the admin of
www.theitwares.com once said he cud get this board for 6k
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...=1&cat2_no=171
couple it with a 4800+ which is for 3.8k now or 5200+ @ 5k
as this board is spider platform, getting an HD 3xxx or upcoming 4xxx series ATI cards will get almost 30% gfx improvement than on other platform.
and u can upgrade to phenom when prices gets down. Now the lowest is for some 9k or lower.