I own a Core 2 Quad Q 9650 @ 3.0 GHZ with 4GB DDR 3 1600 Corsair and a GTX 280 on a Asus Striker 2 Extreme MB.
Some would say... man.. thats last generation hardware... i would have buyed a new Grfxcard moths ago.
But what can i say... i can play every game on highest settings.. always with high resolutions and some AA and AF.
( Most games are not that challenging for my hardware so often enable everything that is possible)
The games havent evolved since Crysis and so the hardware demands are still the same they were in late 2006.
Even with a GTX 8800 ( my former card.. gave it to a friend of mine) you can still play almost every game in highest settings.

So to everyone who ownes a console and always said : You always have to buy new hardware... youre actually wrong!
And for 600-700 Euros-- the former release price of an Ps3..you can get a very good gaming pc... which would own every console available.

Times have changed havent they?
I think this is because of the ps3 and xbox 360s long lifespan.
And the sad fact that no more Crysis-like games will be made.
I for myself will definatly wait for the overnext generation of CPUS and GPUS... hopefully to enjoy real photorealism then.
So lets see what this baby can do... in 2-3 years from now..

Well, the new Intel socket 2011 is going to be released on Q3/4 of 2011 so you won't have to wait too long. =)

Oh and PCI-E 3.0 around that time too!

All those games that you can max out are all console ports so... Yeah you are right.

PCI-e 3.0 should be out end of this year, beginning of next: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2365574,00.asp

New Intel sockets are due the same time. The Q3-Q4 "2011" sockets you're referring to are the enthusiast/server range. Mainstream 1155skt is due in the coming months.

I was just telling what I read a while back. I can see a few things changed and I've not been up to par ever since.

I only intend to upgrade again in a couple of years minimum. I just bought an i7 950, EVGA X58 Classified and 6GB of Corsair Dominator GT RAM.

Will see how it goes on the GPU department next year and aside from that I ain't upgrading anytime soon.

All those games that you can max out are all console ports so..

Thats not exactly the truth... i play crysis and warhead with new textures and the mster config...on 1280*1024 with 2X AA with 27 FPS average.. and thats a pretty damn good framerate for the grfx that im gettin`.

Even now there is no Hardware out yet that would put my system to shame

I know crysis is not a console port... -_- BUT there are a few companies that know how to optimize their graphics engine well like Capcom for example, Devil May Cry 4 for one, Lost Planet, Street Fighter 4, etc.

What about this mainstream(budget) system anyone:
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz OC @ 3.2
RAM: OCZ PC-8500 @ 1066MHz
Video: Saphire 5770 with vapor-x cooling(have been unable to get a stablished overclock as of later I got the grey bar error in after a few hours of gaming might just be the drivers though.)
Screen: Samsung Syncmaster 21.5 inch 1920x1080 LED
Case: Antec 900 with video card side fan added.
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650 watt
I can play crysis warhead max 2aa with average of like 25 fps which is ok but not great. Any suggestions improvements comments??

Edit: stable overclock. I'm considering a second 5770. I entered the GPU-z contest to possibly win one. I think the processor is good for now even though it's from '07.