I'm thinking of rebuilding my current gaming pc and am wondering if the new system parts are worth it or is there something better for the price/performance or the old wait approach. I currently play cod4, rts games, want to play crisis and of course all of the upcoming games. I currently use a 22in monitor that i will not be upgrading. Budget is roughly $1300 US. I want to be able to overclock (easily) and need this pc to last a while. As always, thanks for your help and input.

New stuff:
Case - COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution RC-830-KKN3-GP
MB - EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i
GPU - EVGA 512-P3-N845-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) KO 512MB
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz or should i get the 8500
Mem - OCZ Reaper HPC 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 I know ddr3 isn't quite up to speed yet, but this upgrade has got to last a while.
HDD - Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM
DVD - LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA
Cooler - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
PS - OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W (already have)

My current setup is:

MB - Asus P5B Deluxe
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (stock)
GPU - XFX PV-T71J-YPE7 GeForce 7950GT ExTreme (570 MHz)
Mem - Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB DDR2-675
OS - XP

If you can wait...that system you have is perfectly good and better is on the way

Summer is most likely the RV770s which are good....AND in late 08/early 09 Nehalem is out = new mobos, ddr3 will drop because it will be standard, and new types of graphics cards cause of quickpath

You have a great system right now. I say upgrade your video card and rock out your new system until Nehalem comes out/ddr3 prices drop sometime in 09.

That system you build now wouldn't support 32nm Nehalems when they come out in 09, blocking your upgrade path.

Unless you have a need for an additional PC, I'm inclined to agree with Deuce.

Why build a whole new PC just to play Crysis? You have a nice computer right now (a lot nicer than mine, that's for sure); have you even tried playing Crysis on it? You won't be able to run 1680 x 1050 with full settings, that's for sure, but no current video card can do that smoothly (unless maybe you have 3 9800GX2s, in which case you're also made out of money).

Here's what I recommend:

Lower your expectations a little bit, and try playing Crysis on your current system. It's almost guaranteed that you'll have to turn down the resolution and detail settings, but there's no (single) video card out right now that can max out Crysis at that resolution.

Secondly, you can try overclocking (if you're comfortable). You mentioned that you would like to overclock the new system, which leads me that you are comfortable overclocking. It makes sense to try and squeeze every last drop out of your current system before you drop some $$$ on a new one, or even upgrade what you have right now. There is many a guide to overclocking graphics cards and CPUs on this forum, so I won't even bother linking to one of them.

Finally, if you're still unsatisfied with your PC's performance after overclocking, you could consider upgrading the graphics card (and sending your current one to me! ).

Just for the record, the minimum system requirements for Crysis are a 3GHz P4 and 6800GT; the recommended specs are an Athlon X2/Core 2 Duo with a 7800/X1800 or better. An overclocked Core 2 and 7950 should suffice.

And finally (again), don't worry; be happy! The upgrade game is a game which you'll never win (unless you're Bill Gates, and even then, it's questionable). With computers, there is always someone who has a faster computer than you, and there's always something bigger and better just around the corner.

You have a nice machine; learn to love it (I love my trash heap of a system)!