1) Don't go for quad core, it's a waste if you're playing games (don't think you're future proofing by doing so either, you're not)

2) Don't believe the retards on other forums that say you need a million watts to run a computer. The computer i listed would use like 250W max. Funny how processors and graphics cards get more power efficient and yet the "requirements" on power go up. Thank the moronic teenager overclocker/gamers on forums and running review sites who would rather quantify a complicated array of variables in system power usage into one convenient number.

Example: The year is 2004. Pentium D's drawing 130W and X1900XTX's at 180W are all the rage (well, to some people). The average recommended PSU back then by those same idiots? ~500W. Nowadays we have E8400's at 65W and graphics cards at ~150W max. The average recommended PSU? 600W++

I wish they'd all die. I'm gonna laugh and laugh when we hit the wall to Moore's law in 5-10 years.

3) Don't go for sli/crossfire...it's a waste of money UNLESS you have a giant 30'' monitor or whatever. And if you're thinking of being stupid enough to buy such a huge overpriced piece of shit, just buy a 1080p TV instead and use that. Then you'll have a bigger screen and you won't need SLI.

4) Don't try to future proof. Don't buy quad core or PCI-E 2.0 or DDR3 or QUAD SLI or whatever else marketing and the douchebags that fall for it want to ram down your throat.

5) Don't buy a WD Raptor. The 640GB Western Digitals are only like 15% slower, and offer a far lower price and much more storage space. You're not gonna notice the performance difference.

6) Think value, not performance.

7) Don't spend more than $1000 to upgrade your system. If you do, you're an idiot.

8) fuck you all