So I have been debating for the last 3 months on if I want to build my own PC setup or not. And I have been all over the What/How thread, comparing the different builds and stuff. But I am still in need of some help. Here is what I have, and what I need:
 
Have: 42inch LG 42LH30 HDTV that will act as my monitor.
Have: $1000 to spend, but this has to cover EVERYTHING. Shipping, sales tax, keyboard and mouse, Windows 7. 
Have: to buy all the components from NewEgg.
 
Want: I know that the Intel i5 Lynnfield processor is the one I want. Or is there something better/comparable for less money?
 
Want: I need this thing to be able to hook into my HD cable box and record TV in HD. Or does it even need to be hooked into a cable box to do that? This is why I need help!
 
Want: I would like this computer to play all modern games at more than acceptable performance. By that, I don't want it to look or perform any worse than it would if it were on PS3 or 360. Any better, and that would obviously be a bonus.
 
Do not need: a huge hard drive. I only play one game at a time, so I wouldn't need a bunch of games installed. I also keep all my media on separate external HDD's.
 
Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated. That way I can build this thing and be on the PC forums more often! As it is, my only computer is a 5 year old Dell laptop I had to buy for school.

My PC was $1018 after taxes, shipping, exchange from US -> Canadian, everything. 
 
It's run everything I can throw at it exceptionally well. 
 
CPU: i5 750  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA P55 USB3  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425 
Memory: AData 4GB DDR3  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211364 
Hard Drive : Wastern Digital Caviar Black  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283 
Case: Coolermaster CM 690 II Basic (Though in hindsight I wish I'd have gone with the Advanced)  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119215 
OS: Win7 Home Premium  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 5850  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150494 
PSU: Coolermaster Silent Pro M600  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036 
DVD Drive: Some LG from Futureshop 
  
Best bet: Subscribe to all the tech stores news letters you can, Newegg, NCIX, Tiger Direct etc. And buy stuff as it goes on sale. I think I saved ~$10-50 a piece by doing that. 

If you need a guide on how to build a gaming rig, Tested.com did a great 50 min video back in April.   

Awesome help and input as always. I half expected a bunch of "U cant git l33t pc for that much, n00b!"

A decent gaming PC (Just the tower) starts at ~$600.  
More you spend, the better you get, though. 

I just woke up, so I hope my brain is still working. Want a cheap pc case, go with this one, antec 300 sucks. You can't do better than this for the price.  
  
 

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&cm_re=912-_-11-119-233-_-Product
 
this one is cheap too you have to buy an extra fan though since it only comes with the back fan. At least it's very expandable and has a side window
 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227&cm_re=cooler_master_elite-_-11-119-227-_-Product

 
Honestly I would go with the i5, phenom can be similar to an i5 that's not overclocked. Still I would recommend the phenom X4 over the X6 anyways because the X6 is slower and has more useless cores since it's the same price as an i5. Just pay for the i5 imo, who cares, you have to use DDR 3 ram anyways and your only upgrade option would of been the X6 later on which is slow with useless cores rather the i5, you have the i7 if you really need to. I calculated the price and you don't save much using with a X6 over the i5. With the hardrive, DDR3 ram, psu, windows 7 stuff like that, it's only like a $50 difference. I mean the mobo is going to cost near $150 anyways if you want an AM3 board for the X6, you only save money by a AMD 2+ board which will limit your upgrade options in the future unless it has a bios update. Even then your stuck with an amd board when you could of had an intel board that supports an i7, who knows many years from now the i7 X6 might be only $230 with all the newer sandy bridge processors making it obsolete and you know how to overclock. You won't have this upgrade path if you go amd. Also if you go AM2+ with the X4, you limit upgrade path thinking of the short term gain, long term lost. 
 
If you are only using a game at a time, some games has DRM, just get a 500 gig hardrive. I honestly could get this hardrive for cheaper if I wanted to locally, same with the computer cases I listed above, what's with the rip off prices. Look this cache is only 16mb, it's not that big compared to an average 32mb cache, it still is good enough and 7200 rpm. However I totally recommend you actually get a 1TB hardrive, sometimes for pc games, if you uninstall you lose an installation limit. Also 500 gigs as a steam gamer really goes fast. Of course you can always get like another hardrive at a later time if necessary.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073&cm_re=western_digital_blue_500gb-_-22-136-073-_-Product     
  
I don't recommend SSD right now, operating system might take more memory depending on how you configure the SSD drive, something like a OCZ might take up to 30 gigs with extra drivers, updates of some shit like TRIM or whatever I can't remember. I can take 32 gigs, that's my point. That leaves you with only 30 left for a 60 gig. Games are like 8-12 gigs, that's like less than three games, so that's why you need at least a 500 gig hardrive, you might download other stuff too.

