The following is my first home built system (proposed):

Goals: Home theater, versatility, fast, quiet. Budget: $2000

$80 Full Tower Case http://www.directron.com/ma01bd.html
Black is awesome. Full tower allows me to put this on the floor next
to my digital piano (Clavinova CVP 109) and have easy access to
optical media at the top of the box. Also, full tower makes air flow
easier to manage for better cooling = quieter.

$20 Wheel set to go with above.

$70 Super Tornado 300. Silent power supply.

?? Video Board. Probably an ATI AIW.

$170 CPU. P4 2.4 Ghz 800 Mhz FSB. The lowest speed CPU that has 800
MHz FSB will be the lowest heat producing CPU in that class.
Undervolt this baby for even less heat.

$200 Motherboard. Gigabyte GA-8KNXP. 800 MHz front side bus.
Integrated audio. BIOS can undervolt (this isn't confirmed yet) the
CPU which will allow me to possible shave off a few degrees
(cooler=quieter). Underclocking may be required, and is supported.
Heat sensors and intelligent fan control. A separate bus for onboard
SATA means fast access to hard drive for data/media that won't be
interrupted by PCI info (Operating system drives, optical media, etc.)
Onboard sound, firewire and USB.

$200 Kingston 512MB 400MHz DDR X 2.

$300 Three Seagate 120GB SATA Serial ATA Barracuda 7200.7 drives.
Very quiet drives.

$80 CDRW. Plextor PX-W4824TA 48X24X48. This optical drive is CD+G
compatible (I want to do some Karaoke).

$500 17" LCD. Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17" TFT Flat Panel. 20 ms pixel
response insures fast media and game playing action. Wall mountable
option will allow me to mod a set up to place this on my digital piano
where my music stand is! If it weren't for the 20ms systems, I would
most certainly be going for an EIZO L565.

Total Cost: $1700. Still need to decide on: Video board. DVD ROM.
Good heat sinks. Good fans. Grand Total Cost: Right about $2000

Regards,
Thunder9