[Qaedain]

To expound a bit, I have some recommendations for a good budget system that's very reliable and will be eligible for upgrades with quality parts over the next 2-3 years:

Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5: Approx $180
AMD Phenom II X4 965 (specifically part# HDZ965FBGMBOX): Approx $180
AMD Radeon HD 5850 (any company): Approx $300
4GB DDR3-1600 from OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, Crucial or G.SKILL: Approx $115
A 1TB HDD from Seagate or Western Digital: Approx $80


Cases are, of course, totally discretionary, but here are some good ones: Antec 300, Antec 900, AZZA Solano, NZXT Hades. These have quality builds, good materials and excellent airflow, not to mention low noise. A good case runs about $100.

Total price is approximately $955.

WHY AMD CPU?:
Intel's current CPUs and motherboards are not compatible with their next generation, which launches in 2011. AMD's are. AMD CPUs are also 5-10% slower than Intel CPUs, per MHz, but you'll save hundreds.

WHY AMD GPU?:
AMD is leading innovation in the GPU market. First to DirectX 11, better prices, better power savings, better heat. They're 6-8 months ahead of NVIDIA when it comes to releasing newer, better GPUs. The 5850 is a very solid card that should give an average gamer 2-3 years.

The rest of my part selections are based on long-term quality evaluations and the expected amenities of a modern, but economical home-built PC.

DISCLAIMER: I have been a reporter/analyst for a large tech site for nearly 10 years. I've touched hundreds and thousands of pieces of hardware, and am paid to understand the computer industry for several hundred thousand monthly readers. It is in my best interest to be on point.