the Hushed Casket

I spec'd out a sweet Intel C2D / 8800 GTS system last night for $675. I'll post it when I get time.

Also, yesterday I told Celery, either you do want a gaming system or you don't. That is, if you are going to build a system to only play games on it part of the time, then you might as well build a system as if you are going to game on it all the time; else, you might not be able to play games on it part of the time.

Let's build a system that can run Microsoft Flight Sim X and Crysis on at least medium settings, if not max'd out settings at say, 1280 x 1024.

Priority of parts IMO are in this order (and it’s based on getting the most frames per second at a good value):
GPU - At least an 8800 GTS (an 8800 GTS outperforms two 8600 GTS's in SLI. I think money is best spent on the GPU. Splurge here if possible because the GPU is the one thing that will get your more fps's when the new games come out. New games are pegged to GPUs, not CPUs.)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo at least 2.4GHz (Go with Intel since so many dev's cater to Intel/nVidia; also because AMD could be out of business any day now…i.e., AMD spent more money on acquiring ATI last year than AMD is now worth). Intel also just slashed prices on all their Quad and Core 2 Duo chips.
RAM - 2GB of at least DDR2-800 PC2-6400 (will add two more GB of same RAM at a later date)
Motherboard - ATX board that supports Intel's 775. Get one with at least two PCI x16 slots in case you ever want to do SLI or in case another device needs an x16 slot. Get one that has plenty of USB ports on the back and has on-board audio.
PSU - At least 500W. Trading out power supplies is the hardest thing to do in a system because you usually have to remove a few parts and you definitely have to disconnect all power connections to every device...and then connect all the power connections for the new power supply. Recommend getting 600W or more here if the price is right. However, if you save good money by going with a 450W, then it might be worth it. Of course, if you lower your PSU wattage to afford more GPU or CPU, you’ll likely be needing that very PSU wattage that you just traded.
Case – Get one with USB ports on the front that can be accessed without opening the case or front panel. Get one with a lot of room on the inside so that you can easily give it the business when you need to. Get one with a quick release side panel so you don’t need a screw driver to get in and out. Try not to spend more than $100 on the case. However, a $100 may be worth it.
HDD – Go cheap. Spend money on CPU and GPU to get more fps for gaming so scrape by with a low capacity hard drive. Install a new hdd a few months from now when you've recouped your costs and add a good 250 or 500GB drive to store you games, videos, and music. Look for a sweet deal on fatwallet or newegg.
Audio - Use on-board audio jacks on the motherboard for now. It will sound good, but not great. However, it'll save you $50-$100. Save up your money for a Creative Fatality card later.
Optical drive – A $25 drive is a $25 drive. But get a Lite-ON or Samsung if you can because of the better quality.

Future upgrade priority:
sound card: $50-$100
RAM (bumps you up to 4GB): $60-$100
hdd space: $50-$100
CPU (for a faster Core 2 Duo): $125-$200 (don’t forget you can sell your old CPU)