I have just decided to build a system. GPU to last me a year which?

I would suggest you Gtx275 which is very much essential to play crysis at very high specs with good framerates..You can also go for gtx260 which will give you decent performance in all those games...Both of them will fit well in your budeget...

and also if you are not a nvidia freak then you can also go for radeon hd 5770 which I think will be the best choice within your budget...

Ok What about the 285? I haven't heard of the 275 before. Good GPU?

Questions:

- What are the rest of the specs of this machine? Include PSU specs and Monitor resolution.
- Are you set on Nvidia? It so why? ATI has great cards as well and their latest 5xxx series is great. Not saying this is what I would recommend, but I want to know that you are open to it.
- Where will you be purchasing from? What country?

I have to research and decide on the processor. What would you suggest? The new i5 and i3 is out but I was thinking of going with a i7.

If you want something to last you alteast a year in that price range I would look at the 5850. DX 11 would be nice to have for games that will come out in the next year. Also if your considering a new cpu i would suggest a i5 750 for pure gaming or if your going to be doing more than just gaming the i7 860 which isnt too much more.

Cool i5. Thanks

i5 is kinda more mainstream gaming. The i7 1156 is more higher end gaming, but then you have the i7 1366 as well. I have the i7 920 and love it alot, but its more expensive, but can run triple channel DDR3 and will have the 6 core chips coming soon, and more. But in reality all you will need is an i5 to get the job done well.

I'd stick with an i5 for more mainstream and put a few more bucks into your video. The 5850 at $300 is probably the best bang for the buck, higher end gaming card you can get right now.

I agree. Core i5 750 will be better on you wallet in the long run.

Todays games hardly even notice the performance difference between the core i7 8 threads and the core i5 4 threads. So the core i7 extra power is wasted.
Then also factor that most applications dont use the x58 chipset triple channel memory (including gaming) bandwidth very well.

The savings on core i5 p55 setup can be used to get a better gpu like the 5850/5870's.

^
It will last as long as you are happy with it. I had a 4870 for a year before it had to go :-P. A 4890 is not that much faster than a 4870 BTW.

although 285 is a great card but it will certainly cross your budget...275 is one the most selling high end Nvidia gpu..

Dont look any further than the HD5850. Best one for $300.

Go for 5850 with an i5.
Good luck

Teh 4890 is about $200 the 5850 $300. You get ALOT for that extra $100.

You get DX11 feature set for $ 100, which no game is using very effectively right now.

I'm not saying it isn't going to be a lot but it's really hard to qualify that statement right now. Also he said to last him a year, I don't see a huge need for DX11 support tell 2011, otho I hope I'm wrong as I own a 5870.

Honestly, if you want it to last longer, pick up the Core I7, you don't need the 1377 chipset so games not using triple channel is a mute point, since the Lynnfield only has dual channel and is a lot cheaper then the X58 parts.

With the Core I7 you could see a performance upgrade (way) down the road of up to 30-40% with hyper threading. However if its price vs. performance you are looking for and will upgrade before 3 years anyway, get the Core I5.

I guess with a 300$ budget the question is, at what settings do you prefer to play the games vs how much of the budget do you want to use. The 4670 can play Crysis at reduced settings and resolution for around 70$. The more you spend the more you get. So it really depends on where you put your values.

I would almost definitley go with a Radeon 5850. It should easily last you 2-3 years at high settings.

You can also overclock a 5850 to the 5870 clocks and get close to performance. The 5870 doesn't really gain much on an OC, I guess because it is pretty optimized.

I'd suggestion would be a 4890 for $200, but if you can swing it a 5850 for $300. It will last you longer.

Like most people are saying you should pick between HD5770/HD4890/HD5850 depending on what you want to spend and your resolution. Nvidia cards in that price range simply aren't a good buy.

Yeah you are absolutely right,I myself use sapphire HD 4890 but this guy is asking for a Nvidia gpu..Thats why I recommend him 275....Moreover I think its better to go for 5770 than a 4890 because it support DX11 and almost it is equally powerful as 4890....