For $3grand, you can get sveral eMachines of the $399 variety to include some rebates, etc. and have alot left over for more s/w and such. Of course once you start to look, then increasing video, ram, storage and/or unique s/w bundle(if available) will increase cost no matter whose system brand you get. Overall, you pretty much have to look at Gateway, eMachine, Dell, Sony, HP and Compaq for typical vendor offering and find what matchs your needs. Most of those mentioned will have some system that may meet your needs, but I find eMachine and Gateway, possibly Compaq to offer basic support that seems to care, while the others fall behind for whatever reason, though you can change that by the opinions expressed here and elsewhere easily, so shop for the best deal and needs and go for it. You may want to check out independant builders like Alienware, THG, Monarch, IBuyPower, Cyberpower systems for another venue to look at, google for deals from them.
good luck -----Willy 