I JUST built myself a new machine, and I couldnt agree more.
Now, I tend to go high end so to extend the time before it becomes obsolete. SO I built my computer with an i7-2600k intel processor, 8g ram and most importantly, 2 hard drives. First is an SSD, which all the programs sit on and run from, then a traditional hard drive for all the data. What this configuration does is make everything lightning fast.
I bought all the parts from NewEgg - But you can buy prebuilt computers there too. Check it out.