To add onto this PCparkpicker has alot of builds created by other people on there that are current, work extremely well for low mid and high range PCs pretty much just print the list and order the parts they recommended you might need 1 or 2 more small things but usually its pretty cut and dry for a working good PC.(the essentials) for periferals i prefer to use Amazon Warehouse and look for "Used Like New" you can usually get a fancy discount on things like Keyboards etc for like 50% because someone just didnt like them god bless the amazon gods.Yeah you're right you can do a solid machine for less than $1600.00. If I'm doing a brand new build, including case and power supply, I spend a little extra dough on the case. The one I have is around 350 - 400, but it's really solid and will last multiple builds for decades until the form factor changes. Now if I took case and power out of a new build and was just replacing the guts of my box including storage, I could easily do it for 1-1200 bucks.
That 5 digit build that was posted earlier is for rich kids or people with more credit than sense, their warranty isn't worth it either. I've RMAed maybe 2 parts in over 20 years of building PCs. 2I mean I'm glad there are people who pay premium for parts, they drive the cost down for me, but don't fool your self into thinking that fancy build is a smart buy. As mentioned earlier, give it a few years and it'll be worth 1/10 the price. I made the mistake of buying parts on the higher end of the price curve once, way back when and to this day I won't make that mistake again. :)
If you're new to building a PC, I would say this, set a budget, if you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse, then $1500.00 bucks is a reasonable start for a system that will easily last you 4 years before you NEED to upgrade. If the person helping you can't do it for that price then ask somebody else for help. If you need the extra stuff, then budget $2000.00 minimum.
@LoicFarris I got a case from my coworker for my next build from the trash lol so my case for my next build is going to be free(maybe i'll customize it to make it look cool couple cans of spray paint some LEDS and possibly tempered glass hints of wood? Aliexpress has some pretty silly childish looking cases to haha but aliexpress is hit or miss but sometimes that 30 usd is worth every penny.