G-skill ram sucks for X58 mobos, the one i'm using for triple channel memory because it won't run up to specifications, however for dual channel memory which you should be using, it's actually very good. Some reviews ppl has the blue screen of death, maybe g-skill is overated as a recommendation, something you would of recommended in the past for DDR-2 ram. Having said that, stay away from OCZ unless you want to have a good chance of a doa ram. Of course I myself always think of upgrade paths, if the heat sink heat spreader fin things are too big, if you added an after market cooler, like a big one, it might block it if you overclock. I doubt you would, however if you learn to overclock, you can get the i5 or even the amd cpu to a much higher level, meaning less bottleneck, meaning more frames. That might block stuff, however just look at the mobo's compatiblity list. Look on the bright side, my triple channel ram for my pc cost like over $150, you save like $50 by going this path.
  
Look into rip jaw series.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277&cm_re=rip_jaw-_-20-231-277-_-Product     
 
Videocards, forget about anything ati has to offer in this price range, the HD5770, HD 5830, it's a waste of your time and money. The gtx 460 1gb version is what you can get that's cost effective now. I think the price is like $230 now, it's cheaper. If you went the i5 route, you can get a decent mobo that can support sli and crossfire, it's a good deal. I own this card myself and i'm going to use it in sli. It's not just a big better performance, it's like 90% efficient, you will see nearly twice the framerates. If you went with an AMD mobo, once again you limit your upgrade path to crossfire X or just a single 16X sli pci-express lane. Sure you save money now, however again I don't like limiting the upgrade path.  
 
Lots of ppl might recommend weird motherboards, like msi mother boards which nobody actually buys. They recommend it, it has decent features, however they wouldn't ever buy sometime like that in their lifetime as a pc gamer. Look if you spend a bit more, if you ever need more power, just get a gtx 460 with this mobo. Unfortunetly, it's not much cheaper than a LGA1336 mobo, which I own, however you can us sli or crossfireX in the future if necessary. Your upgrade path is not hindered. It's better than all those cheap one pci-e lane mobos you get for like a bit over a hundred. I'm sure you can keep this less than a grand, since my pc is only a few hundred more than that without a gpu. This might be a slightly expensive component, however you saved a big with the DDR-3 g-skill dual channel ram.
  
mobo, there are some gigabyte mobos, however most of them are crossfireX mobos, might limit your upgrade path. It's all the rage these days, cheap phenoms for ppl who wants to save money and crossfireX ati cards for ppl who wants to save money. However I think nvidia does make good products, two gtx460 will be equlivent to two HD5870 because crossfire doesn't scale well, it's totally unefficient.  

first choice

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621      
 
something to consider, this board will actually use an AM3 chip, it also supports sli. However it doesn't support crossfireX. It's probally one of the very few that is AM3 and sli, it's only $99. If you want to use the X6 cpu, you have to use a usb stick to update the bios before you start the pc after you build it. At least this way you can use sli, you can use that X4 phenom to save money. There are tons of mobos with AM3 and crossfire. I don't research that sort of stuff, i'm sure there are alot of cheap options, you just can't ever sli. I don't subscribe to that theory of amd products or ati cards. So i'm sure others can make a better recommendation for those kinds of products. I would still go with an i5 instead with that mobo above, you can sli and crossfire, also upgrade your cpu. You could wait for these new amd bulldozer, or I call bullshitter cpus, i'm sure it will have more cores, however the i5 will take care of your gaming needs if you don't care about server style cpus.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131637&Tpk=M4N75TD     
 
Oh right, the gpu, this one looks neat, I might buy it to sli.   

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127510 
 
I own this one, not great to sli because all the air vents upwards and the other card is like 100 degrees if you don't have great airflow. Still it's something to consider for a single card solution.  
  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333

  
New card, I didn't recommend the evga version because it's expensive and louder. This one might still exhaust heat into the case.
  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121391      
 
The rest you can probally find on your own, with this combination, it might be a grand, maybe slightly more or even less depending on how much you can find a bargain. Everything I bought is from many different sources, so I am saving alot more than retail, that's how I roll. However you can always recycle parts. I recycled my power watt supply, maybe you can recycle your keyboard and mouse, your recycling your hdtv which I also use as my pc display. Sorry for writing so much, tommorrow i'm getting the rest of my pc parts so i've been doing my research into everything so maybe that might help others. Remember these are my suggestions, it's really up to you to make up your mind. I don't say this as an absolute, like you need to get these parts I tell you to, I let you choose. My recommendations are more futureproof, if you ever need to upgrade to make your pc last a few more years, it will last alot longer with these choices compared to just getting really low end X4 cpus and limited mobos.

