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I was thinking about this subject myself over the past couple of months and I found a book called Build Your Own Gaming PC by Russell Barnes and Adam Barnes. It's published in the past year so it is very up to date and thoroughly explains the pros and cons of various components. If I remember correctly, they recommend the Nvidia cards over AMD. The book also discusses test results of comparable motherboards, RAM, and video cards, so it looks like a handy resource for planning purchases. I'm sure the prices listed in the book are out of date, but they're probably still relatively accurate when comparing one card with another. I got the book at my library, so I suggest seeing if there is something at your library that can give you some tips. My guess is that you can build a pretty robust system for under $1000, though it won't be top of the line. It should be able to handle most games though. One thing the book warned about was using off brand look a likes. They might save some money but they also have far less quality control in manufacturing (which is why they are cheaper) and may be more likely to fail and have to be replaced. That may not be as big a deal for RAM, which is pretty cheap already, but I'd stay with a major name brand for the graphics card and mother board.
