Need advice on a Budget Gaming pc under 800 dollars

WHat resolution do you intend to play at? (Can get by wih less card at 1280x1024 than compared to 1920x1200, for intance!)

new 2500k/mb will set you back about $400...

At that budget range, you might be confined to $150 video card, minimum recommended is GTX460...

i was planing on playing at 1920x1200, and thanks for tip on the sandy bridge didn't think the i5's would be that much. My big concern is games running smoothly on high settings, I've read mixed reviews on GTX460 some saying it overheats, but some say it's a high end card... Forgot to mention I plan on upgrading in the future to sli or crossfire

$800 budget /w 1920x1200 resolution gaming... you'll need an AMD setup with good graphics...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- Samsung DVDRW drive: $17

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- SamSung Spinpoint F3 1TB: $70

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- Antec SONATA IV Case /w Antec 620W Power Supply: $170

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX SATA6 USB3: $140

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz: $160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2x2) DDR3 1600: $48

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB: $240 ($220 after mir)

TOTAL: $845 ($825 after mir)

*edited motherboard to support future Crossfire/SLI

if you want to keep it under $800 (it went over after i changed the motherboard to accommodate future Crossfire/SLI)... you can look at this video card too:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 1GB: $170 ($160 after mir)

so your new total would be: $775 ($765 after mir) with the 6850

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i... <---- Intel Sandy Bridge 2500K (unlocked) - due for release on 1/9/11

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-rev... <--- Another great review on this cpu

Sandy Bridge 2500k (unlocked) retail (est. price: $216)
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/intel/sandybrid...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $59.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $69.99 $3.99 Shipping
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $184.99 (Before $10.00 Mail-In Rebate ) FREE SHIPPING
MSI N460GTX -M2D1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $49.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $54.99 FREE SHIPPING
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $19.99 FREE SHIPPING
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $6.99 FREE SHIPPING
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound


Total: $655.94 *not including shipping, rebates, and motherboard

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_conten... <--- H/S

Mobo reviews down below

http://tbreak.com/tech/2011/01/intel-sandy-bridge-mothe...

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20190/13

Thanks for the great input wish the sandy bridge mobo had a price tag. So do you think its best to use the stock heatsink and fan

That all depends on whether you plan on over clocking or not. If not, the stock intel set up should do ya just fine. Either way I would get a decent after market thermal paste like that Tuniq up above.

It seems the sandy bridge mobo's are confusing and only access certain parts of the cpu. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/284972-30-sandybridge...... btw everyone you have been a huge help I thank you. Also I wonder if i decide to get 2 460's in the future will the psu be enough for the sandy bridge cpu and mobo

well, Sandy Bridge is out now... and attractive as it is... they're a bit pricey... so you're going to have to invest over $400 for a core i5-2500K /w a decent P67 motherboard that can also support Crossfire/SLI

now that leaves you with less than $400 for the rest of the machine... so again, i recommend that if you want to game properly @ 1920x1200... best if you go AMD /w better graphics in order to build the best balanced PC you can... (or up your budget to ~$1000)

the build i posted above (if you go with a Radeon 6850 / GTX 460 1GB graphics) -> will keep you under $800 - allow you to game properly @ 1920... and will also be able to handle 2 of either of those cards in the future...