So, I was just playing with 3DMark 2005. With an average framerate of <1fps, I've managed to scrape together 365 3Dmarks with my current system. Compare that to a review of an Athlon 64 3800+/ATI X850 system I was reading where the system got 5921 3Dmarks, and I guess my system's performance is showing its (two year old) age. So here's what I'm looking at (NewEgg components):

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Venice core).... $201
ASUS A8N-E nForce4 Ultra............. $109
Corsair ValueSelect 1GB DDR-RAM...... $80
eVGA GeForce 6800GS.................. $209
Samsung IDE DVD Burner............... $39
Lite-On Combo Drive.................. $28
Maxtor 200GB SATA HDD................ $82
Antec Sonata II case w/400W PSU...... $100
Logitech MediaElite kybd (USB)....... $20
Logitech MX518....................... $39
Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS.... $70

Total: ~$978

Not too bad, but no monitor. Since my 15" CRT (max res 1024x768, but only if you like 55Hz) is starting to hurt my eyes, that seems like a worthwhile addition. If you throw in a decent 17" LCD monitor (ViewSonic VP171B-2), the price goes up $300 to $1278.83. Hmm. Computer or car insurance for the next 6mo? So, the conclusion being, ask for money for Christmas. Of course, what with college upcoming, I could just be practical(er) and buy a Nokia 770. What do you guys think?

Get the VP171B! I used one for my desktop display (I've since switched to a laptop full-time), and it rocked.

Components look fairly decent, but a few changes:

Hard drive: I'd go with Samsung or Seagate.
Case: Sonata's good, although I prefer the Antec SLK3000B.

Cooling! Stick on an NV Silencer 5 and XP-90, plus some Nexus fans: a 92 mm on the XP-90, a 120 mm for exhaust, maybe another 120 mm for intake. Also, if the motherboard chipset isn't passively cooled, stick on a Zalman ZM-NB47J.

Fans can be gotten from http://www.siliconacoustics.com/ . Take a look at http://www.silentpcreview.com for more cooling info.

Bah! A Seagate increases my price by $20. But it's also 50GB more storage (250GB and 200GB are the same price. Odd.) Okay. I've never had a problem with Maxtors, but I'll take your advice (I only have, like, 6 hard drives, and only, like, 2 Maxtors). The SLK3000B is nice, but I'm sticking with the Sonata, since getting a decent PSU and the SLK3000B comes to more than the $99 that the Sonata costs. Now, as to fans. The Sonata doesn't appear to have room for any more than the fans it ships with, so no 120MMs. And I'm not sure if the Zalman is compatible with a nForce4... Don't nForce4's have onboard graphics of some sort? I am throwing in a NV Silencer, though, although I'm hoping that it won't block my PCI slots... I'm also dropping the Audigy, because I think I'd be happy with just the built-in 8-channel audio chip. Speaking of which, I'm switching from the ASUS to an ABIT because the ASUS had a bunch of bad reviews and the ABIT didn't. Plus the ABIT was $11 cheaper. Current order:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Venice core).... $201
ABIT KN8 nForce4 Ultra............... $98
Corsair ValueSelect 1GB DDR-RAM...... $80
eVGA GeForce 6800GS.................. $209
Samsung IDE DVD Burner............... $39
Lite-On Combo Drive.................. $28
Seagate 250GB SATA HDD............... $82
Antec Sonata II case w/400W PSU...... $100
Logitech MediaElite kybd (USB)....... $20
Logitech MX518....................... $39
NV Silencer 5........................ $30
ViewSonic VP171B-2................... $299
Newegg bumper sticker................ $FREE

Total: $1246.16

No way I can afford this, but it is fun to pretend to build, eh?

My god don't do it.
DON"T GET LCD!
LCD has these shadowy thingies where its like it keeps the last frame it rendered for .001 seconds which is enough to make it look like everything has a tail.
Why do ppl buy it?

I use an LCD monitor on one of my computers. Ghosting is (at least to me) invisible on anything under 20ms response time (which they all have now a days). Anyhow, my last 17" CRT bent the solid wood desk it was on (over the course of two years) into a U. That's solid wood. I'm not buying another 120lb monstrosity.

I just bought a Western Digital Caviar WD4000KD 400GiB SATA hard drive, and it's been not good for me. Under heavy read loads the drive b0rks badly. Makes me sad. Filling out the RMA request form now. Western Digital drives are reputed to have very good reliability, but I seem to have been in the minority with my experiences w/ them (I've only had 2 WD hard drives, but both of them have given me problems). All my other drives are Maxtors, and they've worked just fine.

