I know everyone has their opinion on what HARDWARE is best, so I'm interested in learning yours. As an avid World of warcraft player and also a graphic design artist and animator (using Perl, Maya, After Effects...), I am looking to build the best computer I can afford. In the past I have previously bought laptops - my last being the Dell xps m1730. But, I have been sadly disappointed and will never buy another Dell again. Anyone out there willing to share their specs on their own desktop build? I am hoping to SPEND less the $3k. Thanks in advance!

A good friend of mine has nearly 20 years in programming / design, curiously, she was designer using macs before programmer on pc's, but her pc's are powerhouses like what you are looking for falcon or something like that? anyway she swears by it. Her SON, mid-teens, following in her footsteps wanted an acer predator for xmas, she said it looked really stupid when she first saw it but was suprised at its specs / although couldnt find it anywhere.

I've built systems, but not in years, and never anything at that level.

i could say (my opinion) best video board, cooling system, etc, and there be 6 more posts arguing the points, i hate that.

I know hardware has fallen in price, but cutting edge hi-performance every piece, which your looking for, can't see how you could make inside that price limit, best chance is to buy from mfr or shop, especially with economy as it is, may be find NEGOTIATING possible in a tag price if you contacted them directly.

Will you be building this system, or buying it pre-built?
Do you need a monitor/keyboard/mouse etc, and what software do you need?If i was you i would definately consider building as is much cheaper but you can get much better quality and performance its not hard either. I sure appreciate all of you have helped me so far.

Calum, I plan on building a system unless there is a great prebuilt system out there that some KNOWS about, has used, and is thrilled with. I have a great mouse and monitor. I can use a new keyboard, but have never been too picky about that. I will likely need to buy Vista (yuck), but most of the other programs I will need (animation, graphics, and gaming software) can be loaded onto the new system from my current system. I use AVG and have another license left, so for protection on the system, I think I will be ok.

Vista really isn't that bad, honestly.

Do you have any brand preference between amd/nvidia or intel/ati and do you plan to overclock much?

Is there a specific time period for this build because if you had the mind to wait a while nvidia and ati will be releasing their new series, resulting in new high end cards. That is likely to be later in the year, probably q3/q4. I guess that isn't to much to go by considering they're always releasing new series, and nvidia is constantly rebranding and taking back the performance crown with pcb sandwhiches.