Hi guys,

Well, I recently convinced my parents to let me upgrade my old desktop, and since I'm using my parents money, I guess my budget is around the $1500 range.

At first I just thought to get an Alienware or an IBuyPower PC; but I've been doing some searching and I see that the cheapest way to get a good gaming PC was to build one myself. But I'm not particularly tech saavy, and right now I'm downright clueless to be honest. I tried my best to search TigerDirect for cheap PC parts and I put together a makeshift PC.

Basically, I'm looking to make a PC that will be able to play the latest, most demanding games (ie. Crysis, COD4, Alan Wake) if not on high settings then at least decently and will last me a couple of more years to come.

Processor/Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Processor 3.20GHz
Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe GR Motherboard
$299.99 (Bundle Pack)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] 0&csid=_22

RAM
OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2x2048MB)
$59.99 (After Rebate)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] =O261-8038

Hard Drive
Maxtor DiamondMax 21 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
$69.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] dy=REVIEWS

Video Card - Thinking of getting 2
PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GTX Video Card - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV
$179.99 x 2 = $359.98
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=1839

Power Supply
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] =O261-2005
$99.99 (After Rebate)

DVD Drive
Lite-On PLDS DVD-ROM/CD-RW Retail Combo Drive - 52x32x CD-R/RW, 16x DVD-ROM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] 5&CatId=88
$24.99

Total ~ $915

This is all I got at the moment, because I'm not sure what else I am missing.

How does this setup look?
Are all the parts compatible with each other?
Are the prices worth it, or can I get something better for a bit more or a bit less?

I am open to all kinds of advice and suggestions, and I'm willing to spend a bit more if you guys think it is worth it.

Thanks a lot you guys, I appreciate all the help I can get.

Case
Operating System
Monitor
Mouse & Keyboard

I personally wouldn't really look at the AMD chips but that's just my opinion.
I do not believe you can use SLI with AMD chipsets.

Okay ...

I would second not touching AMD chips right now but again, thats just my opinion.

I believe an ATI 4870 is better bang for buck than 2 9800GTX's, but others might disagree. That CPU would probably bottleneck any new graphics card you put in it pretty badly, especially SLI.

It's just not a very good investment. You could build a much faster system for the same amount.

AMD's top end CPUs barely compete with Intel at all.

Wow, how did you do that
Anyways

1. CPU: GO intel, AMD is not doing well in CPU department.
IF you want intel get an e7200/e8400/e8600 with a good heatsink/fan & OC the Hell out of it. Or leave it at stock.
2. If you only do gaming don't buy a quad-core. But for all-around computing(video editing, crazy multitasking or you just wanna show off then go quad). Intel Q6600 is cheap & solid quad core.
Motherboard: 2 Nvidia cards=SLi
I don't exactly like Sli/Crossfire (expensive mobo, PSU, more Heat)
Go like that if you want. I don't mind.
Graphic card: If i were you I will get a 4870.
Mobo: A P35 based chipset if no SLi/Crossfire.

You wanted SLi. Go XFX or EVGA nvidia motherboard/graphic card

Good HD4850(ditto of 9800gtx) : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102760

Good 4870(ditto of GTX260 but cheaper) : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131117

If you stay in the US & if you want to purchase online go & buy it from www.newegg.com

All the stuff i suggested are from newegg. I don't live in US but the prices from newegg are

Thanks for all your honest input guys, I guess that was a pretty bad setup I put together.

But, if it is convenient, would any of you pros be able to put together a decent sample setup that is around the $1000-$1500 region, that would be able to play the latest games and last me a few years.

I will still continue to look at parts on Newegg, but because of my limited knowledge, I'm afraid that I'm going to get parts that are going to be incompatible with each other, or leave out crucial components.

Thanks again for your help guys.

Does not include optical drive, keyboard, mouse:

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] D=10498008

You will need to log in to view, but it's a public list.

1330.00 before tax and shipping. If you do not need a monitor the CPU and MB can be upgraded.