Best value i5/Mobo/Ram Combo for Upgrade

[gmvp]

Hey everybody, I was wondering what is the best value i5, Motherboard, Ram Combo. How much would a pretty decent setup cost? I'm wanting to upgrade my computer from my current Q6600 and some motherboard that came with a prebuilt HP computer.

 

[gmvp]

So a pretty good configuration would be in the range of 350? And do you think I would see a good step up in performance from what I currently have?

Thanks for the Suggestions also.

 

[gmvp]

It is a significant upgrade imo and you could overclock it to a super nice clock. The only thing that will be better than it most likely is the Ivy Bridge and perhaps a few oc'd Bulldozers but we won't know till they hit the market lol so for now the i5 2500k is the best choice.

The i7 2600k is $100 more for hyperthreading, a few l3 cache, and a few mhz higher stock clock.

So basically you pay a $100 premium for the label "i7" and hyperthreading when it comes gaming.

I heard that hyperthreading doesn't really effect gaming, so I think I'll stay with the i5. I got to keep saving though, only got about $250-300 to spend. Is it possible to get something in that budget range? Just wondering.