I just built my new PC last October. I work with a bunch of engineers who pride themselves on building and getting the best PCs, and don't mind paying $3000+ for them. I play a bunch of games with them.
I paid ~$970 and it outruns all of theirs. While they spend a bunch of their time troubleshooting why it's not running very fast and keeping it from overheating, I have had zero problems with mine. I play Starcraft 2 and Civ 5 and Portal 2 on the highest settings with no slowdown.
Here's exactly what I bought:
1 x Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1 x ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
1 x Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750
1 x OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
1 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL
1 x ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 x Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7261S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM
1 x 2.5" to 3.5" converter (for the SSD drive, get the cheapest one you can find)
1 x ~700W OCZ power supply
Sorry, Newegg isn't good about linking your old orders to actual products. Just look for the equivalent versions that are still sold now, and you are golden.
Whichever way you go, make sure you
SPEND EXTRA ON AN SSD DRIVE. It doesn't have to be big, 60 GB minimum will do though I recommend 120 GB as it does quickly run out for games. You're just putting the OS and any other programs you can fit on there, and regardless of how much you spend on all other parts, THAT ALONE will make your new PC the zippiest computer you have ever had.
EDIT: I added the power supply. I reused my very good OCZ one from my old PC, the only thing I reused.
Speaking of which... would anyone like to purchase the very best AGP videocard ever made? I give you good price my friend.
