I built my own PC with top-of-the-line everything except for the CPU (I got a 2.53 Ghz instead of 2.8 Ghz which was a $200-$300 difference and an almost unnoticable difference in performance) and 512 MB of the best RDRAM available and a 17" CRT monitor all for about $1,500.
Consider that you probably don't want top-of-the-line everything, so you would save $150 on the videocard, $100 on the soundcard, $50 on the case, and maybe $100 on the RAM (though I wouldn't get anything less than what I got).
Then add about $120 for Win XP and speakers, and it comes out to about $1200-$1300 for a very powerful PC if you build your own.
It's not that hard to do, and you can still take your computer to Best Buy or wherever and they'll fix anything you can't figure out.
Considering you probably won't do that, at least don't buy a Celeron PC.
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