For those looking for a new PC you could probably get something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...765925-_-Combo
Thats 710 bucks without video card, so figure another 200-250 for the card. I just built a PC last year (I think?) for around 1k, but I have pretty nice stuff on the side, 2 24 inch samsung monitors and Klipsch speakers from years ago.
You probably can get away with a pretty cheap card, I'm running on a ATI HD 5770 which is at least 1.5 years old and from what I'm reading it still can run everything pretty well, and thats only 110 dollars. Video is outpacing what is coming out, so you don't have to get into the 300 dollar range for video. Processor/motherboard is the expensive part, RAM is cheap and you should already have the hard drives. Just something to think about.