Thinking About a Build with a $3k Budget

Planning on saving up my money over the summer so I can build a computer better than the Dell B110 I got when I left for college. I want to spend about $3,000. I don't need a display, speakers, OS, or keyboard and mouse. That said, I will probably upgrade them anyway. I'll show you what I'm thinking about, and then you can flame me for being new to this whole thing, but whatever...

Mobo: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2907917&CatId=2320
CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2207290&Tab=0&NoMapp=0
RAM: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2458327&CatId=1990
HD:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2273393&CatId=2494
Case:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2143188&Tab=0&NoMapp=0
DVDBurner:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2700058&CatId=89
DVDDrive:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=408483&CatId=88
PSU:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2974580&CatId=2534
GPU:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2892978&CatId=1839

By no means is any of this stuff set in stone and I really would like to know what I could do better. Keep in mind that I want to stay under 3K for the time being. I will probably upgrade and add stuff later on seeing as that is the nature of the beast. Also, and current general information is always good, like current trends and what may be around the corner. Thanks in advanced for any help.

3k budget i dont think those parts come close to 3k
personnaly i would get a silverstone olympia or decatholon or zues psu zues if u want 750+ watts decatholon for modular or olympia for the same psu withoutmodular cables and much cheaper price plus the olympia and decatholon should future prroof your system with 8 pin pcie connector

and why not go for a 8800gtx if ur willing to spend that much cash

and amd chip?? any c2d will beat the amd chips right now go for a e6400 and u can overclock it to 3ghz plus with a asus p5b delux

but if u want to go sli go with the evga 680i

those are just my 2cents

By the end of summer there will most likely be all sorts of new chips on the market. C2D as it is already triumphs over any AMD chip.I think you're planning a bit too far ahead. Oh and by the way, we don't support flaming here. This isn't one of those kinds of forums.

Yeah, save up the money, and then pick your parts. Prices will be different, Parts will be different. Just set your budget, save till you hit it, and then come talk to us

Thanks for being polite about it. Any tips on how I can get up to date with all the current information?

i would consider newegg for the bulk of the build. dead eye data for the psu, jab-tech and sidewinder computers for any cooling and fan needs.

also i am not sure if you are an overclocker but the am2 5200 for $200 and $169 after april 9th is 2.6 with same L2 and will OC to 2.8 in its sleep, with that kind of budget go for a 8800gtx or at least a gts 640

just browse all the threads in the past month that have titles like:
is this a good build? or 1.5k budget build, etc. You can see what parts are good value items and which are not. If 3k's your budget it's still ok to spend less, there is no need to buy way overpriced things like asus striker extreme or similar when a board half the price will perform just as well. I recommend spending the bulk of your cash on a good monitor, desk, chair, speakers/headphones, keyboard and mouse...then building your computer. 1.5k will get you an incredible desktop, spending 3k will get you a better one, but the returns are very little (i.e. it's not going to be anywhere neer twice as fast...probably 10-20% faster and your spending 100% more)

As ajrettke explained, you can get a really good system that will play the greatest games at full resolution for around $1500. However, several options open up to you if you're aiming at $3000, the first should be a wide screen LCD. Pick up a 24", or even the 30" if you want your eyeballs to melt into your brain! Now, those monitors both have ridiculously high native resolutions, 1920x1200 on the 24" and 2560x1600 on the 30". The 8800GTS and an FX62 should easily be able to handle 1920x1200, I'm not 100% sure about 2560x1600.

The second option would be watercooling, for about $220 you can get a high quality Swiftech kit that will keep your CPU temperatures down at low noise levels.

Most of us buy our hardware from Newegg for their huge selection, fast shipping and customer service, but Tiger Direct should work just as well if you're set on using them.