unless you just want me to talk about my dream hardware configs
No.
I am very key on "effective" purchases. Not buying something because you can, buying something because you needed it to do some thing and have it do that purpose well. Thats prolly the biggest mentality difference between myself and the mainstreem kid whos into the hardware scene. This is in much the same reason I am using Socket A's still. They are cheap, effective and get the job done.