And honestly, I don't know what I want. Most folks here say yes to the SSD. Anyway, I really feel awkward dumbing this thread down so much, so I'll skeedaddle.
Nah man, that's what this thread is for, bounce some ideas around and people will try to help you get the most bang for your buck.
Everyone here is just pushing towards building yourself, because you can get a GREAT 1080p gaming PC that will last like 5+ years(with one video card upgrade after the 2 year mark) for about $1000.
You can get something comparable for similar money pre-built, but it's probably not going to last you more than 2-3 years tops, as it'll have a sub-par PSU, a small case that makes upgrading difficult, and a traditional HD.
So, you can build your own for $1000, plan on needing a new video card in 2 to 2.5 years for another $200, and you're solidly gaming for 5 years.
Going pre-built, you spend $1000 now, and instead of just a video card upgrade in 2 to 2.5 years, you're shelling out another $1000 on a new system. I think it's worth the 2-3 hours of work now, to avoid that later. I don't know about you, but I don't make $400 an hour at my job that it isn't worth spending 2 hours to save ~$800 over the course of the next half decade.
Computers are so much easier to put together now than they were 10 years ago or more. The only thing I even needed a screwdriver for was screwing the motherboard and PSU into the case, thats it. The case itself has thumbscrews for opening it, the expansion port covers on the back were thumbscrews, all of my hard drives just snapped into the bays on easily removeable trays. Plug in probably 5 power cables, and you're done. CPU snaps in, RAM snaps in, video card snaps in. I've put together Lego sets rated as ages 6-10 that are harder than physically putting a computer together.
