Got an absolutely loaded XPS Gen 3 machine from the Outlet for $1600 shipped two weeks ago, which ended up being a smoking price.
P4 3.6 GHz, 2 gigs ram (2 x 1 gig sticks @ 533MHz), Radeon X800 XT (pci express -- a $600 card), Audigy 2 ZS, 2 250-gig Western Digital SATA drives, 16x DVD-ROM, 16x DVD+/-RW w/dual layer write, Win XP Pro, gigabit ethernet, AND 2-year at-home warranty. Even came with full version of Office (which I wouldn't have otherwise bought). This system would have cost me close to $3,000 new, easy. Only downside: The case is a friggin tank and weighs a TON, but other than that it's all top quality stuff. (Plenty of room for expansion, 3 fans, and lots of smartly designed ports too.) The drives also werent already RAIDed, but full RAID support is built into the Intel mobos Dell uses.
You've just got to keep checking the stock. You can get amazing deals. It really pays off when you go for higher end systems, where Dell seems to use its marketing muscle to get great prices on very good equipment. Dell obviously got a great deal on the PCI Express Radeon X800 XT -- those cards turn up in most of the P4 3.6GHz XPS systems. This is pretty much the only way I could justify buying one.
Far Cry is absolutely smooth as silk with everything maxed out at 1600 x 1200. I just need to savor it while I can, because I'm sure a year from now I'm going to be lusting after some newer technology....
One comment about the Dell Outlet: They don't purge stuff, ever, it seems. So you see lots of systems in there for $3,000+ that obviously shouldn't cost that much. You've truly just got to be adicted to the thing, and keep checking the inventory. I ended up snagging my system at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.... This was after about 10 days of checking the inventory daily. There were several others I had seen for about the same price, but by the time I clicked on them someone else had snatched them up.