Really. You might as well spend it now. If you ever move up or swap systems It's nice to have components that aint so behind the times underpowered that you have to swap anyways. <g>
It's like if you spent that initial $300 on a GF2 Ultra... The things still give fairly good scores AND even though it was a big initial investment, You just got to skip buying so many product cycles that by the time you really HAVE to upgrade(getting that time) You've spent less money overall. Even though that's a bad example, it is one none the less.
I know not everyone can afford the extra money, but why not? It's not like the moeny we're tlaking here is hard to obtain at any rate. Alot of the guys here now wanting to get into this are I'd guess around 13-16 right now. Well if you can afford the components, you can save another little bit to have something that's even more important... Piece of mind. The simple fact is that you spend so much more in the long run by using horrid components. Why risk so many expencive items? We run enough risks allready, but if you're any good, they just become calculated risks.
I remember my dad telling me when I was little and bought some tool I wanted. He said, "It's not that it's a bad tool son, but you get what you pay for." It wasn't much longer than that, that it was broken.
-Toysrme
So just remember guys, when you buy cheap parts, you're getting what you pay for.