This is a list composed by some very kind people over at the Pure Pwnage Forums of possible builds in varying price ranges. Note that no keyboard, mouse, monitors, or OS are included. But these should give you a rough estimate on what to build. Prices exclude taxes and shipping. They're merely and indication and will of course apply differently if you're not buying in the US.

Builds

Low Tier

Case: CoolerMaster Centurion 5
Power Supply: Antec Warthwatts 500W PSU
Motherboard: GigaByte P35-DS3L
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200
Video Card: 9600GT 512MB
Memory: Kingston 2GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive: SeaGate Barracuda 250GB
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner

($600 US)

Mid Tier

Case: CoolerMaster RC690
Power Supply: Corsair 520HX
Motherboard: GigaByte P45-DS3L
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Video Card: HD4870 512MB
Memory: Geil 4GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner

($1000 US)


High Tier

Case: Antec 900
Power Supply: Corsair 520HX
Motherboard: GigaByte P45-DS3R
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Heatsink/Fan: Tuniq Tower
Video Card: HD4870 512MB
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX
Memory: Geil 4GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner

($1300 US)

High Tier - Crossfire

Case: Antec 900
Power Supply: Corsair 620HX
Motherboard: GigaByte EX38-DS4
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Heatsink/Fan: Tuniq Tower
Video Card: HD4870 512MB
2nd Video Card: HD4870 512MB
Memory: Geil 4GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner

($1700 US)

Ultra Tier - Crossfire

Case: CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Evo
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX
Motherboard: GigaByte EX48-DS4
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
Heatsink/Fan: Tuniq Tower
Video Card: HD4870 512MB
2nd Video Card: HD4870 512MB
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX
Memory: OCZ Reaper 4GB DDR2 1066
Hard Drive: Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB
2nd Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner

($2300 US)

Ultra Tier - SLI

Case: CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Evo
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX
Motherboard: EVGA 780i SLI
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 9450
Heatsink/Fan: Tuniq Tower
Video Card: GTX260 896MB
2nd Video Card: GTX260 896MB
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX
Memory: OCZ Reaper 4GB DDR2 1066
Hard Drive: Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB
2nd Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner

($2500 US)

Any of these rigs should offer solid performance for the money. Keep in mind that you might need periphals as well, in which case you should check out this thread. It's not all-fullfilling, so if you are looking for advice on audio or a monitor mention it in your thread along with a budget.
In any case, basing your purchase off of these lists is a good idea. You can of course swap around a bit, you don't have to buy every exact same piece of hardware. Especially when it comes to video cards, optical drives and RAM there isn't a whole lot difference between different brands in general.

This thread is intended for reference only. Make your own thread if you're looking for advice. Feel free to post suggestions and feedback though.

Online Shops

USA: Newegg ||| Amazon ||| ZipZoomFly

UK: Scan Computers ||| Overclockers UK

Australia: Umart ||| Shopbot ||| Static Ice ||| Shopbot ||| MSY

Canada: NCIX ||| DirectCanada

Mod plz pin this.

COOL!

Yeah, I know.. now someone needs to pin it!

done.


This looks promising. My sister said if I bought the shit she'd build me a computer.

Fanksh Barbara.
I'm also happy to try and help anyone with this stuff as much as I can.

Also, those builds are mainly gaming pc's but yeah. Also the first build will run crysis on high if anyone wants to know.

New Intel I7 processors are out/coming out this month.. Can't wait till I can build a new PC with one of these processors next year! Triple Channel DDR3 Ram!!