I am going to buy/ build a new computer for games and general use, and I was just wondering whether I should be building it from scratch or just plain buying one from a store. (I don't know all that much about computer hardware) My budget will be roughly $1500 - $2000.

Also anything I should know before buying?

you can build a top of the line gaming pc for 1500 dollars.
http://newegg.com

I don't fancy buying a 1500 dollar computer online much...

Newegg is for parts, no a whole computer.

Might as well buy a dell for $750-1000, and then just up the RAM, PCI Video/sound cards, maybe the HD too.

He just meant that if you build it yourself, you can get a better computer for less.

You could build a smokin’ gaming rig for $1500. If you feel confident enough build it yourself, but before you start installing those new components do some research and make sure that you know what you’re doing.

So when buying parts what are some good places to buy from, and also can anyone link me to some good computer building guides, the ones I have found on google aren't all that superb.

Are you talking 1500-2000 AUS or US?

Australian Dollars.

wow you guys cant shop, using newegg/td i can build a fairly beefy machine for under 1k. its all about knowing your hardware and knowing that "UBER LEET QUAD HAX RAM MEMORY WITH SUPER TURBO BOOSTERS AND JET FUEL INJECTION" ram is a lie, and nothing but a marketing ploy, when regular crosair xms2 ram would do the trick.

just dont blow what i said out of proportion and think i meant buy budget crap, nay sir.

also when getting a gfx card, the new 9800's are nice but they do have some flaws that are comming to the surface, and nvidia has not fixed them (they are hardware flaws)

my personal opinion, if your spending over 1k, your over spending.