Hmm, this thread seems like it would be pretty damn useful for me in the future. I'm thinking about building a PC for myself and using my HDTV as the monitor. Quick question: Should I be looking to build a gaming PC or an "HTPC"?

I'm thinking an HTPC would be the way to go, as I'd like to be able to watch Hi-Def content (not necessarily Blu's; I have a PS3) and have all my digital music in my room to play on my sound system. At the same time I really want to be able to play the top PC games again; my current computer was out of date back when I think Half-Life 2 came out. I'm not looking to run Crysis with everything maxed out and get a ridiculous frame-rate, but I'd like to at least be able to play it and future games with decent settings.

A lot of the stuff in the OP looks good, so maybe I'll have mess around on newegg a bit and see what I can find.

Oh, almost forgot! I'd like to spend no more than $1000, but $800 or less would be ideal.

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