System Upgrade help needed.

If I could get some advice on which hardware to buy.

I'm looking to upgrade my Asus P5Q pro board with a core2duo 2.53 to a quadcore machine.

Preferably Intel unless the phenom II's arent that bad.

The pc will be used primarily for gaming.

I'm looking for a quadcore ~3.0ghz, 4gb RAM. Need motherboard as well. Looking at around a $350-400 budget. Also would rather have the new socket for future upgrade capabilities if possible.

My current Asus board with processor and ram will be given to my wife, so that is out of the question.

If you need any more info from me, I'll be browsing the thread.

Thanks for the help :)

Gamers need to consider the best vidcard they can afford first, then build the system around it (or them -- SLI, CF). Processor and mobo can then be determined. Need a budget too. Need monitor, keyboard, mouse?

Best single card, single gpu: ATI 5870 (has added advantage of being DirectX 11)
next best: nVidia GTX 285 (DirectX 10)

Check here: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...cs-Video-Cards

I already have a gtx 260 and all other components necessary. Just needed advice on mb, cpu ram combo.

Btw, I decided on a msi p55 board, intel i5 2.66 quad, and 2x2gb ocz ddr3 to go with what i currently have.

came to roughly $400.

Good, bad choice? your thoughts?