1200-1500 Gaming Rig

I've seen alot of talk about CPU's and GPU's and AMD's and i7 and all sorts of numbers...I'm looking to buy a gaming PC one that will handle today's games with ease and still be reliable for 3-5 years down the line.

I do know a small amount about computers...the opening line is somewhat of a joke, I've just never put one together myself.

Can anyone help...I have no preference as to Intel or AMD, ATI or Nvidia, I just want the best bang for my buck. 

Thanks in advance to any replies

-Jason

Crap...already questions I can't answer...

"handle with ease"- settings on "high" or "full" . I was looking into games like Assassin's Creed and The Witcher....

Resolution - ??? I was looking into buying a 23" 1080p monitor...Does that help?

preferred:

Here you go Ticket# 382575 --- Price: $1789 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $1789

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - HAF 922
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 Micro Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 3GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Cooler Master V8 High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Available
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: - Not Available
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Boost OS: - Not Available
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: FREE: Please include a free copy of a hot-selling game
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

with the above build you can upgrade the cpu to a 6 core for dirt cheap in a couple of years, basically a new pc if you will for dirt cheap.

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this one you can't upgrade the cpu:

Here you go Ticket# 382576 --- Price: $1583 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $1583

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master Elite 310
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 860 2.80GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA P55MV SLI Edition (Intel P55 Chipset)
System Memory: 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Standard Factory Heat-sink and Fan
H20 Tube Color:- Not Available
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: - Not Available
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Boost OS: - Not Available
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: - Not Available
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

also the above config is gonna be very tight, cause that case is small.

My pleasure the most important thing about the 920 build is that you can upgrade the cpu in a few years to a 6core which is like getting a new pc, and in that time the price of the 6core will be very low.

that has always been a huge deal to me, cause I don't like buying pcs every 3 years, when I can just upgrade the cpu for dirt cheap and have a much more powerful/basically new pc.

A computer that will not be obsolete in a few years is high on my list...thanks for the heads up...thanks again.