Here's the way it usually works. You start out by considering systems along the lines of the one outlined in this thread:
Core 2 Duo Budget System for $631
Then you start to tweak it ... just a teensy little bit ...
motherboard >= $200-$300 ... you're not sure what all the features are, but it
is the "best" and everyone else likes it ...
CPU >=
minimum of an E6600 ... (Hey! Maybe go with quad-core? Might do some video work some day?)
memory >= premium DDR2-800 CAS 4 ... because if you spend 50% more on the memory, the system will run 50% faster, right?
graphics >= NVIDIA 8800 whatever ... (Hey! Why not get 2 for SLI?)
1000w top-of-the-line PSU ... because you'd be an idiot to skimp on the PSU!
and before you know it you're placing a $1500-$2500 order with newegg. But you can at least take comfort that you didn't blow a lot of money on the case! Yes, you pragmatically picked out a low-end budget case and saved money. No wasteful, extravagant spending for you! :roll:
A simple yet apparently all too inevitable process.
Me I'm going to get an E4300, a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 rev 3.3, probably the 2GB Corsair DDR2-800 CAS 5 kit, and, my extravagance, an EVGA NVIDIA 7600GT. Just waiting a bit at the moment for the wheels of inventory to do another turn or so for "good measure".
And after I get it and build it, I'll blink and be out of date again. So it goes.
-john, the really, truly, positively out-of-date legacy dinosaur