hi
i am 40 yrs old and i do have life and i play games probably 2-3 hours every day on pc(cable)on weekend probably few hours more.i can not say that my wife is totaly over the moon abut this but it is definitelly entertaining for me(missing on playing when i was small sindrome).
i have great job and social skills and 2 kids which is probably why i am on pc-they hold their consoles on x-box like their life depend on it/so i come probably with second best.
spreading on a couch with friends is definitelly appealing together with big screen and so on.
my personal opinion is that on pc i feel like i am close into the game.recent study shows the biggest gamers are the grope from 30 -40 yrs old(suprise suprise)
well who have money nowdays 13 yrs old or 40 yrs old giving 100dollars for a game is small fortune for a kids.for me any game i am interested i buy next day it comes out.
ok getting back to gaming system
i am seriously considering building new system even my current is very good.
i was acctually looking today all parts and came with a very good system for around aus1400 without monitor.
so you have good budget there and its probably personal preference which parts you will pick.most gamers i know opt for amd cpu i believe because they are cheaper (consider spending little more on fans as they run hot when gaming).
well i tell you that i built a first"GAMING" system 2 years ago and spent 1600 dollars.
since then with upgrading little bit and getting hooked little bit and upgrading little bit and getting hooled little bit more and now only thing which is left on it from original system is floopy driveNOTHING ELSE.all the orther parts are new everything.
so bear in mind that pc nowdays are moving forward very fast and games are getting more and more realistic and pc demanding dont get gaming bug because you will start doing like most of us upgrading and upgrading and this doesnt have an end
.good luck.