Thanks for the replies, they've all helped me loads.
So now I'm looking at building my own machine. Initially I wanted away from AMD because I'd had so many problems in the past, I suppose I'll have to add the costs together and compare.
The dollar runs about 1UKP to $1.70 so £700 should give me around the $1200/1300 mark.
I can get a 128MB 9800Pro Radeon for around the £140 mark or a 256MB of the same card for £175. Presumably like anything, the more RAM the better.
There also seems to be XT variations and SE and plain old 9800 not PRO. Is the PRO the best choice?
I like the 'sound' of on-board sound much less to worry about if it's part of the motherboard. I'm really reluctant to choose ABIT, I had massive headaches with their technical support last time, I've always had good luck with MSI, would you class them as a reputable brand?
Is the socket 754 worth considering? I've seen Athlon 939 chips but struggle finding a motherboard. I'm using the website at
www.pcindex.co.uk which is like kelkoo but for UK computer vendors.
Thanks again for all your help