This is one of those random threads where I post an idea I have. I haven't built a desktop in 5 years, and after my xps laptop took a crap on me a couple days ago, I started browsing around newegg. I was amazed at how cheap parts are now. Now, im not talking the low end cheap, its the higher end items that surprised me. Back in 03' I built an AMD system. It rocked the 2.0 AMD 3200+, which at the time was approx $280 if memory serves right. This by far was not the fastest chip on the market. I also dropped over $300 for a gig of kingston DDR400. And to top it all off, the 6800gt ran me close to $500. Like I said earlier, I was shopping around newegg and stumbled across the Phenom processors. They looked quite tantalizing. If I'm not mistaken, these are supposed to be the high performance AMD chips. The 2.5 was the fastest one newegg carries at $235, now compare that to the high end FX processors of old - $1000 and up. I threw in 4Gb or corsair in my cart yesterday at a cost of $124, and there were cheap sets by far. The equivalent to 4Gb in 03 would be a gig. 1Gb @ $300 = 4Gb @ $124. And finally, for what I paid for that 6800gt, I can buy a 9800 GX2 now. Basically what I am trying to get to is that performance parts from five years ago when compared to their level of equivalent by today's standards were considerably higher. Phew, I'm finally done.