[Audioscope]

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1. i5 2500k - $200 ($20 till the 28th, then back to $220)
2. GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H - $125 (after rebate)
3. EVGA GTX 670 - $370 (after rebate)
4. CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) - $65
5. Noctua NH-D14 - $90 (if you want to overclock ...otherwise $25-30 for a cheaper cooler)
6. SAMSUNG 840 Pro - $140 (boot drive for windows and most used applications and games)
7. Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB - $100 (too lazy to see what additional savings code does - Storage drive)

 
$1090
 
Better quality parts than you will get from Alienware and will kick the snot out of it in performance.  I could probably do better but its lunch time so only had 10min to look up parts.  You could save money easily by buying an HD7950.  It is the best bang for your buck graphics card at the moment.  I just prefer the GTX 670, especially since it takes care of PhysX and I like their drivers better.  No savings on memory at the moment, usually I wait for savings on mem.  Also, there are better deals on SSDs all the time, but that is a solid SSD.  And definitely can knock down the price if you don't plan on overclocking - go to a non-K 2500 and pick Hyper 212+ cooler instead.
 
I hang out at a PC forum in addition to this one and help people pick parts their upcoming builds.

 
How long will a PC like this be good for games these days?  That price point is not bad I guess.

 

[Kerblooy]

Yeah nooo don't go alienware it's like buying a fast food meal at fine dining restaurant or something (terrible analogy)
just like everyone says, head on over to local pc shop and they can do a really nice pc for half.

 

[Magnum26]

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How long will a PC like this be good for games these days?  That price point is not bad I guess.

I got my GTX470 back in 2010 and I'm still able to play all of the latest games at max to near max, although I have an i7 processor which might help a little but you should be good for at least 3-4 years or maybe slightly longer depending on graphics levels for the games and what you are happy to play at quality wise.

 

[Audioscope]

Are new games really able to take advantage of quad core now, or is dual core still the way to go for games?

 

[chewy4]

While they don't use multi-processing, all four of my cores are in use whenever I've opened the task manager with a game running. I've heard even 6 and above get utilized.
 
I think this is more due to modern processors being capable of spreading the workload over all their cores though, rather than the game itself doing this.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Are new games really able to take advantage of quad core now, or is dual core still the way to go for games?

Quad-core was the way to go five years ago! (Q6600 vs. E6850...no contest at the same price!)

A given game may not utilize all four cores, though several have shown up over the last five years. The real benefit, though, is that you can multi-task far better with spare cores. The PC is a versatile machine; might as well take advantage of that!

The only CPUs worth buying right now are the i5-3570K and the i5-2500K, at least until Haswell hits the market.

 

[ChocolateFinger]

I'd just like to pop in here and say, for no reason should you spend $3000 for a gaming pc.
 
First off, the technology is constently updated and improved, prices drop all the time when new things come out. It would be stupid to invest so much when you can run anything on max with a budget half that size if not less.

 

[RodgerM]

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my brother wants to get an alienware Aurora R4 gaming pc that is $3,000 9with all the stupid extras he put into it)
 
From what I've read, alienware is overpriced.  He is lazy and too dumb to buy parts and assemble a gaming PC for himself though
 
My question is, what is the best gaming PC you can get for 3,000 or less

 
Holy waste of money.  All you need is: i5 3570K, 670 FTW (operates like a 680) but wont max out all games (just 99%) at 1080p , 8 GBs of RAM, maybe a Hyper 212 cooler, Windows 7 (do you really want 8?) , WD Black or what have you (no greens, reds, or RE4's) , a bluray or DVD drive.. and of course a mother board (I'd get one with 3 year warranty, some ASRocks are coming up to 3 years if you are on the cheap), case that accepts 120mm fans , and PSU of quality (look it up on jonnyguru ) with about 600 maybe 700  watts.  (one GPU is better than CrossFire or SLI all day long for gaming)
 
To blow it out of the water: i7, titan, 16 GBs of RAM and the rest .

 

[Foamybrian]

Unless you're brother wants to do the following:
 
1. Game on a Triple Monitor Setup
2. Game at resolutions higher than 1080 (2560x 1600)
3. Run the Witcher 2 with Ubersampling
 
There really isn't a point to a $3000 gaming PC except for bragging rights. Its more of a "just because I can" rather than a "I actually need it" train of logic in this scenario.

 

[Yazen]

I'll sell you my PC for $2000 lol....

 

[Yazen]

I'd recommend an AMD graphics card simply because they are cheaper and can outperform the Nvidia ones.
 
http://slickdeals.net/f/5985448-XFX-Radeon-HD-7970-Double-D-Video-Card-w-Bioshock-Infinite-Crysis-3-FC3-Blood-Dragon-350AR-NCIX
 
The 7970 is comparable to the 680 yet it is cheaper than the 670, huge difference!

 

[jackwess]

AMD have done such interesting advantages with their graphic cards, but its a shame that their CPU's are one generation behind (compared to intel)

 

[Yazen]

Quote:

AMD have done such interesting advantages with their graphic cards, but its a shame that their CPU's are one generation behind (compared to intel)

Their APU is above and beyond Intel's, just check the new generation consoles lol.  AMD has always been like this, I'm sure their new architecture will be taken advantage of in the coming years.
 
For gaming alone they are a budget warrior.  What I love about AMD was the AM3 backwards compatibility, went through 3 different CPUs and did not have to replace my expensive motherboard.

 

[chewy4]

You really can't go wrong with either brand of graphics card.
 
AMD cards are cheaper, but they also usually perform worse on average(usually less than 10%). But they can still beat their NVidia counterparts on certain games, especially if you're playing at a higher resolution and it's one of the 3GB AMD cards(although there are some 3GB versions of GTX cards).
 
 
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Their APU is above and beyond Intel's, just check the new generation consoles lol.  AMD has always been like this, I'm sure their new architecture will be taken advantage of in the coming years.
 

I'm still skeptical about the whole APU technology thing.

 

[Yazen]

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You really can't go wrong with either brand of graphics card.
 
AMD cards are cheaper, but they also usually perform worse on average(usually less than 10%). But they can still beat their NVidia counterparts on certain games, especially if you're playing at a higher resolution and it's one of the 3GB AMD cards(although there are some 3GB versions of GTX cards).
 
 
I'm still skeptical about the whole APU technology thing.

They're great for HTPC/Compact Desktops.  My mid range APU I bought last year scored 7.4 CPU and 6.4 GAMING on Windows 7 WEI.  I paid $120 at microcenter for the APU and the Motherboard, now that is damn cheap!
 
For many people, an APU is an excellent experience.  However, if you're looking at running a single monitor on ultra I'd get an AMD 7850+, which happen to run around $200 if you know where to shop.
 
So if you live by a microcenter, $120 (CPU) + $10 (Motherboard, can be Rebated) + $200 bring you to about $330.  Get a Antec case for $40, a $50 PSU, $20 DVD Super Multi, and 4-8GB DDR3 ($30-$60) and you're practically good to play.
 
So thus far the budget is at $460 if you're wanting 8GB, honestly I don't see why people purchase more than 4.  I render my CAD work and play BF3 at the same time and I don't use up the 4GB lol.
 
Anyhow, $460 + $30 in fans, $15 for a Fan Controller and you've got a competent gaming rig for $505.
 
EDIT:  Sorry, forgot about storage lol.  Get a WD blue 1TB for $50 and that's $555.