It would seem the staff at THG think our families all have unlimited Christmas shopping money. How about also mentioning budget products? I'm a gamer, and would NEVER spend the extra money for RAM with good timing. I have seen systems with similar specs, one with generic and the other with good Corsair RAM, and could not see a difference in how the game played in the slightest (HL2, BF2142).
how about a cheap motherboard too? I doubt most of us will use 8 SATA ports or need on-board digital audio ports (why would you buy a $200US motherboard and not buy a good sound card??). My current motherboard is an Asus, and cost $80 canadian.
The idea of buying a dual or quad core processor before software exists which really utilizes it is backwards. By the time the software is mainstream which supports it, you'll then have a SLOW dual-core processor, because there will be faster ones available. When all the games you want support multicores, THEN buy the hardware to take advantage of it. You'll pay less for the same processor, or buy a faster one for the same price, and are using its full potential immediately.
is it just me? am I the only gamer and enthusiast on a budget?