BleepingComputer.com: Will this $380 build work, and can I do better?

Yeah, some games just simply play better on consoles. Some, like Homeworld or Neverwinter Nights, should be played on the PC. I played Fable for the PC, I did not like it at all. It wasn't the PC edition, I just did not like the game.

Under $400 is going to be difficult to accomplish if you are looking for gaming.

But here are some suggestions to get you in the right path.

Corsair VX450 - this power supply is amazing, just check out the 12V rail!!

Also I HIGHLY recommend spending the extra cash for the Intel E8400 Wofldale - I use this CPU and it is amazing, I currently have it overclocked to 3.6, it was at 3.8 however, my motherboard has a built in wall, and with it maxed I had problems. But with a proper board, that CPU can hit speeds of 4.0 GHz or MORE!

Those are my suggestions.

Just the Corsair and E8400 alone would eat up half the budget. Add on top of that all the other components (quality ones, of course) and the $400 budget would be exceeded. To accomplish that sort of overclocking, a very good motherboard and cooling system is needed, which can be expensive.

Not really, the wolfdale at 3.8 ran at a max of 42C, with a basic heatsink and fan, the motherboard required would be the same as mine but the Overclocker edition, which is like the P45-NEO3, which is not TOO expensive, but yes, the 400 limit would def. be exceeded, but to have a good clean experience with gaming you may have to exceed that limit.

4Ghz is a little overkill. I did a search on Newegg for your motherboard, I find it strange that a mobo would allow for such a high overclock yet have only one PCIe x16 slot. A board like that is enthusiast and, to take advantage of the OCing potential, should have at least one more slot for Crossfire or SLI. On a slightly off topic note, have you seen how fast people are getting the new i7 processors? A 4GHz quad core is even more impressive!

The 4 GHz OC is overkill yes, but it is amazing at how stable this cpu runs at those speeds, I was shocked.

You and I had the exact same thought on that issue lol, but I didnt see a need for sli honestly, with a gtx280 psssshh lol.

But 2 gtx280's....wow

I have not heard of that processor actually, ill have to check it out. 4GHz quad???? that is ridiculous and the potential for that processor will most likely not be seen for a long time lol

The i7 is brand new and extremely expensive. It's the successor to the Core 2 chips. People have overclocked the i7 to 3.8 to 4GHz, just do a Google search for it. I want that processor, but it's not LGA775. Oh well, I guess I'll be hanging on to my Q9450 and 9800 GTX SLI for a little longer.