The holidays are the time of the year when it seems to be socially acceptable to make a list of things you want, and then actually show it to other people.

In that spirit of wanton gluttony, I present my end-of-2005 PC wish list. Here you'll find all the PC parts that I'd install in my next home-built PC. From the motherboard and processor to the graphics card and optical drive, this is the stuff I'd be proud and delighted to find in my stocking (and yes, it's a big stocking).

A few caveats: I've tested many--but not all--of the products listed here myself. And while I obviously want a blazing-fast system, my purpose isn't to build the ultimate bleeding-edge PC, so I didn't just throw together a list of the newest, most-expensive components available (where's the fun in that?). Finally, all of the prices I list here are from reputable dealers I found on PC World's ProductFinder, and they're accurate as of December 8.

Processor Pick and a Mobo for Me

My next processor is going to be a dual-core AMD chip. Back in June I recommended that most people hold off on picking up one of the new Athlon 64 X2 processors--despite their stellar performance. That's because at launch they were way too expensive, with the top-of-the-line 4800+ selling for $1001 each (in large-quantity lots).

Today, you can find the same chip for about $700. That's much better, but still too rich for my blood (even if this is a wish list). As always, you'll get a better deal if you shoot for a few rungs below the top of the ladder. In this case, I'd probably go for the 4200+. It runs at 2.2 GHz, has two 512KB chunks of L2 cache, and will cost about $400 (down from about $581 at launch).

A processor is only as good as the motherboard and chip set you plug it into. To make sure I get the most out of my Athlon X2, I'd install it on the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard. Way back in our May issue PC World named this high-quality nVidia-based board a Best Buy, and since then the price has dropped from $185 to a friendlier $160. I've long been a fan of Asus's well-made motherboards, and this one has all the extras, plus support for nVidia's well-established SLI dual-card graphics technology.

If you're dying to spend more, pick up the new Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, which offers fanless cooling and true dual 16X PCI Express slots (like all previous SLI boards, the older Asus maxes out at 8X per slot in SLI mode). I'm not convinced, however, that any of today's graphics cards and apps can fill up that pipe, and the board costs $220.

Vision and Sound

If I had a nice SLI motherboard, I'm not sure I'd populate it immediately with two graphics cards. I'd probably put in one card now, wait until the thrill of that one wore off, and then add another down the road when my PC's performance needed a little goosing. This holiday season I'm all about nVidia over ATI. For starters, I think SLI is more cooked than ATI's dual-card Crossfire technology. Second, nVidia-based boards continue to offer top-notch performance, even compared to ATI's newest chips. Finally, ATI is on the 2005 naughty list for launching products without real retail availability.

We're currently working on a big graphics card roundup for the February issue and I don't want to give away the results, but let's just say that--if I were after a high-end graphics card--I'd get one with nVidia's 7800 GTX (say, for example, EVGA's $460 e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO). On the other hand, if I were buying the graphics card with my own ducats, I'd go with a board based on the new 6800 GS chip (say, for example, eVGA's $200 e-Geforce 6800 GS).

There's no point in installing a top-notch graphic card (or two) if you aren't going to connect it (or them) to a monitor of equally high quality. My pick: Dell's stunning widescreen 24-inch Ultrasharp 2405FPW. Not only does this big dog offer a beautiful and crisp picture with 1920-by-1200 pixel resolution, it's also relatively affordable. The company launched the unit back in July at a category-busting $1200, and you can often find it on Dell's site these days for about $1020.

Good graphics are only part of a good multimedia experience. If I were to upgrade from the Asus motherboard's decent integrated sound to a discrete sound board, it would be something from Creative. The company's Audigy products have long been the gold standard for PC audio, and an older product like the $178 Audigy 2 ZS Platinum card offers more audio quality and features than most of us will ever need.

That said, there's always room for a product that offers WAY more audio quality than we need. Take, for example, the company's new X-Fi cards, including the $400 X-Fi Elite Pro, which we briefly reviewed in our November issue. Yes, $400 is too much to spend for a sound card. But it's mighty tempting, no?

Regardless of which sound card I used, I'd tap Logitech's new Z-5450 Digital Speakers for my audio output. At $499 they're pricey, but in addition to excellent 5.1 sound they offer another nice touch: wireless surround speakers. In my home office there's no good way for me to run wires to a set of rear speakers so I've had to live without. No more!

Everything Else

Processors, graphics cards, and the like may be the most interesting parts of a sweet new PC, but a computer isn't going to get far without a hard drive, an optical drive, and memory.

I'm not a believer in spending big money on so-called high-performance memory, but I do think you should buy high-quality stuff from a vendor such as Crucial, Kingston, or Corsair. In the past I'd put in two 512MB sticks, but this time out I'd rather have two 1GB sticks of DDR RAM. Total cost: around $200.

Until the destructive battle over the next digital media format (Blu-ray or HD-DVD) ends, the only real news when it comes to optical drives is price. Today you can get a high-quality drive such as Plextor's PX-740A for about $80. Sold!

Hard drives are also dirt-cheap, so there's no need to skimp on capacity. For my system, I'd probably go with two 400GB Seagate Barracudas. They're number one on our charts, they offer excellent performance, and you can find them for about $240 each (that's about 60 cents per gigabyte).

Finally, all of this nice hardware needs a place to live. Antec continues to launch impressive new cases, and two of them caught my eye this year. The first was the sleek, silver-clad P180 Advanced Super Mid Tower, which sells for about $120 (sans power supply). However, I'm actually probably more enamored with the company's new P150 Quiet PC Case. Priced at about $160, it has a unique white outer shell, includes some nice sound-dampening feature, and ships with a top-notch Antec power supply.

Wrap it All Up With an XP Bow

Finally, no PC is complete without an OS. I don't have any immediate plans to turn this PC into a media center, so I'd probably go with Windows XP Pro Edition with SP2 for about $140.

So how much for my dreamy new PC? About $3500, if I went with the lower-priced option in each category and neglected taxes and shipping (there are no taxes and shipping on wish list items, right?).

Of course, this also assumes that I'd be bringing along my own keyboard and mouse instead of putting Microsoft's excellent new $50 Ergonimic Keyboard 4000 and Logitech's $55 G5 Laser Mouse on the list.

I thought about adding those, too, but I didn't want to seem greedy.

Tom Mainelli is working feverishly to complete his eggnog-cooled desktop PC in time for the holidays. Have a tech gift you'd love to receive? Tell him about it at geektech@pcworld.com.