Im a heavy gamer but only get new pc's or new parts every 3-5 years so i need a good future proofing....: I got 2 choices, one is to get a very good cpu such as the i5 or i7 but then wont end up getting a great gpu, at best will be a radeon HD 4770 and then i wont be getting another card for a while then. second option is to take a a quad core Q8400 with a G31 mobo and throw in a good gpu such as the Radeon HD 5850 or the HD 5770 - 5750 but then it will be a very long time before i get a new cpu + mobo. As for future proofing as a heavey gamer which option will last me longer? in both options i get 4gig ram, good enough psu and a decent case, I dont stay in the US and the prices where i stay are more expensive and different from the US, so i worked out the prices here and i cant change anything if i want to stay in budget, so i just need your opinion on which is better for future proofing thnx :) Look at these sights and if there's a card which is a better peformer for same price then please name it. http://www.Have2Have.co.za (they ship) http://www.skyserv.co.za (best prices i think) http://www.evetech.co.za (where i will get the q8400 build if i choose it)

There is no such thing as "future proofing"...all you're doing is buying a little more time. "I got 2 choices, one is to get a very good cpu such as the i5 or i7" You realize that this choice means you'll also need to buy a new board & DDR3 memory, right? "second option is to take a a quad core Q8400 with a G31 mobo" Why would you get a G31 board? The G31 is already two generations behind. Which southbridge chip? ICH7? That's three generations behind!

Well then instead of saying future proofing, which will give me a longer time before adding more time to it again? And yes i do realize i will need a new mobo and ddr3 ram which wont be a problem since my current pc is a old agp mobo with ddr400 ram and at least a decent gpu ( GeForce 7800 GS i think) and i also know that none of these will work with any upgrade option i go with todays times, so everything is gonna have to be new. With the q8400 way the only board which fits my budget will be the G31 unfortunatly

Get mobo with p45 or p43 chipset(they are cheap), c2q q8400 is a good cpu, go 4 radeon hd 5850 and (2x2gb ddr2 800 or 1066)

best way to "future proof" is get a solid motherboard/PSU, and skimp a bit on the CPU and GPU. If your mobo supports i5/i7 and has a PCIx slot (or 2), you can upgrade both components later. if you start with an LGA775 socket now, you're already out of upgrade options for the CPU.

"With the q8400 way the only board which fits my budget will be the G31 unfortunatly" You obviously haven't priced the Core i7, X58 boards & DDR3 memory then. Because if all you can afford is an already outdated G31 board, you'll never be able to touch an i7 setup. The Q8400 goes for about $170, a G31 board costs about $50 & 4GB DDR2-800 costs about $75. Total of approx $300US. The cheapest i7 is at least $100 more than the Q8400, X58 boards sell for at least $150 & 4GB DDR3-1333 goes for about $75. Total of about $500US. And neither total includes a video card or power supply. "and at least a decent gpu (GeForce 7800 GS i think)" Think again. It may have been OK at one time, but now it's roughly as fast as a lowly $40 GeForce 9500GT.

@ jam. He said he doesnt stay in the US making his prices different and i would agree that he cant afford a i7 build if he cant afford a p43 / p45 mobo but i followed his link, (Skyserv) looks like they sell bundles with a mobo + i5 + ram for much cheaper than the other sites he metioned making the i5 a option. If i wear you i would go for a i5 build, leave a gpu for a while and when xmas comes along ( if you have family or friends ) get them to help buy you a radeon HD 5850, if not just save up yourself and then there will be plenty new gpu's by the new year. o and that GeForce 7800 gs is still good if you ask me, runs crysis, prototype, basically still all the new titles at medium settings....my friends got one