Mobo + CPU : ECS and AMD 4400+ = $99.99
Contra Costa Times | Contra Costa Shopping - Computers & Electronics - Fry's Electronics
Case + PSU: Antec Sonata II w/450w = $99.99 ($50 rebate)
Newegg.com - Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply - Retail
RAM : 1GB HP (Generic) DDR2-667mhz = $62.99 ($40 rebate)
HP PX976AT - SMART BUY 1GB PC2-5300
Hard drive: Seagate 300GB IDE = $69.99
Burner: DVD-/+RW = $39.99 ($20 rebate)
Monitor: 20" Viewsonic Widescreen w/1000:1 contrast and 5ms response = $192.49 ($20 rebate)
Buy.com - ViewSonic Optiquest Q20WB - 20'' Widescreen LCD Display - 1000:1, 5ms, 1680x1050, DVI - Q20WB
Video card: BFG 7900GS = $149.99 ($50 rebate)
FRYS.com*|*BFG
Total = $715.43
After rebates =
$535.43
Even without the rebates, the system cost less than the Dell.
The case and power supply is a lot better than the Dell because the Dells uses a 375 watt power supply.
Documentation
The video card is better than any of the video cards offered except the 8800GTX which costs as much as the entire computer. The 8600GT is only slightly better because its directx 10 (not many games even have this yet) and its good for HD decoding, but in terms of graphical power, the 7900GS is an overclocked 7800GT which smokes the 8600GT which is slightly faster than a 7600GT.
The hard drive is 50Gb larger than the Dell. Its IDE but SATA offers zero performance other than better airflow. You can run RAID but RAID isnt for budget computers.
The Viewsonic is bigger and probably better because in terms of pure specs the Viewsonic's contrast is 300:1 better and 3ms faster. However, I cant say because you actually have to look at LCDs to determine which one is better.
Home & Home Office: SE197FP 19-inch Silver Flat Panel LCD Monitor
Lastly, the motherboard is an ECS. Yeah its crappy, but its basically free with the CPU and I havent had any problems with the 4-5 ECS boards Ive used in the past 2 years. The AMD 4400+ is actually a little faster than the E4300, BUT when you start overclocking, which doesnt seem like he will, the Intel will crush the AMD.
RAM is RAM and Dell is going to give you 2x512MB sticks for "dual channel" which doesnt do much except maybe 5% performance increase at the most. If you get 1GB sticks it makes it WAY easier to get another one to make it 2GB instead of having 4X512Mb sticks. And if you wanted to upgrade, itll be way cheaper than getting it from Dell.