Time to upgrade (almost)...need processor advice...

[jakobkraft]

Okay, the time has come...or will come soon, to upgrade. My thing is longevity. My first pc ever was in 98, running Win 98, and through periodic upgrades to mem & vid. card, I kept it going pretty strong until 2002.
Then I got a Dell 8400 (I know, I know, but never have time to build) with 3.2 HT P4 and 2GB of DDR2 ram and an ATI X1900 XTX 512MB video card. This machine has been going extremely strong for 6 years now. But my two latest fav games, Gothic 3 & the Witcher (but more Gothic 3) are helping to reveal my pc's age, I think. Oblivion didn't give me any problems, which is strange since it seemed Oblivion's graphics were a bit better.
So, as before, I want to get a machine that will do well in a fairly long haul - unfortunately, given how long I've had my machine, I'm pretty ignorant about the current processors, Core Duo, Dual Core, Quad Core, whatever, sounds like marketing rubbish (which I'm sure it is, to a degree). Also, with the arrival (and triumph) of Blu-Ray, which my friends swear it's worth it, I'd like to get something that will handle Blu-ray playback well, as well as backing up (when more software becomes available, naturally).
And I want all the gaming goodness possible.

So, basically, what processor specs should I look for? And HD ready video card also great for games?

Thanks in advance

 

[MarcVenice]

You should mention a budget ? For the long haul, I'd go with a q6600 and OC it to 3.0ghz. That'll last you a good while.

Videocard, wait for the new videocards to arrive. I think the HD4870 might prove to be a good bang for buck videocard that will last you a long time. But right now a 8800gt ain't half bad either

 

[jakobkraft]

Sorry...I guess my budget right now is 2k...
Thanks for advice about vid cards...whatever one I choose I'd like it to last for a good long while like my x1900xtx did...

 

[MarcVenice]

2k for what ? complete PC I suppose ? Read the stickied thread, and answer all 8 questions. Right now you're only asking for CPU advice, but if we don't know really know what you want to do with your PC, it's hard to give advice. I suppose gaming is important, but you can build a gaming PC for a lot less then 2k, 1500$ could do the trick, with a pretty nice 22-24" LCD monitor.