The Grand Experiment is a solid system that should be able to handle a little bit of everything, but its specs aren't exactly drool-inducing. For that, we have our high-end build, a machine that avoids hefty price premiums while still packing enough hardware to make you the envy of the next LAN party.

This build is probably closest to what TR's editors would choose for themselves in order to get the most value for the dollar in an enthusiast's PC. Most of the components are chosen because they're in that proverbial "sweet spot" for price and performance—hence the name.

Processor
Intel's Core 2 Duo E6600 retains its place in The Sweet Spot for at least one more go-round. This chip runs at 2.4GHz and packs a full 4MB of shared L2 cache, which gives it an edge over the 2.13GHz/4MB Core 2 Duo E6420 from The Grand Experiment. The E6600 was also one of the "final five" in our article comparing price and performance, so we know it's a solid value.

Motherboard
Intel recently released its excellent new P35 Express chipset, and we decided to pick a board based on it for The Sweet Spot. The Abit IP35 Pro features official support for 1333MHz front-side bus speeds and for Intel's upcoming 45nm Penryn chips, which is nice if you intend to upgrade this system down the line. We were pretty happy with the IP35 Pro when we reviewed it last month. It packs two PCI Express x16 slots (in a x4/x16 lane setup) with CrossFire support, eight Serial ATA ports (including two eSATA ports at the back), two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and passive, heat pipe-based chipset/voltage circuitry cooling. Overclockers will also enjoy the board's μGuru overclocking, tweaking, and fan monitoring tools.

Memory
Value DDR2-667 memory is just fine for our Grand Experiment machine, but we want to give this system a little extra performance and overclocking headroom. Our recommended 2GB OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 dual-channel kit is rated for timings of 4-4-4-15. The Platinums are also one of the most competitively priced DDR2-800 offerings out there.

Graphics
With the recent price drops in memory, processors, and storage, we now have room in our Sweet Spot system for a slightly beefier graphics card. We recommended the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB last time, but now we're going with the pricier 640MB model. Considering the flurry of new games coming out later this year that should have larger textures and more shader effects than ever before, the extra memory should come in handy. This particular card includes a free copy of Company of Heroes, too—one of the first games to jump the DirectX 10 bandwagon.

Storage
We're sticking with Western Digital's Caviar SE16 500GB for this machine. The price and feature set is just right, and you'd have to spend nearly twice as much to get a higher-capacity model with the same perks.

As for the optical drive, we're once again picking the Samsung SH-S183L. More expensive SATA drives don't have anything particularly worthwhile to offer, and we wouldn't want to move over to an IDE model, anyway.

Audio
We picked Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer to replace the defunct XtremeMusic model in our Grand Experiment, and we're doing the same here. The new card has all the same goodies as its predecessor except for an AD-Link connector, which is only necessary if you want to purchase and use Creative's break-out I/O console.

Power Supply
An all-in-one case and power supply bundle is great if you're on a relatively tight budget, but The Sweet Spot has both a bigger budget and more power-hungry components, so discrete solutions make more sense here.

We use OCZ's GameXStream power supplies extensively in our test labs, and we're very happy with them. We recommended the 600W model last time, but now we've gone with the cheaper 600W StealthXStream. Branding and pricing aside, this is essentially the same unit: it has the same four +12V rails with combined power output of 580W, the same quiet 120mm fan, the same 80% efficiency rating, and active power factor correction. The only difference appears to be that the StealthXStream lacks its predecessor's blue LED, but we're happy to trade that in for the lower price tag.

Enclosure
Antec's P180 case has been a star of our high-end selections in the system guide for a while now. Coupled with quiet enough components, this enclosure can provide exceptionally low noise levels thanks to its composite panels, adjustable-speed 120mm fans, and partitioned cooling zones. Everything about this case oozes quality and polish, except, perhaps, for an upside-down design that can make cable management a pain. The extra time you may spend tucking cables away is definitely worth it, though.