Build Recommendations

[SoCalTiger]

Update 8/21

Hey guys,

Just wanted to give you an update to let you know I built this system a few weeks ago and everything seems to be good and stable. I had an issue with the original Antec PSU so I RMA'd it for the 650W Corsair. Very happy with this setup. FWIW the Palit 250 GTS seems to run everything at 1920x1080 at maximum settings that I have tried so far including Mass Effect 2, Fallout 3 and Modern Warfare. This setup totally destroys my old P4.

• CPU: i7-860
• MB: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
• GPU: Palit NE3TS25EFHD02 GeForce GTS 250 E-Green
• HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB (WD1002FAEX)
• RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)
• Case: Antec 300 Illusion
• PSU: Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W RT
• DVD: Samsung DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L
• Sink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
• TIM: Arctic Silver 5

Original Post

Hey guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my computer. I honestly don't even have any idea how old it is but I am suspecting in the 4-5 year old range. Right now I can't play any modern games whatsoever or even upgrade my graphics card (AGP mobo). I'm looking for a build which will play modern games on par with PS3/X360 levels. Since most games are console-limited right now I don't need a maxxed out PC rig or anything like that. Right now my computer will overheat and sometimes shutdown just watching YouTube videos. Would something like an i3-530/540 with a 5770 do it? Do I even need a 5770? Based on the game benchmarking I've seen this puts a good number of games at 60+ FPS which already is faster than a PS3/X360.

I was originally considering an i5-750 build like this one:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/19159/5

But I don't know if that is overkill for what I want. Also, Fry's has a great i3-540 / H55 mobo combo right now for ~$130ish and if that will do I can drop that into my current case for an immediate upgrade and grab the graphics card later? Also people are saying you can OC an i3-540 to ~4GHz on air. Seems enough for me?

Suggestions? Input?