Sub-$700 'casual gamer', AM3/DDR3-based?

Buying: Honestly, after 1st of the 2010.
Will need: New everything, but onboard sound is fine, and monitor gets its own budget.


I think I'm called a 'casual gamer I like to play games, but I just don't do it often. The best game I can play right now is CounterStrike. Not the Source version.

I don't mind being behind the curve, as I've usually stayed a year behind current gaming.

I'd like to build a tight-budget box that can handle some almost-recent games, but that will have headroom to upgrade later.

I checked out the $650 gaming machine found here on Tom's, and it was awesome except for one thing: With DDR2, I'm not feeling very 'future safe'. This is the main thing that puts me over budget, however.

I'd really like to try to find an AMD AM3 board, with a decent graphics card, and come in sub-$700. Obviously, I won't (don't think?) be needing multiple PCIe x16 slots, as over time I'll just get a bigger single card.

I will need a hard-drive, but major storage isn't a concern. A standard 320G would be more than enough.

I'm not concerned with overclocking - never have done it - but if the parts and board allow for it, and it's withing budget, then I'm perfectly fine with that.

Is this the most annoying we-get-this-all-the-time post?
I just get so scared looking at the motherboards myself, because for every awesome board (even Asus), I see a crap-ton of "DOA" reviews on Newegg and TigerD.

Any suggestions? Built a budget rig recently and can offer a little comfort for a particular motherboard not arriving dead?

Thanks for your patience!

[looking forward to one day playing Fallout3, Bioshock, Left4Dead2, TeamFortress2]