$1000 PC build budget

[greytautumn]

I have a $1000 budget for everything but OS and case.

That means needing CPU, MOBO (Core2 is my choice- but I'll discuss AMD), PSU, 1 optical drive, RAM, video card, HDD.

Essentially everything BUT the OS and chassis. It'll be a vista build.

I want but do not see how I can pull this of with a higher end PC. I want 4GB ram, and a DX10 card (I know that R600 is fairly unknown right now), but price is a major issue with these parameters. I suspect that 2gb is all that will fit into the budget along with a 'budget' dx10 card.

My realistic time frame is Summer, after the e6600 drops in price- my desired chip.

The goal is gaming, specifically, single threaded gaming. Ideally I can upgrade to a quad core on the same hardware at another date- stretching the usefulness of the core hardware. I'll also do some video editing as well. I have a baby on the way.

Any suggestions are welcome. I know that this is a bit future looking, but the landscape will not be all THAT different in 3 months.

 

[lobbyone]

Wait till summer, then go through the list from newegg. You'll never know, prices jump up and down when it comes to computer stuff.

 

[greytautumn]

That's why I'm waiting until Summer- R600 and what it brings as hardware AND price pressure on other DX10 parts. Plus the rumored Intel cuts and the normal fluctuation of RAM prices. I'm looking for ideas now- I think a Bad Axe 2 will still be ~$200 at that time, and we'll see 1gb HDD's. However

 

[ShellGuy]

i think you mean 1tb hdd not 1gb we surpassed them along time ago..


Will G.

 

[greytautumn]

My bad. I meant 1Tb. I know I can get 750GB's now. It's just not cost effective yet.