Tested has built a few on video (Will built one and Gary live streamed). I've heard great things about the 460, but a 5770 is pretty good for a cheaper price.

460 is the absolute best bang for your buck card on the market. 

Whenever I'm in the PC building mode (not often), my first visit is to techreport's buying guide that is regularly updated:   http://techreport.com/articles.x/19560
 
They build various systems at various price points and they show you options. I think they offer a good skeleton and from there you can customize it. If newegg charges tax for you, look for other stores that don't charge tax... or if shipping is too much, look at other places. Even Amazon has good deals on PC parts, never restrict yourself to one store; otherwise you may end up paying more than needed.

Check microcenter.com

Videocards, forget about anything ati has to offer in this price range, the HD5770, HD 5830, it's a waste of your time and money.

" @PercyChuggs:
  
Windows 7: $100
Logitech MX518 (this is up to you, but just a suggestion for your budget): $40 
Standard Logitech Keyboard (again up to you): $25 
Asus Optical Drive: $25 
Antec Three Hundred Mid Tower: $60 
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (always good to have more space, also it costs similar to lower capacity variants): $90 - you might also consider an SSD in its place if you truly have no use for high capacity. 
MSI 880GM AM3 mobo: $80 
MSI GTX 460 1GB Cyclone: $235 
Corsair 550W PSU: $85 
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel RAM: $90 
AMD Phenom X4 965 BE (will perform same as Core i5 760 in vast majority of games and in vast majority of situations; going with Core i5 760 is possible as well if you are okay with spending about $100 over budget; I wouldn't recommend going with any lower of a graphics card): $165 Shipping: $20 (for UPS 3 day)  Total: $1015 (you can build up the list yourself in Newegg to get a more accurate measure)  Not so sure about the cablebox thing. Hope this helps.  "

" @Geno said:

" @PercyChuggs:
  
Windows 7: $100
Logitech MX518 (this is up to you, but just a suggestion for your budget): $40 
Standard Logitech Keyboard (again up to you): $25 
Asus Optical Drive: $25 
Antec Three Hundred Mid Tower: $60 
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (always good to have more space, also it costs similar to lower capacity variants): $90 - you might also consider an SSD in its place if you truly have no use for high capacity. 
MSI 880GM AM3 mobo: $80 
MSI GTX 460 1GB Cyclone: $235 
Corsair 550W PSU: $85 
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel RAM: $90 
AMD Phenom X4 965 BE (will perform same as Core i5 760 in vast majority of games and in vast majority of situations; going with Core i5 760 is possible as well if you are okay with spending about $100 over budget; I wouldn't recommend going with any lower of a graphics card): $165 Shipping: $20 (for UPS 3 day)  Total: $1015 (you can build up the list yourself in Newegg to get a more accurate measure)  Not so sure about the cablebox thing. Hope this helps.  "

 OP. Dont you even DREAM of buying a goddamn amd. The i5 will be fine.  You're dropping 1k. Do it right. "

 

A few frames? More like 20 frames difference. If you overclock a i7 to 4.0Ghz, you can get up to the X6 version of i7 framerates of X6 i7 cpus. Amd hits a wall and won't go higher, it's a bottleneck. Amd can compare to the i5, not the i7 which i'm glad I own an i7. With amd cpus, you get exactly what you paid for. Maybe 20 frames isn't important to alot of ppl. Sometimes games might stutter under 30 frames for your low frames or average, these extra framerates can certainly help.

"  

A few frames? More like 20 frames difference. If you overclock a i7 to 4.0Ghz, you can get up to the X6 version of i7 framerates of X6 i7 cpus. Amd hits a wall and won't go higher, it's a bottleneck. Amd can compare to the i5, not the i7 which i'm glad I own an i7.

"

Compare apples to apples.  Read about my comment about his budget.   Also, did you even look at those charts?  Look at the AVERAGE framerate.

The MAX framerate is probably when you're looking at a blank screen or the menus.  Give your head a shake.  The difference between AVERAGE framerate is only 1 or 2 frames.

" @teh_pwnzorer: amd and ati is apples, intel/nvidia is pineapples because it's always stronger. Amd users, in a recession ignores power because of cost. I am very aware of how amd/sti users thinks. You will ignore these benchmarks, ignore all logic, evidence and ignore intel or nvidia exist. Even if these games can't get these framerates, they do show amd products are at the bottom of the barrel.  
"

As expected, more spin my ati users because they aren't capable of going higher for frames, they say look at the average. Having alot of higher frames are still important, you spin what you don't have to the middle. That might be the middle, however at times when your playing a game, having higher framerates constantly is helpful.

