Advice needed on building a gaming pc

Let me just start off by saying, it sure isn't as easy as it used to be!!

I built my current system (in my signature) in 2007 specifically so it could run Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway. 7½ yrs ago and the only thing I've had to upgrade was the video card, and the only thing I had to replace was power supply. It has played every game, maxed out on the graphics options, even the newest ones I have, like Crysis 2, COD Black OPS, Modern Warefare 3, Enemy Front, Company Of Heroes etc. But alas I'm afraid it's time to think about retiring this boy and building my next. I went on to NewEgg to do a little research and I quickly realized how times have passed me by. There are so many choices now for CPUs, I don't know what's the latest and greatest, or what might be even best for gaming! This system cost me around 600 bucks to build, now it looks like I'm looking at close to a grand!! So I would like to get some opinions on processors and motherboards, Intel vs AMD, some suggestions on where to get the best prices etc.

Thanks!!

 

Just an update: I was looking thru another thread and got some ideas on where to start.

 

One thousand to twelve hundred dollars is an average price for a complete, well configured, up to date system. I have been building systems for years, and this has almost always held true.

 

What is the max you want to spend on this computer? That is the key on what we can help you with.

 

From some tips I picked up on another thread, I was able to build something decent on MewEgg right in that price range of $1000-$1200.

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2 AMD+AM3 990FX + SB950 SATA 6 GB USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard With UEFI BIOS
AMD FX8350 Black Edition Vishera 8 Core 4.0 Ghz (4.2 Ghz Turbo) Socket AM3 + 125W Desktop Processor
Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-S-B 850W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
2 Samsung 850 EVO SSDs, 120 GB for the OS and 250 GB for Game installations

I don't think I need to list the Case, CPU fan and extra case fans

 

I agree with jefflbi everywhere but the SSD, get two of the same size and raid them.
I run two 250GB Samsung 850 through the onboard Intel RAID on many of the gaming rigs I build. If space gets low I recommend adding a 4TB HDD.

 

I have 3 external hard drives now! But I'll consider that RAID idea. I just like having really important files on a non-operating system partition, just in case I have to blow it away and re-install. I could be showing my age though. Could be they don't need to do that anymore with the new operating systems.