hi just wanted to know the best processor and motherboard i can get without payin a fortune. mainly want it for gaming
Depends what that fortune is, and what sort of graphics card you have. No point getting a fast CPU if you have an ancient graphics card, and vice versa.
i was thinking of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 unless you would suggest another one for about same price
Get an HD4870 instead, it's faster than the 3870X2 even when crossfire is working, and leaps and bounds ahead of it when it doesn't.
IF you want some more choice on the motherboards the Asus P5Q series is pretty good. I would pick the Asus because I haven't had good luck with Gigabytes recently.