Then you post benchmarks at X1024 rez like I wouldn't notice. He has a budget, a X6 cpu would of been the same price as an i5, so I suggest an i5. A X4 will save him like a bit of money, however he's stuck with an okay bottlenecked cpu and his upgrade path would of been a X6 at best which is more cores with less or similar power amounting to nothing important unless you are video editing or something, which could of been improved by getting a SSD drive instead. A gtx460 1gb is good value and an i5 is good value compared to a X6 phenom. That's why I suggested it. He can still make the $1000 budget with a gtx 460 1gb. I mean you don't research nvidia products or their price as expected.   
 
$229 will get you a very powerful card. Amd is cheaper, less powerful and you will need to upgrade eventually costing you more money. A gtx460 will last. The only thing I suggested that was expensive was the mobo which will give him a good upgrade path.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=gtx+460+1gb     
 
X6 phenom is still $200 

"

As expected, more spin my ati users because they aren't capable of going higher for frames, they say look at the average. Having alot of higher frames are still important, you spin what you don't have to the middle.

 

"

" @Jace said:

" @Geno said:

" @PercyChuggs:
  
Windows 7: $100
Logitech MX518 (this is up to you, but just a suggestion for your budget): $40 
Standard Logitech Keyboard (again up to you): $25 
Asus Optical Drive: $25 
Antec Three Hundred Mid Tower: $60 
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (always good to have more space, also it costs similar to lower capacity variants): $90 - you might also consider an SSD in its place if you truly have no use for high capacity. 
MSI 880GM AM3 mobo: $80 
MSI GTX 460 1GB Cyclone: $235 
Corsair 550W PSU: $85 
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel RAM: $90 
AMD Phenom X4 965 BE (will perform same as Core i5 760 in vast majority of games and in vast majority of situations; going with Core i5 760 is possible as well if you are okay with spending about $100 over budget; I wouldn't recommend going with any lower of a graphics card): $165 Shipping: $20 (for UPS 3 day)  Total: $1015 (you can build up the list yourself in Newegg to get a more accurate measure)  Not so sure about the cablebox thing. Hope this helps.  "

 OP. Dont you even DREAM of buying a goddamn amd. The i5 will be fine.  You're dropping 1k. Do it right. "

What?  Look at game benchmarks at tom's hardware.  The difference between the newest intel and amd cpus is only a few frames per second.  If he was going for top performance then he would probably go with the most expensive intel cpu he could buy.  He has a budget.
 

 

 

"

OP if you want me to part out a computer list, I'll be happy to do so. But when you're looking through these others as SOON as you see AMD, skip it. I'm going to rant now, so you don't have to read the rest. 
 
 Stop fucking putting phenom out there like any of it is worth a shit. No one wan't to spend 1k and then end up with a shitty processor that gets raped by it's competition. "But Jace, AMD's aren't that much slower." No shit. but they are slower. And besides that, performance isn't all speed. It is build quality, drivers, and communication with other hardware tht makes the total package. And that is where amd gets its fucking ass kicked in by intel and i dare anyone to challenge that. Goddamnit. 
  
LOOK AT THOSE TOM'S PICTURES. THOSE X6'S ARE SLOWER THAN AN i5. AMD IS A FUCKING JOKE. THEY HAVE SIX CORES. SIX. AND THEY ARE STILL SLOWER THAN A DUAL CORE i5. FUCK.
/rant.

" OP if you want me to part out a computer list, I'll be happy to do so. But when you're looking through these others as SOON as you see AMD, skip it. I'm going to rant now, so you don't have to read the rest.   Stop fucking putting phenom out there like any of it is worth a shit. No one wan't to spend 1k and then end up with a shitty processor that gets raped by it's competition. "But Jace, AMD's aren't that much slower." No shit. but they are slower. And besides that, performance isn't all speed. It is build quality, drivers, and communication with other hardware tht makes the total package. And that is where amd gets its fucking ass kicked in by intel and i dare anyone to challenge that. Goddamnit.   LOOK AT THOSE TOM'S PICTURES. THOSE X6'S ARE SLOWER THAN AN i5. AMD IS A FUCKING JOKE. THEY HAVE SIX CORES. SIX. AND THEY ARE STILL SLOWER THAN A DUAL CORE i5. FUCK./rant. "

THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS ON GIANTBOMB >:(
 
@teh_pwnzorer: Read this and be enlightened.

