Quote Originally Posted by Xiaohu
I'm in a similar boat- building a new PC, (which I haven't done in awhile either) I'm trying to keep my budget much lower... around $800.

Here's what I've come up with- I offer it as help to anyone who's similarly shopping and to put it out there for comment/advice.

Case: Antec SonataII w/ 450W PSU
Mobo: ASUS M2N-E
CPU: AMD64 x2 4400+ EE (Brisbane)
GPU: eVGA 7950GT KO Superclocked 512MB eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
HD: WD 250GB 16MB, 7200RPM SATA
RAM: 2x1GB

That, plus a few cooling fans and shipping costs comes in almost exactly on my budget. From what I can tell, it should be able to run just about any current game with most or all options turned on and should leave some wiggle room for future upgrades if I want. I do most of my shopping on Mwave.com. Their prices are usually very competitive and I think their website is much easier to navigate than newegg- but maybe that's just my personal preference. I've done business with them many times over the years and never had any issues with returns or purchases. YMMV.

Edit: I'm hoping to swap out the 7950 for a 8800. I see that they now have the 8800's with 320MB instead of the 640MB version for about $90 less. Add to that, a $20 rebate and the 8800 will only cost about $5 more than the 7950... Seems like a no-brainer to me.
That 450W PSU doesn't make me feel very confident with a 7950GT or 8800GTS in the system. You should consider a PSU that is rated at 550-600W or higher and make absolutely sure it has a healthy amount of amperage on the 12V rails (combined the 12V rails shoud add up to 30-40A or better). Also try to get a PSU with a high efficiency rating (80%+) and Active PFC to minimize the damage to your electric bills. Seasonic makes extremely efficient PSUs as does Corsair (rebadged Seasonics rigged for quieter operation).

Quote Originally Posted by sapi
Yep - and amd/ati is simply outclassed in the graphics card department atm as well
Now that's just not true. AMD/ATI has excellent offerings for the budget to mid ranged segment. The X1950 Pro is hand's down the best card you can buy in the $150-200 range and the X1950XT (256meg version) is the best card in the $200-250 range. However the high end and 'enthusiast' segments are dominated by Nvidia, nothing in AMD/ATI's arsenal comes close to the 8800 series.