Cheap awesome computers

Some of my friends have custom built their computers; they are top of the line and supposedly one only had to pay $800.
Is this possible, and if so, where can I get more info?
Thanks in advance.

you can if you reuse parts

$800? He definetely had some parts laying around ahead of time.

motherboard - $70
video card - $200
processor - $200
hard disk - $40 after rebate (rebates are necessary with hard disks)
ram - $300

this is about what you should expect to pay for a current generation computer. Do not cheap out on the ram. It really is that expensive or you will be fucking your computer.

A "top of the line" computer would be more like one of those new Sledgehammer core AMD processors with the 2.8ghz front-side bus and a set of 1033mhz ram to overclock. But those will cost you at least $800 all by themselves.

MSI K8N NEO4-F - $75
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ - $360
Cooler Master Centurion 5 (CAV-TO3-UK) - $45
ASPIRE ATX-CW500WP4 ATX 500W PSU - $35 / $25 AR
PNY Geforce 7600GT (VCG7600GXPB, 256M) - $170 / $150 AR
Lite-On 16X DVD±R Burner - $35
Aopen Cobra AW850 5.1 Sound Card - $12
Patriot Signature DDR400 1GB (2x512M) - $80

Sub-total: $802 (772 AR)
   
Damn close to the target price, just throw in a HD for $30 (160G drives are constantly on sale for $30-40) and you are pretty much set. While it's not top of the line, it certainly isn't something to sniff at. You could even go lower if you scope out deals and buy the components over a month's time. Possibly shaving enough to up that 7600GT to a 7900GT for $65 more.

>>5
I think you meant to say $782 after rebates, but example.

Amazing what falls into the middle-range these days.

thanks guys