[dethred]

I cannot stress this enough:

Come up with a maximum (realistic) price you're willing to spend for each component.

For instance:

CPU: $150 (DO NOT GO CHEAP)
Motherboard: $150 (DO NOT GO CHEAP)
RAM: $45
Case: $75
Power Supply: $75 (DO NOT GO CHEAP)
Hard Drive: $65
Video Card: $250

= $810 (or whatever you budget) These prices will get you a decent gaming machine.

Make that the number you can afford and WILL spend. The idea being that if you get a sale and save $40 on a combo CPU and MoBo, you can throw that at a more powerful Video Card. This will encourage you to save where its needed. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE CPU, MOTHERBOARD, AND POWER SUPPLY. They are the backbone of your system and if you spend a few bucks more than a cheaper model, you can make them viable for much longer, and avoid quality problems.

Get a general idea of what you can buy for that amount, and start looking out for sales. I know there are no Microcenter stores in Canada, but in the US, you can get a 6-Core CPU and Motherboard for as low as $85. The board is crap, but you get the idea.

If you buy it all at once you'll overspend. If you acquire parts as sales occur, you'll get some serious bang for your buck. Hell, "Black Friday" arrives only a few days after PS2 is released, so not waiting till then would be foolish. I got a Cooler Master RC690 case with card reader for $30 shipped back on Black Friday 2007, a $45 dual core AMD black CPU (fast back then), etc.