Here are my choices, followed by rationale. Links will come later:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield – $289

Yeah, I’m finally the man now, dog. God bless Intel-AMD competition. Switching from AMD is sort of making me feel like an awful traitor, but I don’t think reaping the rewards of capitalism makes me a baby killer. For 100$ more than the higher-end Core 2 Duos, I thought, I’ll get something that will last me long into God-knows-when. At worst I’ll need more ram (using 2 slots now, so I’ve got 2 more empty) or a better graphics card (but I’m not expecting that will be for a very long time, either).

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard – $120

I think this is the right board, at just the right price. Coding Horror gave great acclaims to EVGA gear, but after reading up on their stuff and people’s experiences, I didn’t feel it worth the price of admission, at least not for my needs. I mean, I was raised on having a shoestring budget for this junk, such as having to make due with 50$ MSI boards whose IDE controllers would melt due to the Worcester, MA heat, making it so there’s a good chance any time you start the computer might be your last, until you can scrape together the funds for another cheap board. Of all these upgrades, somehow paying this much for a motherboard felt the most uncomfortable. But, all solid capacitors, comes-with heatsinks on the Northbridge and Southbridge, conveniently located and labeled interfaces and jumpers, and a manual that looks like it was written by somebody fluent in English: these are vast, appreciated improvements over my standard working materials.

Heatsink: ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan with Heatsink – $54

I’ve used ThermalTake sinks on both of my AMD Athlons, mostly cause of the “Holy Crap look at the size of that thing” factor. The fan sounded like a jet engine at maximum strength, and like a fart-can muffler on a ricer, it sounds cool at first, but after a while, you wish all the background noise would just go away. I also ‘trust’ copper over aluminum; in the past I had bad experiences with Al heatsinks. It seems like everybody and their mom has used this Zalman on their Core 2 Quads. It’s highly rated, recommended strongly for overclocking, sounds like the best of the best. And…holy crap, look at the size of that thing.

Graphics: EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card – $215

I think my unconscious benchmark in all of this was whether or not I’d be able to run Doom 3 using maximum settings. A 512mb graphics card is essential to that undertaking, and obviously is more than sufficient for other games, as well. There was temptation to throw in just a little bit more for a 768mb, but the bang-to-buck ratio on this one couldn’t be ignored. Also, a key factor, this badboy can output video in high-def, so I can watch HDTV through here (more on that later).

RAM: mushkin 2GB (2×1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory – $96

The board is particular about CAS latency and timing on RAM, so I decided to be a good boy and follow the recommended specs to the letter, with this 5-5-5-15 quality from Mushkin. Yes, there’s plenty of room for improvement here, but I’m looking to remain on some semblance of a budget here.

HDD: Western Digital 500GB SATA – $109

Gosh, those WD Raptors sure are nice…but just a wee bit pricey. I’m willing to hold out though as my next disk, after the price drops. For now, I’m probably going to be blown well enough away enough by going from Parallel to Serial ATA.

Power Supply: COOLER MASTER RS-550-ACLY ATX12V / EPS12V 550W Power Supply – $120

Not much to say; fairly efficient, wattage power gauge, built-in fan (which sure goes a LONG way toward PSU longevity) and decently priced for highly lauded quality. Oh, and it glows blue (hahaha).

Case: Antec Performance One P180B – $85

That price is after a store rebate, by the way. I really liked the case that Coding Horror/SilentPCReview advocated, the Antec P180/P182, and it turns out the black version is much cheaper than the silver, probably due to lack of demand (yes, I guess the color is important for pimping one’s auto). I’ve gone El Cheapo on cases in the past, and paid the price; causing way too much case dust by being forced to open the panel during summer and point a external fan at the guts. Having something that could support 110mm fans instead of 80 would’ve gone a long way.

TV Tuner: ?

I’m still sort of shopping around, but eventually I want to get a set of HD rabbit ears, point it at Manhattan, and get free high-def networks and FM radio through a digital tuner. Instead of getting a better monitor AND an HDTV, I only need one. I read something about connecting a PS3 through HDMI to DVI, so that takes care of that as well.

Total Cost: $1088

I tried cutting corners at the end (and this is actually several hundred less than my initial total), but I remember that I’m looking for this puppy to last me for a very, very long time, so cheaping out on some items wouldn’t pay off, in the long run. My needs are rather modest, and I don’t see that changing really any time soon. I know that probably sounds silly, being I’ve made some less-than-modest choices, but I rather overcompensate at value now, than have to completely replace something later.