LCD monitors don't have significant ghosting problems anymore, but I personally still prefer CRT monitors. Most of the LCD monitors I've had experience with (like the one I'm staring at here at work right now) look fuzzy and have a nasty glare. And larger LCD monitors are insanely expensive (I really don't like anything smaller than 17", I prefer 19" or 21").

My dream is even more out of reach than yours:
Apple PowerMac G5
* 2.5GHz Quad-core PowerPC G5
* 4GB 533 DDR2 Non ECC SDRAM- 4x1GB
* 2x500GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
* NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256 MB SDRAM
* Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
* 16x SuperDrive DL (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse - U.S English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English
* Accessory kit
Subtotal $6,523.00

This is why I don't own any Apple hardware: I want to, but I can't bring myself to pay for it. Even when I'm more realistic and cut a lot of the options, I still end up with it being a good $4,000.

* Athlon 64 X2 3800+
* ABIT KN8 nForce4 Ultra
* 1GB Corsair XMS TwinX DDR-400 RAM
* XFX nVidia GeForce 7800 GT OC (256MB)
* 250 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA with NCQ
* Antec Sonata II case with 450W SmartPower 2.0 PSU
* Logitech G5 "Gaming-Grade" mouse
* Keytronic keyboard
* 17" Samsung LCD monitor
* LITE-ON DVD RW (+ and -)
* LITE-ON DVD-ROM/CD-RW

Mmmage.

Hehe... whatever you buy... well, you know the story...

Just jump in where you can, and then don't worry about it... College is *way* more important than the latest gizmos... but there are ways to adapt...

You'll do fine, rogue... (and after college, there is big *fun* to be had - and more resources to do it with...)

*drool*

Nice specs. What're you doing for cooling?

Theoretically, could you buy the components for a PC and install the Mac OS? Assuming you get USB ports and all...

Probably a real simpl answer with a real simple explanation, but might as well ask now rather than later.

@moldyman: if you get the X86 architecture version of the OS, yes, you can.

@Beolach:

I don't recommend buying the mighty mouse at all and the monitor not from Apple, but that's a matter of taste.

However, if you don't buy stuff like RAM and HDs at the Apple store (don't ever do that), you can save about 1k on that price tag, which is quite a reduction. The price is still high, but at least then you'd know you did everything you could to lower it ;)

And yes, I'm planning on getting that box.

@Tyridium: Stock cooling on everything, plus some extra case fans. The GPU (which is the only thing I currently feel like looking up tems for) idles at about 33 and loads at about 45.

PS: >100fps looking at Odia M-14 station with everything maxed at 1280x1024. >20fps looking at the levi, 4 hive queens, a capship, and dozens of little ships. 73fps average on the Half-Life 2: Lost Coast HDR Engine Stress Test with everything maxed at 1280x1024. >:-)

X86 architecture version of Mac OSX?

/me stares blankly

You know? Apple's moving to Intel? So there's OS X for x86 (x86 being Intel/AMD). It's not legal, but it's out there. Of course, it's useless for the vast majority of people, since it requires a Pentium 4 with an Intel 945 chipset and integrated graphics...

Re: toshiro

Yeah, I know I could save a good chunk of that price quote by shopping intelligently, but even at a couple thousand less it's outside my price range, so why bother shopping around? Also, are Apple monitors available from anyone other than Apple? I mentioned earlier that I really don't like LCD monitors, but the Apple ones are the exception. They're pretty much the only LCDs that I really like... but not (quite) worth the $$.

The whole Apple moving to Intel thing is why I want to get a Mac soon, while they're still on PPC. The different achitecture is for me the main draw. PPC has different strengths and weaknesses compared to x86, and I want to have both to play around with. Once Apple's on x86, I see no reason for me to get one.

I have a PPC ibook, i've used x86 PCs since 1991.. the OS is the real difference.. the CPU is just.. the cpu..

@Beolach:

I do not know whether Apple just buys them off a chinese manufacturer, and you could purchase them there for a fraction of the price (that is the case with some HiFi equipment). Maybe if you kept looking out for it?

Then again, Apple is pretty strict in protecting their design, so this is rather unlikely.

On the topic of OSX PPC vs. OSX X86...

I will have both. I'm aiming for a Quad Core sooner than later, just to have the latest and greatest of PPC technology.

That doesn't mean I won't buy X86, on the contrary. I just want to make sure I have every resource available (still have some pretty good 68k macs, just to make sure... you never know ;). Yes, I know, PPC actually emulates 68k faster than 68k ever ran, but still... I'm a collector, and as such, irrational.

With stock air cooling:

CPU@2400MHz (from 2000MHz)
RAM@240MHz (from 200MHz)

Stable enough to run through a 3dmark05 run, do all the Sandra tests, and play some Quake4. I'm running PRIME95 now... I might back down from the 240MHz RAM, though. It's kinda... high?