First Build: Need Advice / $600 + GPU , HDD, and Monitor

Approximate Purchase Date: January

Budget Range: $600 total

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, photoshop, movies (dual monitor setup is very important)

Are you buying a monitor: No. I bought an HP W2072a on Black Friday and have an old Princeton VGA LCD as my second monitor



Parts to Upgrade: CPU, MOBO, Case, Power Supply, Operating System (I have a brand new 3TB Seagate HDD, a year-old 500GB HDD, and a ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 - AMD Radeon HD 6850 I would like to continue to use.)

Do you need to buy OS: Yes. I am currently running XP and would like to upgrade to Windows 7.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon (I anticipate many gift cards), NewEgg

Location: City, State/Region, Country: Spokane, WA, USA

Parts Preferences: I would prefer an i5 or i7, and ASUS has yet to let me down for other parts. But no true preference as long as it fills my needs.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: Dual monitors: 1280 x 1024 and 1600 x 900

Additional Comments: I've been running my current rig for over 7 years. With the monitors, GPU, and HDDs already purchased, I hope to put together a very decent rig that will last me through grad school for roughly $600 more.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Seven years. XP. Pentium D. It's time. I've now gotten to the point where the limitations of my current rig are becoming more and more apparent, and gaming has now passed me by.

Any and all advice would be great! Thank you!