Gaming Machine

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+	79
Motherboard	ABIT AN52	95
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	88
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	230
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	107
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	718 + Postage

This system, despite its low price is a viable ticket to entry level gaming. It features a reasonable sized hard drive (250GB) sufficient for most users, and a decent video card, which will be plenty quick enough for most games.

$750 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E4300	145
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-S3	115
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	88
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT	142
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	107
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	718 + Postage

$1000 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+	117
Motherboard	ABIT AN52	95
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	88
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	374
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	114
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	976 + Postage

For under $1000 this machine is a bargain beast.

$1000 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6320	210
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-S3	115
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	88
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	230
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	114
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	945 + Postage

At a touch under $1000 the Core 2 Duo system is quite impressive. For $1000, this system would be very quick and well suited for demanding office applications and some decent gaming.

$1250 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+	163
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	179
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	88
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	138
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	374
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	114
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1204 + Postage

This machine is a bargain beast, with a 5200+, Geforce 8800GTS, 2GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Definitely a good value system :)

$1250 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6600	290
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-S3	115
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	88
Hard Drive	400GB Samsung HD401LJ	121
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTS	374
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	114
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1215 + Postage

I'd say that this machine is probably the sweet spot. It has a quick CPU, plenty of RAM, and a very quick video card. :)

$1500 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+	219
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	179
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	88
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	154
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	512MB ATi Radeon HD2900XT	504
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	Corsair HX-620 620W	169
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1461 + Postage

This machine is going to be very quick for any AMD/ATi fan.

$1500 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6600	290
Motherboard	Abit IP35-E	149
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	88
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	138
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	640MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTS	499
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	114
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1431 + Postage

$1750 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6600	290
Motherboard	Abit IP35-E	149
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	88
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	138
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX	710
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	Corsair HX-620 620W	169
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1696 + Postage

Probably as far as the average user needs to go to have a very decent gaming experience - top of the range graphics card with a decent CPU.

After this point, the higher end systems are found in the Dream Machine section