I'm looking into creating my very first computer build, and right now have a budget of about $1,000 (preferably less if I can do what's intended without spending the big bucks). I'd love for it to be able to handle games like Guild Wars and Call of Duty without much stress, but don't need the high-powered cards for games like Crysis.

As of now, I'm not too sure where to start out to pick out parts that will work well, so I was hoping that you friendly folks over here could push me in the right direction to get my build underway. Thanks!

A good way to start out is to figure out what parts you need to consider buying.
If you have any parts you intend to carry over from a current PC (like maybe a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc) mention those.
You can find "expert lists" on many of the websites..... they're handy because many of them explain how the choices were made.
http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 763,00.asp
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14610
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ur-Own,16/
http://www.legionhardware.com/docu [...] id=730&p=0

After chewing your way through a couple of those you can "ghost" through the forums here looking at other recommendations in the same category.
Also its handy to play around at the NewEgg website and learn how to use its WishList features. They let you "virtual build" as many different models as you want/need while you playing around with your options. You move items into your shopping cart - then into a Temporary Wish List and finally into My Saved Wish Lists. Even if you're not buying from NewEgg its a handy way to make up parts lists. You can even make a Saved Wish list public and ask people to comment about your choices.

Coolmaster Centurion

Corsair 520-HX PSU

MSI P45 Neo3-FR LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

PNY XLR8 VCG98GTXXPB GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Samsung SH-203B

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

For the 9800 GTX change brand if you feel more comfortable with a different brand. Same applies to memory.

I'd get a 4850 or 4870 over the 9800GTX otherwise evingugg's build looks solid.