Who are you calling a geek? Punk!
No seriously, it's easier than you think. Maybe the best for you is to specify what parts you want and have the guy at the computer store assemble it for a couple of bucks.
You don't have to build your own computer but the problem with the bundled computers is that they usually have crappy motherboards with dodgy audio and video chips built in. As the motherboard really is the heart of your computer, you want to make sure that it's a good one. The built-in audio/video, apart from being crap quality, can also cause conflicts with your real soundcard regardless of whether you use it or not. It just sits there and causes problems. Also, if you want to upgrade the memory or processor, you might find yourself in a situation where you have to get special, extra expensive, RAM memory (some compaq models) or that you cannot get a faster processor for that motherboard and have to buy a new computer. Also, the hard disk controllers on cheap motherboards can be slow and dodgy so you may hit the limit of your machine earlier than necessary.
So where does this leave you? Step one. Search the "computer recording.." forum for things like "DAW setup", "motherboard" etc. and you'll find lots of info.
If that feels like too much, the article really says it all and below is a distilled version.
Get the following
ABIT BE6-II motherboard $135
Celeron 566 processor in combination with a FCPGA "slocket adapter". As the article says "Be sure to order an adapter made specifically for the Coppermine FCPGA chips: the earlier PPGA adapters will not work and may damage your chip!" If the staff at the computer store don't know what this means, shop elsewhere.
Don't worry about overclocking, you won't need it for quite some time. If you want to, you can get a processor that's pretested to run at 850MHz with extra fans included (here for example
http://www.puicorp.com/cpu.htm)but it's not really necessary. But then again, why not while your at it. They're not too expensive. Normal $120 Overclocked with extra fan $220
128Mb of PC 133 CAS 2 RAM. Get the good stuff and don't be tempted to save $7 on getting no-name. Especially not if you're going to overclock. $175
Any floppy drive will do. $20
CD-R/CD-RW Search the "Computer..." forum to see if any brands are preferred. $200 max
Any AGP Graphic card you like. (Almost all graphics cards today are AGP) $100 will get you a long way.
ATA66 7200rpm IDE hard disk drive. As large as you like. When fiddling with digital audio, there's no such thing as enough room. Again, search for recommendations on brands/models. I would even recommend two hard disks. Search the "you should know which by now" forum for reasons and details. 30Gb $250
ATX maxi (or midi) tower case with as large power supply as they have. Usually around 230W but 300W is preferred. $75 max
Windows2000. Because it's so good. Make sure that the soundacrd you get has drivers for Win2000 available. You might have to stick with 98(brrr) for a while. No idea about the price
19" Monitor Big range of prices. About $375
Modem. You can usually get them for free when you subcribe to an ISP.
Gaming soundcard $40 or so.
Total About $1100-$1200 w/o monitor. Sure, it's even more expensive but you'll get a machine that beats the bundeled on with a rake any day. I can assure you that the problems you will have with the bundeled package will not be worth the $100-$200 saving.
The main reason for "rolling your own" is not to save money but to get gear that's good for recording.
OK, you may call me a geek now
/Ola
BTW DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation.