Time to build a new PC!

What are you outputting to? Is this going out to a normal 1080p monitor/TV? Three monitors?

Well, without more info to go on, here is a rough idea of how you could budget your build. I recommend going for Intel chipset/processor (significantly better performance in gaming benchmarks), and GPU is really up to you but I think Nvidia has a slight edge in performance/price.

Intel i7 (Sandy or Ivy bridge) - $300
Mobo (?) - $100
4x4GB Ram - $80
120gb SSD - $100
2TB Storage HDD - $100
GPU - $250
PSU - $50
--
$980

Audio cards are kind of a thing of the past, I would skip it. Particularly if you have HDMI audio on your A/V receiver, then you will just be sending an HDMI signal from your GPU->Receiver and it will take care of both video and audio.

Shift money in the budget as you see fit. Could drop to i5 or drop the SSD to increase your GPU budget.

Didn't list specifics as it's usually better to shop sales and make smart buys rather then being fixated on certain brands. If you've built rigs in the past you should be adept at researching parts you find on sale to see whether it is hot or not.

Assuming you have the power supply covered, below are some other parts to think about:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or 3570K (stock cooler should do just fine, even for modest overclocks)
• Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK
• Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
• RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600

For the resolution of 2560x1600, you might want to consider a beefy GPU if you plan to play new games as well. The GTX 670 will leave you at under $1,000 along with the above parts.

Yeah for 2560x1600 you're going to need to put more of the budget into the GPU. That is twice the pixels you are pushing compared to 1080p which is going to have a big effect on performance.

You are going to need a minimum 670 or AMD counterpart to play games at 2560x1600 with any amount good of FPS. IMO I'd go with a 680 or same performance AMD card. If you have to save up a bit more then do it. if you skimp, you WILL wish you didn't.

One thing to keep in mind is that the 670 does perform very closely to the 680. In fact, it does very well at 2560x1600. The price difference pays for at least 25% of another 670 in the future for SLI if that ever becomes desired. Just a thought.

I forgot to mention that the only real benefit in getting an Intel 3570K CPU over the 2500K is PCI-Express 3.0 support.

There is no reason to spend more to try and get 3.0 support. It isn't needed. Just another marketing gimmick. You won't get ANY performance using a 7970 or 680 ( even in SLI/CF ) when using pci 3.0 vs 2.0

You guys are forgetting the Microsoft tax

Since he hasn't built a PC in a few years, he'll need Win 7 Pro 64 bit

Yes, building a high quality OS that the majority of the world sees fit to use is a "tax". Don't they know that this is the interwebs? All software should be free!

Don't forget about the Steam tax either, where Valve will want you to do this thing called "paying" for the games that they offer.

Dave does have a point though, the OS is a cost that isn't always considered in their baseline budget when people spec a new build.

OS is never in my budget

Me neither since I have MS TechNet sub so I got many copies of the MS OSs of every flavour.

My college gives em out free just for going to school. Same with office.

I wonder, if I wanted to build a PC that could max out Battlefield 3 at 720p what GPU/CPU combo would work best and how much money would I save by shooting for a lower base resolution?

I am really considering a gaming PC at this point, and if E3 disapoints, then it will probably push me over the edge.

on 720? A 560TI would do you just fine. You can get them pretty cheap to.

I would probably order it prebuilt from ibuypower.

I would build Intel Core i5 2500k and nVidia GTX 560TI

I imagine that might run you a little more then you building one. Purely depends on your budget.

I know, I just don't have the patience to order all the parts seperate then debug any problems. I will probably wait for the 660 to come out and go with an ivy bridge cpu. It all falls on if the Wii U impresses at E3...

To each his own I guess. The actual assembly phase is my favorite part of getting a new PC (in parts). Then the rest is the same software install and customization that you'd have to do with a prebuilt anyway. But without having to uninstall bloatware. I've never had to deal with the bugs you speak of.

Well as long it's I. Whatever your budget is right? I'm sure it will work out in the end.

I didn't start PC gaming till this year. Idk why I waited so long to try. Funny enough. It gets you better at the console versions of games.

Example. BF3. Been playing a ton of that on PC. Went to play it on console this past weekend. Absolutely destroyed people. I felt like I was playing a bunch of two year olds. They didn't know the tricks and tactics it takes to play a 64Player room. I didn't think it would work like that but it did!

I'd prefer to buy a gaming PC prebuilt from Amazon, but almost all of them are amd/intel/nvidia hybrids. (none with a combo I like) and the one Lan Warrior they have is a 550 with a 6 core amd cpu... (at $750)

I could use it as a starting point and upgrade the cpu and gpu a few years down the road...

I'm with you man. I like to put new parts in at least every six months. Building the rig is the best part. Thats the reason I take on so many builds for my friends store, I just like to build them.

I'd stay away from AMD. They just aren't what they used to be. If you don't mind buying per built. Check around best buy or Walmart and just throw in a GPU.

I know, if it was a 2400 I might have considered it as a starting point. I just don't want a jumbo sized tower, which is probably why I like the Lan Warrior design so much. The mini towers at Walmart are nice, (and dirt cheap) but I don't think I can fit much power in them.

Well what kind of gaming is it you plan to do? Before I built the PC I'm on now I had made a used a ore built desktop from Wal Mart. only thing I had to do to it was throw in a decent GPU. (560 ti) this was more then enough to play all games on high settings.

I just want to break into PC gaming at an above console level (which is why I want to see what the Wii U can do), Skyrim is slowly getting Rimlag on my PS3 file and I have no desire to play my 360 anymore (slightly better multiplatform games... May as well go PC)

If I can run Skyrim at med settings with a few mods (mainly improved water, because it is ugly stock) at 720p 60fps with 4x AA then that should be a good starting point for breaking into PC gaming.

The 560Ti should be able to do exactly that without any issue at all.