Neal if you get a core2 I would notrecommend a board with NVidia Chipset (EVGA), they are expensive, the IP45 and even the IP35 are a great choice.
I would not get the E8500 if the E8400 is so much cheaper. If you get a good overclocking board like the BIOSTAR TPower IP45 you can run the E8400 at E8600 speeds, it's really not a big deal, especially with the new E0 stepping.
I for myself am no fan of high end systems, I prefer to buy what used to be a high end system 1-2 years ago. For great a price / performance deal I recommend: IP35 or IP45 mainboard, 4GB DDR-2 800 RAM, a HD4850, and a good HD like the WD 640AAKS. If you want high end you must wait at least until Intel releases the Nehalem architecture at the end of the year. Otherwise your memory will be outdated very soon. And you will want a Quadcore, because some CPU hungry games will need it by 2009.
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