OK i dont even know where to start with this. My guess is the best way for you guys to help me make this build is to know my price range and what games id like to run on it. For the price id like to stay at about $600 or under but will go up to $1000 but not much over if i need to. Example if video card A. is a real nice card but video card B. is $20 to $50 more and blows it out of the water well then lets go with B.
Alright as for the games id like to play on this comp. The ultimate goal for this comp is to be able to play Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 at least at medium settings. As for games i was playing before my 7 year old computer gave out were Dungeon Siege 1 and 2, Warcraft 1 to 3 plus World of, Starcraft, and Lord of the Rings Shadows of Angmar which was probably the most graphically demanding game for my old comp. Again i dont need any of these games to run at their highest settings i just want them to be completly playable at medium settings. If we can make a build that runs them at higher settings thats just icing on the cake and a big ty.
I do have a 450 watt power supply and a case. I dont know if ill have to upgrade the psu or not. If i do i might as well get a new case that comes with a power supply. I also have a sound card.
OK lastly their are a few things that i do know that i want and i am sorry about being so long winded but im just trying to be precise.
For the motherboard id like it to have at least 2 PCI e 2.0 X16 slots so i can setup crossfire or SLI later on in the comps life if i need to or right now if the price is right. Also enough room for at least 4 gigs of ram. The ram id like to be DDR2 and no less then 800 mhz. As for the processer i dont have a preference AMD or Intel will do. Just the best preforming one for the price there. I do side a little bit toward ATI when it comes to video cards just because i think there the reason why the cards have come down in price so much this last year. But if Nvidia has a better product out there for less ill go that way because Nvidia is all ive ever used.
Hope i covered everything. Sorry again for typing so much in here but alot of times ive seen where people type to little and cant get the help that they need right away because others have to many questions on whats they really want. Thank you for your time and im excited to see what you all can come up with.

Lucky for you, ATI is has the best bang/buck card right now: the 4850.
The best bang/buck cooler right now is the Xigmatek S1283, but it might be too big unless you buy a new case.
A case I know for sure works with it is the Cooler Master RC-690. It's great, it has room for 7 120mm fans, esata, firewire, usb, audio, toolless design, $80.
The Xigmatek PSU's are pretty cheap too, and they're not well known because they're new. They're well made though, by Channel Well or whatever. THey make some of Thermaltake's PSU's. Check out reviews on them.
Bang/buck CPU is either the E8400 or the Q6600 depending on application and how long it will be before you upgrade. If you'll use this system for years, go with the quad core. Applications will probably use them now that Nehalem's prices will be low compared to the normal ones Intel releases their new cpu's at.
The best bang/buck mobo with two actual Pciex16, and not 1x16/2x8 is the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4.
On NewEgg, a lot of Mushkin memory has rebates and low timings, you might want to look at those. They're made with some of the best chips (Micron) and are rated at low voltages.
All these things will definitely keep you under $1000. Make sure to look for products with rebates. A lot of them look expensive without them, but are great.

i agree with donut, but with a few differences

instead of the E8400, get the E8500 only 199$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115036

ATI 4850 (both has rebates)
Gigabytes 159$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125224

or Asus, ur pick 157$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121253

Heatsink Xigmatek S1283 26.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ek%2bs1283

PSU Corsair 650TX 89.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ir%2b650TX

i agree w/donut on the mobo.
GA-X48-DS4 224.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] GA-X48-DS4

enjoy!

Oh nice I didn't realize the 8500 was priced so low. Yeah if you're going for dual core get that.

why x48 so expensive go with p45 instead

X48 does provide significant performance increase over P45 when in crossfire. If crossfire is in the future, X48 is better.

Don't know if you would really be happy with a $600.00 computer. if you plan on using this computer for 5-7 years, look at the $1000.00 to $1200.00 range. Do what you want but I would think in the range off-cpu-Intel Q6600 quadcore,-$200.00. motherboard-Asus P5E x38atx-$225.00.-memory-Patriot Viper 4x1gb ddr2-1200. If you case is 7 years old it probably won't fit the new GPU's so-CoolMaster Centurion 590. Power supply- depends if you might use two cards in the future. either-Pc Power & Cooling 610 w or Pc Power & Cooling 860w. Vidiocard- ATI 4850 512mb or 4870 5120mb.-this would run $935.00 to $1200.00. the larger PSU would allow you to add a second vidio card later if needed without changing anything else. what ever you do, Good luck.

Here's my wishlist.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] er=8291612

You can make some price cuts on the RAM, I chose 1066. I would stay with Mushkin though, they have low voltages, fast timings, and good rebates.

I wouldn't go with the PC P&C PSU. Corsair's is also very efficient, 650W, for $5 less after rebates. The Centurion is good, but the 690 is a lot better. 4850 is a lot better bang/buck. I didn't mention X38, it also has two PCIe slots working at 16x. X48 has alot more features and better cooling though.

ty for the help all the help so far. I think i am definetly gonna go with the ATI radeon 4850 for my vid card. I looked at the 4870 and the only differences i saw in that card from the 4850 was a 125 MHz jump in the core clock 625 to 750 and about double the MHz in the memory clock 1986 to 3600 at 900 MHz DDR5 as opposed to DDR3. So i guess what im asking is it worth the $100 or so more for the doubled up memory clock at DD5? Im guessing no but then again i know very little about this stuff so any input is welcome. Thanks.

It's worth it but two 4850s are easily a way better deal than two 4870s when taking performance into account.

Ok thanks that was my whole thing. If im gonna spend that much more i need to see a big jump in performance. Otherwise the 4850 is the way to go for me. Also now that i know im going ATI for the vid card will that make it hard for me to go with a crossfire able mobo if im leaning toward an Intel processer?

No, Intel's chipsets support Crossfire.