of computer parts and they have some really cheap computer systems. However, we were not after the finished systems. We wanted to build it ourselves using components that we selected. With our $600 budget in mind, we managed to put together a really nice system with the following components.

• Chieftec Blue Dragon Series Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side Panel
• Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra (Platinum) SocA Motherboard
• AMD Athlon XP2200+ Processor
• XFX GeForce FX 5200 256MB DDR 8X AGP w/ TV Out
• Ultra 512MB PC2700 DDR 333MHz
• Seagate 120GB 7200/2MB/8.5/ATA-100 EIDE Hard Drive
• Artec 52x24x52x Internal IDE CDRW Drive
• Speeze - Socket A/370 Cooling Fan up to XP 2800+
• Hiro 400 Watt P4 Ready Power Supply
• Avus Windows Keyboard With 115 Keys
• Compaq PS/2 Scroll Mouse

We chose to do an AMD system because it offers more performance for dollar than an Intel based system. The Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra (Platinum) SocA motherboard comes with Three DDR 2.5V DIMM sockets that are able to support a maximum memory of 3GB. It also comes with five PCI slots and one Universal AGP Pro slot. This mainboard comes with a Sigma box which features a Smart Card reader, Compact Flash reader and two USB 2.0 ports.

Chieftec Blue Dragon Case with Clear Side Panel The #1 case for the gamer! Gorgeous mid-tower design, superb construction, loaded with 10 bays, and featuring the SPECTACULAR clear side panel! No other case captures the spirit of leading edge computing like this one (we love the sleek, clean bezel appointment). - Front Swing-out Bezel Cover with Lock - Quick Release Side Panel with Lock - Quick Release Internal 3.5" Drive Bays - 4 Screwless Case Fan Mounts Click Here For More Information! Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra (Platinum) SocA Motherboard Soyo has done it again with this beautiful socket A motherboard. It supports up to 3GB of DDR 333 memory, IDE RAID, 6 channel audio, 10/100 LAN and more. Plus, the platinum color gives it a sleek-modern look. It will look great in a clear side case with neon light. - Three DDR 2.5V DIMM sockets support up to 3GB - Five 32-bit bus Mastering PCI slots - VIA KT333/8233A chipset - Two USB 1.1 ports (two USB 2.0 ports on Sigma Box) Click Here For More Information! AMD Athlon XP2200+ Processor The AMD Athlon™ XP processor with QuantiSpeed™ architecture powers the next generation in computing platforms, delivering extra performance for cutting-edge applications and an extraordinary computing experience. The AMD Athlon XP processor is the latest member of the AMD Athlon family of processors designed to meet the computation-intensive requirements of cutting-edge software applications running on high-performance desktop systems. - Processor Speed: XP 2200+ Processor* - Cache Size: 256KB - Processor Socket: Socket A - Bus Speed: 266 MHz - Processor Class: AMD Athlon Click Here For More Information! XFX GeForce FX 5200 256MB DDR 8X AGP w/ TV Out The GeForce FX 5200 GPUs deliver best-in class performance and features at a great price. Experience cinematic-quality effects and studio-quality color, and the industry-leading performance and rock-solid driver stability you expect from NVIDIA. - Memory: 256MB DDR - Fill Rate: 1 Billion texels/sec. - Memory Clock: 400 MHz - Memory Bandwidth: 6.4GB/sec. - Bus Type: AGP 8X Click Here For More Information! Ultra 512MB PC2700 DDR 333MHz High-performance computing requires high-performance memory. For those who have been waiting for faster access times-crucial for high-level graphics programs-Ultra DDR memory maximizes system operation, and lets you get the most from your applications. - Memory Size: 512MB - Speed: 333MHz PC2700 - Memory Type: DDR - Pins: 184 Click Here For More Information! Seagate 120GB 7200/2MB/8.5/ATA-100 EIDE Hard Drive Seagate’s ultra-fast and spacious 120GB hard disc drive delivers 7,200 RPM access speed and an Ultra ATA/100 interface for mainstream and high-performance desktop applications. This drive features superior performance, quiet acoustics, and Seagate’s comprehensive 3D Defense System, for the highest security of your data. Capacity: 120GB Rotational Speed (RPM): 7200 Interface: Ultra ATA/100 Buffer Size: 2MB Click Here For More Information! Artec 52x24x52x Internal IDE CDRW Drive Artec 52x24x52 CD-RW is an ideal tool for backing up or distributing your data. No need to get an extra hard drive, just burn it and store it. Artec's CD-RW is a combination of high performance and reliability. With the newly developed "JustLink" technology from Ricoh, errors or buffer underruns are a thing of the past. Also included is Nero, one of the most user-friendly and easy-to-use burning software programs from Ahead. - Interface: E-IDE/ATAPI - CD Read Speed: 52X - CD Write Speed: 52x - CD Rewrite Speed: 24x - Buffer Size: 2MB Click Here For More Information! Speeze - Socket A/370 Cooling Fan up to XP 2800+ Want to squeeze all the performance out of your CPU that was built into it? You need to cool its operating environment. Fanner Tech's Speeze cooling fans are the professional's choice in cooling fan performance. The Speeze Socket A/370 heaksink/fan system will cool processors up to the AMD Athlon XP 2800+, Intel Pentium III up to 1.13GHz and Celeron 2.2GHz, and it runs efficiently and reliably to protect your PC's delicate parts as well as make them run better, faster and longer. - Socket: 370/A - Rated speed: 5000 RPM +/-10% Click Here For More Information! Hiro 400 Watt P4 Ready Power Supply Now you've finally decided which CPU, motherboard and video card you want to put into your new computer. But what are you going to do about the power supply? The low price leader brings you this high quality Hiro power supply at a competitive price. This 400-Watt power supply is ideal for P3, P4 and AMD Systems. - Format: ATX - Capacity: 400 Watts Click Here For More Information! Avus Windows Keyboard With 115 Keys The Avus Keyboard is PS2 and Windows 2000 compatible. Keyboard has 115 keys and is designed with two Windows Logo keys for quick access to Windows 2000 and one application key for pop-up context menus within working applications. These keys will make work faster and easier. Finally, with the experience in design and manufacturing Avus provides the highest quality, and comfort in keyboards. - PS2 Compatible - 115 Keys - Premium Quality - Windows 2000 Compatible - Application Key for Pop-up Click Here For More Information! Compaq PS/2 Scroll Mouse Scrolling is the fastest, easiest way to navigate the web! If you're using an old-world "click" mouse to move web pages (and spreadsheets!) up and down, you're wasting a lot of time. Compaq's PS/2 Scroll Mouse is now value-priced---but only while they last! This exceptional mouse has been designed and engineered for silky-smooth operation, on any surface. - Designed for smooth, easy use - Ergonomic design - Replaces your old PS/2 - Includes a convenient scrolling wheel Click Here For More Information!

Grand total: $589.00! This is really nice system. It would cost you hundreds more if you were to buy it from a computer maker like Compaq instead of building it yourself. By building your own computer, you save money and you get to chose the parts that will gives you the most value for your dollar.

*Update*  TigerDirect like this system so much they have made it one of their bare bone bundles and is offering it at less than what it cost us to build! You can check out the system here.