There's a little contradiction to a candle bbq. I didn't think it was possible but google and you shall receive some videos of people making candles perform amazing acts of pyrotechnics.
Each machine has some fairly balanced specs. I'm actually surprised, but I shouldn't be, that the prices landed around the $2k mark. I assume that's how these OEM make their money-- off extras.
The ATI concern you mentioned is no longer an issue with Windows. This applies to desktop applications and games alike. ATI has lackluster support for open source and their linux drivers are poor; they've been pushing the OSS community to do their own work without proprietary ATI code. But, that's a different subject entirely... unless you plan on running linux in addition to windows.
EDIT:
If you're a gamer, a computer is always a top priority
