What is a good affordable (under $250) CPU these days? I want to build a new computer which may be used for fps games so I need something reasonably fast. I don't plan to over clock the cpu and I prefer a cpu that runs cool so I don't have to have a fan running at 800 rpm lol. :) I'm coming from a P4 3.4GHz Prescott. Thanks for any help.

A suggestion that I would make would be to consider both the processor and motherboard price together as they are wedded togther very closely. If you'll be needing new RAM for that motherboard, you may want to factor that in too.

Intel's Core2Duos area really hot right now. I know you don't want to overclock but you might be stunned at how much more performance can be had out of these chips (i.e. some people have said they are as good at being overclocked as any chip ever). We're talking getting $500 chip performance out of a $185 chip without much time investment or from what I've heard, even non-stock cooling (decent coolers are cheap though). As a rule, I don't really like to bother with overclocking and historically haven't - these chips, I'd be all over it just because there is so much headroom and gains to be had.

If I were building a system, I would look very seriously at the Core2Duo line and compatible motherboards. Probably find a good reliable motherboard (newegg and read the reviews) with the features you want, figure out how much RAM you need, and then see how much processor you can afford (and maybe you get a lot more processor by overclocking a bit).

A suggestion that I would make would be to consider both the processor and motherboard price together as they are wedded togther very closely. If you'll be needing new RAM for that motherboard, you may want to factor that in too.

Intel's Core2Duos area really hot right now. I know you don't want to overclock but you might be stunned at how much more performance can be had out of these chips (i.e. some people have said they are as good at being overclocked as any chip ever). We're talking getting $500 chip performance out of a $185 chip without much time investment or from what I've heard, even non-stock cooling (decent coolers are cheap though). As a rule, I don't really like to bother with overclocking and historically haven't - these chips, I'd be all over it just because there is so much headroom and gains to be had.

If I were building a system, I would look very seriously at the Core2Duo line and compatible motherboards. Probably find a good reliable motherboard (newegg and read the reviews) with the features you want, figure out how much RAM you need, and then see how much processor you can afford (and maybe you get a lot more processor by overclocking a bit).

Hey thanks for the help. Today I bought the 2.4GHz Intel Core2 and a Gigabite micro ATX board plus one gig of ram for the motherboard. :) What do you suggest for a video card? The board has on-board video but I may want to play a few games like HL2 or HL3 if it comes out.

Okay - I think that's the E6600 which is probably what I would have suggested except that it was outside your quoted price range (I was finding $300). That's "the chip" for overclocking too it seems.

I would suggest to have most if not all of this stuff planned out before purchasing anything as you can run into situations where the RAM you have doesn't fit the MB or the MB doesn't support the graphics card (or the case can't fit it). Or maybe the processor is so much faster than the video card that it doesn't make any sense for gaming (or the flip side in that the processor hobbles a great video card).

Hopefully the motherboard you have supports PCI Express video cards (not regular PCI slot or AGP - I think it likely should though) as that's pretty much the standard. Right now NVidia is king and the 8800 GTX and GTS cards stomp everything. Basically 1 8800 GTX is a match for 2 SLI'd top of the line cards just a few months ago. That said, these cards require a hefty power supply, good cooling and a big case - your purchase of a MicroATX motherboard would seem to indicate you going the opposite direction. So what it comes down to is your motherboard, the resolution you are going to play your games at (720p/1080p or i/ or a computer resolution), and the games themselves. The card already mentioned are some of the few DirectX 10 cards on the market (we are transitioning from DX9 and XP to DX10 and Vista - but DX9 will be viable for a few years guaranteed). HL2, doesn't require an "uber" card to run at decent resolution with most settings maxed. HL3? Not out and no info, assume it's a couple years away and your system may be able to run it or not - no way of future proofing gaming rigs years in advance.