I just finish building my rig, i7 950, recycling my gtx 460 and 750 watt cosair psu, keyboard, hdtv, mouse. Runs perfectly and I was right. I mean windows starts in 15 seconds with my SSD drive? Also I only paid exactly a grand to build this pc? How is that possible? Well I practically looked for every computer store for every part seperately for every component, everything is below newegg price. Muhahahahaha. I mean Less than a hundred bucks for windows 7, ram $20 cheaper than anywhere else and it's running now at 1800Mhz without any problems. I'm glad I didn't have to resort to G-skill. An SSD drive for $105. I mean if your building a cheaper system, you can probally get it to a grand since it's not as expensive as my build if you recycle things like a keyboard and mouse, maybe your hdtv or your existing monitor if it's high rez enough.
 
 
Look what I was saying was the truth, it's not delusional. It's just sometimes amd/ati fanboys really belives their own propaganda. They never research nvidia stuff, or intel stuff yet says their cpu is near the i5, actually they didn't know it was near the dual core i5 version if you didn't tell them. They are the ones who talks about value and they are always the first ones to buy a card like the HD5870 for like $500 when it was first out without a care in the world. They are the ones who are delusional and stingy and hyprocritical. They can't afford to crossfire, they just use a crummy X4 or X6 cpu that is underpowered without a care in the world about without realising there are better stuff from their competitiors and they are being bottlenecked by a lack of power. Their solutions to all their problems are get a HD5870 and get a X4 cpu, who cares about bottlenecking it runs. They aren't going to buy the newer amd gpu that's going to be out in a few months, they can't afford it. Well that's great your upgrade path are limited. Also I probally only need an i5, however i'll take video editing of gameplay as a new hobby then with my i7. I'll find some use for this cpu.
 
Look go with the i5, if you know where to look for the cheapest prices, i'm sure you can probally build it for a grand or less. I already posted the price, it's nearly the same as a X6 Amd cpu, however overclocking it will give you alot more than what the amd cpu can do. Remember my recommendations will last you if you want to upgrade, the amd stuff, well you will have to upgrade, your getting more cores, yet not any more speed, which is the amd way. You get what you paid for. I still say my post before is purely accurate and I stand by it. It's just the fanboys that won't accept reality.

" @Jace said:

" OP if you want me to part out a computer list, I'll be happy to do so. But when you're looking through these others as SOON as you see AMD, skip it. I'm going to rant now, so you don't have to read the rest.   Stop fucking putting phenom out there like any of it is worth a shit. No one wan't to spend 1k and then end up with a shitty processor that gets raped by it's competition. "But Jace, AMD's aren't that much slower." No shit. but they are slower. And besides that, performance isn't all speed. It is build quality, drivers, and communication with other hardware tht makes the total package. And that is where amd gets its fucking ass kicked in by intel and i dare anyone to challenge that. Goddamnit.   LOOK AT THOSE TOM'S PICTURES. THOSE X6'S ARE SLOWER THAN AN i5. AMD IS A FUCKING JOKE. THEY HAVE SIX CORES. SIX. AND THEY ARE STILL SLOWER THAN A DUAL CORE i5. FUCK./rant. "

Oh goodie, another fanboy that knows nothing about underlying tech.  
 
Look dude, I like speed as much as the next person. I'm running a Core i7 920 at 4.0Ghz right now. But I use that for folding. Any quad core above 3Ghz will perform the same in games, unless we're looking at 8-player RTS with maximum onscreen action or something (in which case no processor would really fare that well). Maybe you had a bad experience with AMD in the past, but visit some PC gaming enthusiast boards such as overclock.net or Hardforum and look at what people are running. Pretty much an even mix of Core i7 920+, Core i5 750/760s, and AMD Phenom X4 965s. Nobody is idiotic enough to look down on another, because they all know their processors perform similarly from a gaming performance and reliability standpoint. AMD only "gets its ass kicked by Intel" in the extreme high end; AMD doesn't have any offerings that can compete with the higher Core i7 processors performance-wise, and the 1090T gets stomped by the 980X, but that sort of performance is needless for games anyway.   Games at the moment are more or less optimized for dual core, and Intel performs better clock-for-clock anyway than AMD, so yes Core i5-655K probably does outperform even the 1090T in gaming. But multi-core processors were made for more than just gaming; a 1055T will easily outperform a 655K in productivity tasks. In fact, 1055T and 1090T almost consistently outperform their similarly priced Intel counterparts in any multithreaded task such as encoding. I don't think the hex core processors from AMD were ever advertised as gaming processors; on the other hand processors like the i5 655K were designed for high end gaming performance from the start, so it's not really any surprise that it performs well in games.  Also, keep in mind that the OP is working with a set budget. If you can make a better system with a Core i5 760 (or what you consider a better processor than a X4 965) while keeping the same graphics power, I would be interested in seeing it.  "

