Well, the max I wanted to spend was $800. As for the video card and mobo, judging by this video, in order to run the game at the resolution and FPS that I want, I will probably need the extra horsepower. And I wanted to stay away from micro ATX boards because of the case I will be using (Antec 900). But, if you have another suggestion, I would like to know because I haven't ordered the GPU yet. I just put the processor, mobo, memory and HDD on order from Newegg last night.

Good point, I don't play any online games apart from WOW, I guess you WILL need the video cards after all.

you might wanna check red's guide @ http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic133075.html)

You can buy HD 4870, GTS 260, GTX 275.

And for power supply OCZ GameXstream 700W is pretty decent.

Which option(options you listed) did you order?

So far I ordered this mobo, this processor, and this DDR3 memory. I will order the PSU, GPU and HDD in a couple weeks when I get paid again. Then leave the DVD drive and the little stuff I will need like thermal paste and such for last.

Thats a good processor you bought , with a good cooling system, you will be able to push it to 4Ghz.

The mobo is not too good IMO, because of the PCI x16 slots. Its has only 2, and its a $134 mobo. But anyways, you will only need to change it like 5yrs later.

that mb is a fine choice i have to disagree with the psu you recommended though the corsair i recommended is alot better psu overall.

I'm not sure if I'm going to push the processor past 3.8-3.9 Ghz, as from what I've read seems to be the best return as far as power consumption, heat and voltage go. The mobo should be fine as I plan on keeping this PC about the same amount of time I've kept this one, 4-5 years at the most.

its fine yes but i am talking about PCI-e x16 slots here. There are many boards out there with same specs and price but with much more PCI slots. This one does have 2 slots but the second one is only running @ x4 .

Sorry I didnt see your recommendations. Well IMO in terms of performance, there is no(or VERY little) difference between OCZ and Corsair. Well the corsair is also very decent.

You should do just fine with this setup then.:grinthumb

3.8 is just fine it will still be faster than 95% of other peoples computers.

it will be fine and at this price point the x4 slot is as fast as the old x8 in pcie 1.0 spec.

ask anyone else on techspot and they will disagree with you my good man.

There is a world of difference between both PSUs:

The GameXStream is made by FSP and based on the old FSP Epsilon platform, which is notorious for extremely high out-of-spec ripple when the +12V rail is loaded to around 400W or higher. High ripple overworks regulators and causes component failure (not only the PSU, but other PC components are affected as well). Build quality is also so-so, since they use Taiwanese capacitors instead of Japanese ones; the Japanese caps provide superior filtering and are more tolerant of high temperatures.

The 650TX is made by Seasonic (the best OEM by far for PSUs) and has fantastic build quality (Japanese caps), excellent voltage regulation and ripple suppression, and superb efficiency to go with it all.

They are both available for roughly the same price and frankly, I'd rather pay for 650W of power that I know I can use compared to 700W of power where I don't know how much I can actually use without putting my system at risk.

thank you rage

Update on Core i5 build

So, I got my motherboard, processor. and ram today. Thinking of stripping my Dell and using the parts to do a test run until I order my other parts. I'll keep everyone who wanted to keep tabs on the status of the build updated as it comes together