Gaming Machine

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 4400+	109
Motherboard	MSI K9N-Neo V3	97
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	85
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	-	697 + 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 E2180	110
Motherboard	Gigabyte P31-S3L	101
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	85
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	-	699 + Postage

$1000 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 4800+	129
Motherboard	MSI K9N-Neo V3	97
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	85
Hard Drive	320GB Samsung Spinpoint T HD321KJ	87
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	341
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	111
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	950 + Postage

For under $1000 this machine is a bargain beast.

$1000 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	230
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	123
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	85
Hard Drive	320GB Samsung Spinpoint T HD321KJ	87
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	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	111
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	935 + 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+	189
Motherboard	MSI K9N-Neo V3	97
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	85
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	133
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	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	111
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1239 + Postage

This machine is a bargain beast, with a 6000+, Radeon HD2900XT, 2GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Definitely a good value system :)

$1250 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	230
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	123
RAM	2GB Corsair DDR2-667	85
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	133
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	341
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	66
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	111
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1143 + 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+	189
Motherboard	MSI K9N-Neo V3	97
RAM	2GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800	141
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	133
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	-	1352 + Postage

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

$1500 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	230
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	139
RAM	2GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800	141
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	133
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	-	1439 + 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 Quad Q6600	320
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	139
RAM	2GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800	141
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ	133
Optical Drive	LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW	34
Graphics Card	768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX	695
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	-	1735 + 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