Gaming Machine

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 4000+	83
Motherboard	abit AN52	84
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	210
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	107
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	703 + 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	Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140	79
Motherboard	abit IB9	95
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	210
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	107
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	712 + Postage

$1000 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 4400+	109
Motherboard	abit AN52	84
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	956 + Postage

For under $1000 this machine is a bargain beast.

$1000 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6550	205
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	125
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	210
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	940 + Postage

At a touch under $1000 the Intel 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 X2 6000+	208
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	149
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	100
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1219 + Postage

This machine is a bargain beast, with a 5600+, Geforce 8800GTS, 2GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Definitely a good value system :)

$1250 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	229
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	125
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	100
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1181 + 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 X2 6000+	208
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	149
RAM	2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	139
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	512MB AMD Radeon HD2900XT	480
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1431 + Postage

This machine is going to be very quick for any DAAMiT fan.

$1500 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	229
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	147
RAM	2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	139
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	512MB ATi Radeon HD2900XT	480
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1455 + Postage

If nVidia cards are more to your taste, the GeForce 8800GTS 640MB is similar money.

$1750 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	229
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	147
RAM	2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	139
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX	693
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1667 + 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