My computer specs from the last four years:
AMD Athlon 64 x2 4800+
4GB PC2700
250GB IDE 7200RPM Hard Drive
Geforce 9600 GSO
17" 4:3 LCD Acer
Now I have the rig in my signature. I bought it all for under $300 and is a huge improvement. The monitor was payment for some computer work I did for someone.
It is a nice improvement. I don't think I could have done better for $300.