You just spent that paragraph doing one thing: telling us why to buy an Intel and admitting by niether price or performance does AMD compare. Brotip: The i5 is ~$40 less than the X6 it competes with. The 860 i7 can be had for $290. Don't come at me with price. I know AMD has X4's that are $120 but if I'm OP and I'm spending 1k, I'm going to want my money well spent. "

" @Jace said: 

You just spent that paragraph doing one thing: telling us why to buy an Intel and admitting by niether price or performance does AMD compare. Brotip: The i5 is ~$40 less than the X6 it competes with. The 860 i7 can be had for $290. Don't come at me with price. I know AMD has X4's that are $120 but if I'm OP and I'm spending 1k, I'm going to want my money well spent. "

No, I spent a paragraph explaining how Intel only exceeds AMD at the beyond-gaming segment (your reading skills are lacking, no wonder your knowledge is so poor). At gaming levels, AMD almost always has better performance per dollar, and about the same performance overall compared to more expensive processors in gaming. 
 
As you can see from the game benchmarks in this review and others, not only does the $180 (at the time) X4 965 perform comparably with the $300 (at the time) Core i7 920, it performs above 60fps in almost every instance thus negating the difference anyway. In the cases in which it doesn't, the i7 920 isn't far ahead.     And yeah, your words are pretty useless without a build.  Everyone wants the fastest build possible, but a little thing called "budget" gets in the way.  Make a build with Windows, mouse and keyboard for $1,000 that includes a $200+ Intel processor while maintaining the performance level of all the other components the same, then talk.  "

Okay, I've been as clear as possible and you still seem to not be able to comprehend your own argument. Here is your subtext, in a different format.  Because car A is on faster than car B around the most difficult track, car B is not slower  than car A because it is cheaper.  But fuck all that. Here is why you're a moron. Not only does the review you posted clearly state it was written before the comparison models were even out, but it also was written before any noteworthy motherboards were out to take on the i7/i5 because of their absence. Even regardless of all that, the review still says the quad cores(not i7's) compare well against the AMD anyway.

"Build"

 Time to shut the fuck up. That's what I would do if my ass were just handed to me. "But where is the mouse and keyboard?"   I'm building a computer, not an extras pack. 99% chance you'd already own those. Especially in this case, seeing as how he posted on the goddamn forums. Illogical bullshit like that shows just how desperate you are to try to make ends meet with a shitty argument.  So reply to this, please. I enjoy being right. "

1. Overclock and get the speed back and save money.
2. I changed the processors in the middle of making the list and forgot to post the link to the new motherboard one. Same price. Still stands.
3. Case functions fine, and a better case is a luxury. Save more money then.
4. First point is subjective bullshit. Heat spreader is also a luxury and is not required, nor does it offer performance boost.
5. For fuck's sake. A: Use the drive from your old comp with all your goddamn data on it already.B: Save $50.
6. Then I guess the OP should pick a side. Either get performance on a budget and make a sacrifice in a pointless issue(keep the fucking m&kb), or save more money. You can't have it both ways if you're going to ask for performance and an inexpensive build. 

And to your first point, if one would dare call it that.
 
By that logic, if a honda civic and a ferrari 458 are on a road limited to 60mph, they are equally fast.
 
Congrats, you have made the stupidest comment I've heard all year.

" 1. Overclock and get the speed back and save money. 2. I changed the processors in the middle of making the list and forgot to post the link to the new motherboard one. Same price. Still stands. 3. Case functions fine, and a better case is a luxury. Save more money then. 4. First point is subjective bullshit. Heat spreader is also a luxury and is not required, nor does it offer performance boost. 5. For fuck's sake. A: Use the drive from your old comp with all your goddamn data on it already.B: Save $50. 6. Then I guess the OP should pick a side. Either get performance on a budget and make a sacrifice in a pointless issue(keep the fucking m&kb), or save more money. You can't have it both ways if you're going to ask for performance and an inexpensive build. 

 And to your first point, if one would dare call it that.  By that logic, if a honda civic and a ferrari 458 are on a road limited to 60mph, they are equally fast. Congrats, you have made the stupidest comment I've heard all year. "

I just want to point out that the VRAM has jack to why a 460 1gb is recommended over a 768 version.  The reason is the 256-bit memory bus.  The 768 only has a 192-bit memory bus.  If you're looking for top speed then the 256-bit memory bus is far better and the results are noticeable in games. 
 
