What is the highest possible specs for a desktop computer today and how much would a computer like that cost?

Your question really doesn't make sense, because you don't give any suggestion of what the computer would be used for or any requirements at all. For example, a desktop for professional publishing would look nothing like a desktop for 3D gaming, which would look nothing like a desktop for high-performance numerical computing, which would look nothing like a desktop for editing digital video. Just guessing and selecting for balance across applications, I'd say you'd be looking at: 2 X5482 Xeon CPUs at $1,400 each 1 1,200 Watt power supply at $300 6 1TB drives in RAID 6 configuration at $170 each 1 RAID 6 controller at $300 2 GeForce GTX 280 video cards at $650 each 1 High end case at $500 8 2GB FB-DIMM at $100 each 1 Dual Xeon Mobo at $500 2 high-end 24" LCD monitors at $550 each I get just under $9,000 (when you add OS and shipping/tax and the like), but I'm sure there's some way to add more cost to it. Maybe water cooling? High-end speakers and sound card?

the most power fullest pc you could get on the open market right now available to the avage user is this a trio possessor motherboard with 3 quad core Intel prosser . a 64 bit os xp pro / vista ultamant . 16gb ram 2 1 gb vidna 9800 g -force graphic cards and a pentumbyte hard drive which is 1,000 tb run you around 10,000 dollars far beyond any thing and average user will ever need the bast computer on the market ....... is one you need goverment permision to own it use a ux prossecer wich is like 18 quad in one over a tb of ram a 100pytm of hard space and a grahic not yet heard of on the market . and a 128 bit os . which is nestely . if you could get one then your look at some were in the ballpark of 250,000 dollars this pc is like something you may hear of in like ten year form now able to avager user.. but then the government capiblity is always 20 year a head of the us. hope tis helps

Depends if you want it for gaming or video editing as both have slightly different setups due to the applications being run on them. Either way - you would be looking at around $8,000 for the customized gaming rig or around $15,000 for a MacPro desktop for video editing with up to 32GB of RAM - the RAM is the biggest cost.

want to buy a ferrari or rolls royce? ;-) SkullTrail $660 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121330&Tpk=Skulltrail 2 of these extreme quad cores. 2x $1500= $3000 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115044 4 9800GX2 (pointless by the way) 4x $500 = $2000 I could go on........... Just a pointless system. You get the best systems thats worth the investment for $2000. Maybe you can ask for the best config for $2000 and get a better answer.

I'd give you an answer, but by the time it posted here there would be something newer & better out. You could go with some $900~ Vid Cards, SLI Mode. That's a wonderful way to start blowing the cash reserves. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3755553&CatId=3585 & Put in a $400~ 1600w PSU to power it and and enough drives to make your box RAID hell. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2937371&CatId=2535

dont waste your time ,there will be something to blow your mind next week,$ 20,000 isnt even top of the line