I work, get paid, planned my build for 2 months, waited, built, $1200. I'll do it again in another 2 years. But if your building a pc 'just' to game, I think its a waste of money.
I hate those little rich white boys who think they know everything about computers and all they do is buy the "best" parts. They also take weeks to put a PC together because they didn't know why an AMD cpu wouldn't fit into an intel mobo and have to return parts and waste money and time.
My 3 year old ATI 9600AIW plays CS:S on almost the top settings, although I'm thinking about upgrading for the next generation in the next year or so. I'm guessing I can get an 8800gts for a decent price by then.