If you're on budget, the 768 is good enough.  The near $70 difference is significant, but you also get a significant boost in performance going with the 1gb model.

With my experience now, a game like mafia 2, was running like 30-40 frames per second on my amd dual core for benchmarks. This was an amd cpu, why mention such a weak cpu as an example? Well it was not the strongest cpu and it was bottlenecked. Sure theoretically both cars a civic and ferrerri runs at 60mph on the road, however now with the i7, it's running 50-70 frames per second for me? Not even one single stutter for having a stronger cpu, in other words a faster car can clear corners faster and is more efficient. An amd X4 will probally stutter and you won't get the full benefits compared to an i7 even though it's running at it's max. Even though there is a limit, overclocking at least brings the 60mph speed limit to like 80mph for i7 cpus. I think an i5 is better too overclocked than an amd civic around let's say 65-70mph. I didn't even overclock my gtx460 1gb yet, however I know at stock settings, i'm getting most of my framerates. Besides the benchmark shows like a 15-30 improvement in framerates over the X4 as i've posted. You need both cpu and gpu overclocked to get every last frame because on stock settings of the gpu, the cpu will limit things. You might be driving at 60mph, for games, however it doesn't mean you can't break the law and drive a bit faster.

 
I'm seriously going to make a blog comparing my old benchmark framerates of a fast dual core vs an i7 to show that bottlenecking can affect the performance and limits of driving an X4 cpu from a weaker cpu. Sometimes when driving open roads, you will smoke them because they don't have the power to compete, they just have enough to drive on a stock road and it's a bumpy ride compared to the luxury of intel cpus. A good mercedes car will run better than a civic and get you more out of the experience. I just think when you overclock these intel cpus to 4.0Ghz, your getting every last frame out of it, just like modding a car to go faster to a point where it will not be constrained by a lack of power. I've noticed like a huge jump in framerates going from the fasted amd dual core to an i7. I'm sure an i5 will be good enough for games too. So far my framerates has improve drastically removing bottlenecks from my gpu. Well i'm going to test my theory by blogging about the benchmarks from a weaker gpu to a strong gpu in a gaming environment once get all the games on my new pc. My point is if you are betting on a street race, always bet on intel. Also overclocking an intel will change the 60mph speed limit to 70-80 for the cpu. Depending on overclocking a gpu is like depending on a turbo kit for giving a better driving experience, you still need a strong engine to begin with or your driving experience, or pc gaming experience will be limited. Well I already copied every single benchmark's score on my old rig before building a new rig, to counter the dual core is enough, or a amdX4 is enough, an i7 will give you no benefits. I'll blog about it when I finish my project comparing the in game benchmark scores. Amd = acceptable performance, intel = full performance and less bottlenecks to the frames.
 
Oh right, don't get the 768mb version of the gtx460, like it's said above, you want at least a 256mb memory bus. If you sli that, it will limit you. It's like driving with shitty tires, you will eventually notice it. Then again memory doesn't always mean faster (unless you have a good cpu, you get more memory for textures and higher resolutions. The only reason why it's faster with the gtx460 is because of the bus speed. If you took a 512mb gpu and a 1gig gpu, the power and speed makes a difference, not the memory and the gtx460 1gb is alot more powerful) however there are memory intensive games out there like crysis or gta 4, metro 2033 ect. You want racing tires, go with the 1gb version. I'll work on my cpu benchmark blog and show you two misconceptions are wrong between the two. It's always such a common misconception that dual cores and quads don't matter. Another misconception is amd cpus are good enough and the same as intel. Of course that's only 70% true, since a stronger cpu does matter. Two that you can bottleneck a gpu by the videocard with an amd product. They might be acceptable, and these X4, X6 cpus are good enough these days, however they are the civics of the gaming world, things could be better, you can race an economy car because the power isn't there, that's my point. A wise man once said that if money wasn't a problem, no one would ever in their right mind buy an amd cpu. They are budget cpus. I mean some of us here are now intel supports, we recommend a X4, or X6, however we in our right mind will never buy one. I never read every article about pc gaming like they are gospels, that creates misconceptions if they are partially wrong, like a tainted religion spreading lies and deciet, I am one of those kinds of ppl who likes to see for themselves and think for themselves. Benchmarks don't lie, they are evidence, however articles, who knows how professional or qualified, there isn't a standard, it's just if their advice is acceptable to the masses, it's good enough even if it's full of misconceptions, as long as it's accepted by the masses. Sort of like certain religions out there metaphorically. I'm skeptical.

