New system - need advice

Yes that should be a great system for a while, games are getting more and more advanced every month though, like when Direct X 10 comes out you will have to upgrade to a DX10 compatible video card for those games like Crysis. And obviously if you don't then you will be missing out. Your configuration is a good one and actually should only cost about $1,000. I recommend buying a decent fan for the CPU because I have a Core 2 Duo E6600 and they seem to get preety hot, not as hot as some of the Pentium Ds but they do get quiet warm while gaming, I recommend getting a Freezer 7 Pro ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134 ) with some good thermal paste which will actually make a noticable difference even though it is so cheap ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007 ). You should also get a better power supply if you are going to be using this for gaming, something that is at least 500watts, the more the better, and definatly get a well know brand or else the thing will only last you a few months. (i recommend something like this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817182045 if not even a little more power, it wouldn't hurt) Everything else on your list should be excellent and it should be a solid pc, you will easily be able to max out all the games out right now, I have a 7900gt and can max out games like BF2142, FEAR with impressive frame rates at resolutions like 1024x768 since I only have a CRT monitor. Remember though you may want to update your video card in a few months for those DX10 games.

PS: Look around for prices on your stuff, some places online have them for like 10 bucks cheaper, I recommend Newegg, they have great prices and they deliver so fast, It usually arrives before I even get a tracking number. Also, Your idea for a CPU is a good one, those Athlon 64 X2s are very fast, should perform similarly to your C2D E6400 for your brother. The best of luck, and be sure to let me know your decisions and what happens.

Thanks for the replies

I know the problem with DirectX 10 and it made me think that maybe I should buy some less expensive card now and then upgrade few months later for DX10 card. Would that be a bad idea?

And I'll also look for more powerful PSU like you suggested

did some googling about opterons vs x2... seems like AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and AMD Opteron 175 (2,2GHz) are pretty much equally expensive
Any difference between them? Couldn't find any benchmarks yet

thanks again