I wouldn't bother with either. Neither is really going to "wow" you with its performance in comparison to your current P4 3 Ghz. That Pentium D might even be slower in certain single threaded applications. Get the cheapest Core 2 Duo you can afford. It will blow both of those chips out of the water.

How does this look? I'm looking to get something soon as I'm really looking forward to Supreme Commander. I tend to prefer ATI cards, but buying anything DX9 just seems like such a waste at this point, and I really don't feel like waiting 3 or 4 months for them to get their act together. I will be reusing some of the components from my last rig- eg HDD, optical drives, case. Also, will a 500W PSU be ok for the 8800GTS? I have an Antec 500W from my current PC that I could reuse.

Core 2 Duo E6600

Corsair XMS DDR2 800 4-4-4-12

Abit AW9D-MAX

MSI Geforce 8800GTS

I play both PC and console games. So I'm fairly impartial on this issue. Both sides make moronic claims with regard to price.

The PC crowd always argues that you can get a powerful PC for cheap, but neglects to mention that you would have to use highly questionable or downright ghetto components that would most likely be slow or unstable to reach such a low price point. I'd like to know how many of these people actually use ghetto components in their own PCs. They also never seem to add things like the OS, a monitor, or nice speakers into their predictions, which would push that "$1200" PC to well over 2 grand.

The console crowd neglects to mention the high cost of accessories, higher cost of games, and expensive HDTV, reciever, and speakers that are necessary to get the most out of a console.

PCs are upgradeable and potentially have better graphics, while consoles have simplicity and ease of use.

The genres that interest you most also are a huge factor. PCs are better for FPSs, strategy, MMORPGs; while consoles are better for racing, action games, japanese RPGs, and fightings games.

Either way, gaming is an expensive hobby.