I am looking into building a pc that can handle http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/gtr2/tech_info.html?tag=tabs;summary GTR2 on max settings and run well. nothing crazy, just a solid pc. not looking for a monitor or speakers either. thanks, looking forward to your suggestions.
That's a rather old game, it shouldn't be too hard to max it out. Simbin (the maker of the game) has released a sequel called "GTR Evolution". I don't have that game, so I can't estimate the cheapest way to get maximum performace. Do you know if it supports multiple processor cores? What are the maximum settings (example: 1680x1280, 32bit, 8x AA)?
To be honest, any half decent PC can run that game maxed out nowadays I think, even an HD4650 and E5200 could do it.
it's worth mentioning though, that you may want a slightly more powerful PC to run the newer version of that game, GTR Evolution.