" @Geno:   1.768MB VRAM is relatively low? Find me a game the recommends more than that. 3. Because a processor has benefits that justify it's price, where as more plastic on a case doesn't. Goddamn you're stupid.  4. Sales=/=quality. It's a power supply. Jesus christ, what a performance barrier, get over yourself. And yes, you'd need heat spreader on your RAM to OC the Video card. Once again, nice reading comprehension.  5. How is offering a better(cheaper) alternative relative to the quality of my build? Nice try though. 6. Helping him save money is a helpful suggestion. Says the guy who hasn't contributed shit to this thread but aguing with someone who is trying to help. Your feet must be wet because you've been pissing on them all day.  Yes, because top speed is what matters. Acceleration, torque, p/w ratio don't mean anything. Are you that dense? The top speed when limited by an outside means doesn't matter. It is about how fast you can get there. You've missed the entire fucking point of your own piss poor explanation for my metaphor.  Speaking of being unhelpful, you should probably gtfo this thread. "

1. Avoided the question altogether, my point still stands. Who cares what last gen has if you're still above to bar of what games need.
3. Semantics.
4. Most people do their research? Like the person who posted this thread. I actually lol'd at the pitiful irony of this point.We all understand how heat works. Again my point still stands, if you're that owrried about a 1 degree change, save money and fix it later. But for an immediate and function build that PERFORMS and is CHEAP, it isn't needed. You seem to live in a fantasy world where zero-sums doesn't exist when asking for opposing criteria.
5. Because a PC can work without a brand new kb or mouse. He obviously already has one. It'll do for now. Again, can't have it all for cheap. Save 20$ and buy a kb and mouse from walmart.
 
Next time you post, why don't you come back to reality. It might help if you escape for this fantasy world of yours that you can just pile on accessories and extras without cost and still have a performance package.

Hey jace, I agree with your points about an intel. However for X58 mobos, alot of ppl wants to run it at 1600Mhz speeds for DDR3 ram. They have to overclock which I did too. If they wanted to run it at 1333mhz or 1033mhz, then heatsink on the ram doesn't matter. It's easier with X55 mobos using dual channel ddr3 memory to overclock though, not X58 so for those mobos, a heatspreader might be needed for overclocking.

Also I bought my keyboard, mouse and headset combo for only $20. It's a steel series, or idezon merc keyboard. I guess steelseries bought out the company. The mouse works, all of this for only $20. It was a good deal, once in a lifetime, they don't sell it this cheap anywhere. However I did actually get all these things for that cheap so it doesn't add to the overall cost.   
 
Edit: extra thoughts, I finally got another game running, assassin's creed 2, dispite the misconceptions, it's using all of my hyperthreads to run the game. Once again not even a single stutter, honestly this cpu is the best thing ever. I say bet on the i5 to the op, intel makes great products. If I knew how powerful or good these intel cpus are, I should of built a pc alot earlier. I didn't know stuttering was from cpus which alot of ppl got stuttering in that game. Also I didn't know games actually uses all your hyperthreads and I wouldn't have known if I didn't buy this cpu. There are always misconceptions all around pc articles and stuff. I'm sure it's going to be another misconception that amd cpus are good enough and that's all you need. I disagree because this intel cpu I have is so much better than anything I could imagine. If your only paying like $209 for an i5, it's a great deal. 

Man this thread has blown up! I need time to read all this stuff.

I like to let other people argue about hardware for me, it's way easier on my blood pressure.
 
Anyway the X4 is probably a more viable option due to your tighter budget, not that I wouldn't be above recommending an i5 if your willing to stretch (it would have longer legs than the AMD offering).  It will give you more wiggle room on the video card which is where it counts at the end of the day for a gaming PC (at least first and foremost).
 
I'd personally take the 1gb flavor of 460 over the 768mb variety for the extra memory bandwidth and frame buffer space, the price difference is not enormous and you have everything to gain from it.
 
While I agree with Geno on the quality of Corsairs PSU's I can't really speak poorly of the cheaper OCZ offerings.  I've had a 700watt OCZ modular unit kicking around in one of my other PC's for a while now and it's been solid.  You could also look into Coolermasters more robust offerings, just stay away from any budget range in general (regardless of manufacturer).
 
Don't bother with a sound card purchase.  The board itself will come with a more than capable audio solution for an average users needs, and the GTX460 ships with HDMI 1.4a out capability with 7.1 LPCM audio if you looking to hook into a home theatre or use your HDTV's speakers.
 
P.S. Jace pull your head in and try to maintain some civility.