If you make the decision today, there's a few deals that end today, mainly the i3-2100 which is $125-$15 today only, and a shell shocker SSD that's under $1/GB.
today only:
i3-2100 for $110ocz agility 3 60 GB for $70-$15ARMotherboard/RAM:
RAM/Mobo combo - Team elite ddr3-1333 with asrock h61 motherboard for $101RAM/Mobo combo - Team elite ddr3-1333 with asrock z68 motherboard for $131I'd go for the z68 for room to upgrade. The ram IMO doesn't matter, but $30 for 8 GB is a good buy. You might try looking for some different brands if you're worried, but performance isn't affected much by RAM.
Graphics:
Radeon 6850 for $145-$10ARRadeon 6870 for $170-$30ARGTX 460 for $140-$10ARYou might get a GTX 560, but the prices on the GTX 560 Ti are crappy right now (which is really want I want to recommend). The 7000 series is too expensive and will go down in price when kepler gets a better release.
Case/PSU combos to consider:
Corsair cx430 psu for $45-$20ARRosewill Challenger and Hive 650W - 3 fans for $105, promo code PSUMar2012 for extra $8 off.Rosewill Future and Hive 550W - 4 fans for $100. - may have shipping.
If you can afford it, the rosewill stuff is a very good buy and will let you do a lot more later on. And if you pay your power bill, a rosewill capstone gold PSU will pay the difference in a year or so. The hive series is also modular, which is a huge plus.
So there you have it. without HDD, my total comes out to:
$555.26 with shipping to me, no tax.
$25 in MIR as well not included for the gtx 460 and the SSD.
You can forego an SSD for a bigger hard drive, but since $600 is your budget, and with $70 to spare, you can wait a while for a 1 TB green drive to go on sale (avoid hitachi, I wouldn't buy a refurbished either, but that's just me). 60 GB is plenty of space, so long as you're not pirating out the wazoo. Otherwise you can use that on your monitor/mouse/keyboard/speakers/etc. You can get a decent monitor for $80 or so, but the ideal range is $120-$150.
"Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman - do we have to call the Gentleman a gentleman if he's not one?"