Built a semi-beast rig last year around this time for work stuff (Excel megaprocessing with ~100MB files and billions of lookups). Good stuff. $1500 bought me just about everything imaginable without going too overboard.
Highly suggest Intel i7's. Awesome processor. Huge increase in computing power for my work (8 threads on excel is wonderful). I am unsure where you live in America, but try to locate a Micro Center. If you have one nearby, you can save hundreds on a top-of-the-line processor. I paid $200 for a $300 processor.
Tomshardware.com has the best forums for new builds. For $1,500 they suggest (as per one build):
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz $224.99
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $189.99
Hard Drive: AMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $62.35
Power Supply: CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $164.99
DVD Drive: Asus 24x DVD±RW $21.99
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1-Pack - OEM $99.99
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $274.99
GPU2: SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $274.99
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer USB 3.0 Mid Tower ATX Case with Window and Black Interior (SGC-1000-KWN1) $85.97
Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus $39.99
Reply to swh127
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Only thing I would tweak would be an SSD like this one (40GB): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167044
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
