I'm afraid! Its been too long!

Ok heres the deal. I haven't built a computer since pre 64 bit days. Not only have I not built one, but Ive been really out of the loop.
I start thinking about cracking open a case and building a new monster but every time I do I remember theres alot of sh!t out there that Im not familiar with, ie new mobos, cpus, gpus. But if you guys can give me the low down on the systems you think I could get by with that would be fantastic! I would really like the option to make some upgrades in the future (cpu wise). I dont even know if its possible to build a system without upgrading to 64 bit anymore but ideally that would be great.
I dont want to get another OS. Im using a legit XP home right now and I cant see a benefit to upgrading to 64bit (especially Vista)

I just want a pretty basic system that will allow me to run a few ramhogs and play some moderate-high level graphic video games. Budget is key. But its hard to convey since Im in Europe right now and prices are so different.


Great! Have fun

Whats your budget?

q6600 quad core - $190us
hd4850 - $170us (don't know your resolution but for that budget this is a great card)
p5q p45 mobo - $105us
dvd rom - pick one that is sata $30us
hdd - wd 640gb $85us
ram - mushkin ddr2 800 1.8v 2x2gb - $70us
case antec 300 - $70us
psu - antec earthwatts 500w $90us (corsair, pc power and cooling and ocz are other good brands for psu. get a good brand)

That totals $810us (left some room because prices are cheaper here and you have tax and stuff).

the quadcore will help with multiple programs running and i expect more apps to be multithreaded in the future. also this is a good cpu if you decide to do a little over clocking.

Don't know your monitor resolution which could play a role. also if you have money left i highly recommend vista 64 bit.

also the mobo i chose will not crossfire another gpu the p45 that does that is $140us (p5q pro) and that is only on x8/x8. whether that has an impact will depend on if you plan to crossfire and what your resolution is. x8/x8 is more impactful at high resolutions (1920x1200 and above). but also if you plan on upgrading to 2 gpus you would need a larger psu as well which means more $. so i stuck to your "budget" comments.

Thats good stuff. Thanks
Yeah i probably wont go Hi Def. Not for a while anyway.
As for an online shop Im not really sure for Europe. Im going to have to do some looking around.
Thanks for takin some time for me.