Gaming Machine

$750 AMD

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 4400+	109
Motherboard	abit AN52	82
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	87
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	199
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	100
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	684 + 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	Case
CPU	Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160	99
Motherboard	abit IB9	100
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	87
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	199
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	100
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	689 + Postage

$1000 AMD

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 4800+	[http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=AMD+4800%2B 129
Motherboard	abit AN52	82
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	87
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	350
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	111
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	934 + Postage

For under $1000 this machine is a bargain beast.

$1000 Intel

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	230
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	123
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	87
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	203
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	930 + 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	Case
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 6000+	194
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	179
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	87
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	132
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	361
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1200 + Postage

This machine is a bargain beast, with a 6000+, Geforce 8800GTS, 2GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Definitely a good value system :)

$1250 Intel

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	230
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	123
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	87
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	132
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	361
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1165 + 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	Case
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 6000+	194
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	179
RAM	2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	149
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	132
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	512MB AMD Radeon HD2900XT	489
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1446 + Postage

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

$1500 Intel

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	230
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	148
RAM	2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	149
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	132
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	512MB ATi Radeon HD2900XT	489
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1457 + Postage

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

$1750 Intel

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600	320
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	123
RAM	2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	149
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	132
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX	689
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1720 + 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. If dualcore is more your thing, an E6850 is similar money.

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