8800gts, 2g ddr2, 2.13 core 2 (Overclock it, and get a good heatsink), nforce 650i. It'll run you around $600. You choose the HD, sound card (personally, x-fi, not the fatality version), monitor, etc of your choice. oh, and there is no such thing as a budget gaming rig, you'll always spend over a grand. Stick with xp, most games don't even use DX10 yet.