It's easy to blow through a big wad of cash on your ideal gaming rig. That's why we always recommend setting a budget. If you're leaning towards better performance, a $2000 ceiling gives you plenty of choices. Fans of AMD hardware currently have somewhat limited choice in processors, since the six-core stuff doesn't really help gaming, and there's really no point to splurging on the fastest quad-core models when cheaper unlocked chips can overclock just as well. A Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition does the trick, leaving room for a trio of ultra-fast Radeon HD 6970 graphics cards on a 990FX-based motherboard. An SSD and 1 TB hard drive handle storage duties, while a 1000 W PSU drives the whole machine. A special congratulations to forum member mjmjpfaff for having his recommended build picked by the Tom's Hardware community this quarter!