Actually, like I said, I already have a decent 1080p monitor, which cost around $250 about a year and a half ago - if I wanted to replace it with a really good monitor, I think I'd need at least the $1000 for only the monitor itself, so no, the monitor is actually not factored in. If I can build a powerful enough machine for less money, I'd of course be glad to do so, though buying used parts is quite a bit of a risk, so I'm not sure I'd want to go that way. My friend only looked into it and said that as a very rough estimate, since at the time, it was only a remote possibility - I will consult it in more detail soon.