Well it's about time to head back to college again and I'm in need of a legitimate gaming computer.  I was required to buy a $2000+ Tablet-PC for the engineering college freshman year, but it has real problems in the gaming department (and for $2000, you would at least expect it to run BF2142...).  Anyway, after a year of playing the XBox, I've come to realize there really is no substitute to a mouse.
 
I'm really looking to keep everything under $1050, it's not absolutely crucial, but that's a general goal.  There's a few key things I've talked myself into:
1. I'd rather not go for a quad core at the moment, but I'd like to keep it open as an option in the near future (in regards to a compatible motherboard)
2. DirectX10 would be excellent (which means Vista unfortunately)
3. I'm not really looking to put two video cards in (Crossfire or SLI) yet, but I'd like to keep the option open
 
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Here's the build I have currently
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CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103773
CPU Cooler - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] =HDT-S1283
Motherboard - MSI K9A2 CF-F
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130172
Harddrive - Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218
CD/DVD Drive - SAMSUNG 20X DVD+R DVD Burner SATA
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151154
Memory - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB)
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731
Power Supply - Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006
Case - Antec 900
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129021
Video Card - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 512MB
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102747
 
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That all add's up (including the Vista OS) to a little under $1050 before rebates and shipping.
 
Thanks, and I appreciate all of the feedback.
 
Scroll down in the post to see a few other questions I have.
 
Edited.

it is great  but one thing  i would say is maybe look at this video card.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127325
 
it is an 8800gts 512. IN tests it is right on with the 4850 but with rebate it is a couple bucks less so it basically comes down to what company you are more comfortable with.
with hard drives being so cheap you may want to go for something with a bit more capacity. Most games now are taking up a lot of space so if you plan on having a lot of games you may want a bit more than a 250gb hard drive. I have mad that mistake and now i need a 2nd drive.  
Good luck!!

The MSI K9A2 CF-F motherboard is running Crossfire at x8+x8. It's exactly the same thing you'd have with a P45 motherboard and an Intel CPU - the first HD 4850 works fine, in a x16 slot, when alone, but once you have two in there speed drops to x8 on both slots. It doesn't really matter at 1680x1050 or less, except in Crysis. It does matter at higher resolutions. Some numbers here:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/ [...] index.html
 
If that bothers you, upgrade to MSI K9A2 790FX.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130136
 
 
The NZXT Apollo has only 2 fans, not enough for HD 4850 CF. Check out the RC-690 and the NZXT Tempest.
 
 
The PSU is a brand I never heard of, and underpowered for two HD 4850 cards. Get a 750TX.
 
 
You may want 2x2GB of RAM if you're running Vista.
 
 
Instead of $60 for 250GB, spend $90 for 640GB and it's faster too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] WD6400AAKS

The HD 4850 is better than the 8800GTS G92. It's even better than the 9800GTX, usually. If prices are the same I'd prefer HD 4850.
Also, the 8800GTS is an nVidia card and it means a dual-card setup needs an nVidia motherboard for SLI. Those are better avoided for now. They seem to have a bit of a quality problem.

I believe it's a CrossfireX board, which means I cannot run two 8800 gts in SLI, right?  When I first was looking at possible video cards, the 8800 gts was at the top of my list.  The only reason I went with the ATI 4850 was because of the motherboard, but now that I have been reading through several of these posts I'm beginning to wonder if the motherboard I chose is really worth it.
 
Should I really be looking to buy a motherboard under $150 with two PCI Express 2.0 slots if the video cards are only going to run at x8 x8?  Or should I just go with a single PCI Express 2.0 slot if $150 is all I'm willing to spend?
 
Edit : Ignore this response

Hey, the 8800GTS was at the top of my list for several months. It's a very good card. I just happen to see more value in ATI's HD 4850, bu tthe 8800GTS is still great value for money.
 
Yes, 790X and 790FX motherboards support Crossfire (two ATI cards) but not SLI (2 nVidia cards).
 
The 790FX I linked has 2 PCI 2 slots at x16 and it's $159.38 with shipping. Is that OK? Of course, if you decide you'll never add the second card you can save a lot from case/PSU/MB - better decide now.

Ok, I'm leaning towards just a single video card set up.  What case/PSU/MB should I be looking at?

The MB you posted originally will be fine for a single HD 4850.

PSU: Corsair 650TX.

Case: Antec 900. If you move fast, you can have it for $80 including shipping. (The Apollo is $73 after shipping, btw.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ntec%2b900

And you said go ahead and get 4gigs of ram for Vista?  Any suggestions on those sticks?  I read the reviews of the k9a2 that I posted and mushkin was compatible.
 
Also, would the Antec be insufficient to cool a dual video card set up? (in the event I change my mind)

Antec 900's have very good cooling, I wouldn't be worried about temps with one.

Yeah, the Antec 900 is really good.  
 
Go with Antec 900 and 750TX and the original K9A2 790x. If you do add a second card you will lose some performance but it's mostly a problem at 1920x1200 or more.
 
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731

Ok, another question.  If not for the ability to run two 4850's at x16 each, is there any reason I would chose the 790FX over the K9A2 that I posted?  Possibly affecting future upgrades (quad core, etc.)?

The 790FX has 4 SATA cables, while the 790X only one. You need two for now, with one disk and one burner. One SATA cable costs about $10 at newegg with shipping.  Allow $10 for that, and the difference is now $45 between those two MBs instead of $55.  
 
Here's what you get for the $45:
 
Crossfire at x16. Some value here at 1280x1024 in Crysis, but not much in other games. Some value at 1680x1050. Important at 1920x1200 or more.
 
The 790 FX has 6 SATA ports instead of 4. Don't know if you care. I'm using 7 SATA ports in my PC these days, but you don't have a TV tuner on your list so you won't fill up the space so fast.
 
FireWire (IEEE 1394a). Useful if you have a camcorder or external HDD or something with FireWire, otherwise not so much.
 
eSATA. Very useful if you have an external HDD with eSATA. Useless otherwise.
 
It also has an additional RAID controller. You don't care, with a single HDD.
 
I honestly don't know which one is best for you. The FX has 345 reviews at newegg and the 790x only 19, so I'm guessing most people who were in doubt went with the FX.
   
 

If I was sure that I would only ever need 1 video card, is there a better motherboard for $100 or so?
 
Maybe a better question is, what should I be looking for in a motherboard as a gamer?  (I know I want Phenom compatability, so I can upgrade to quad core eventually)

As a gamer, you want a PCI-E 2.0 slot. That guarantees that any video card you buy will work at its best. (OK, that's assuming the CPU doesn't create a bottleneck.)

GIGABYTE GA-MA770-DS3, maybe?
 
$90+$9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128081

Any other suggestions for a PSU if the 750TX is unavailable?  Apparently it's out of stock at NewEgg right now (although I'm not planning to purchase anything for another two weeks or so, so it may be available by then).  
 
After reading several other posts, it seems the 750TX is recommended a lot, so I was wondering what other brand should I look at if it's unavailable (Antec?)

I'm sure it will be available again, it sells like crazy and for good reason.
 
The PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W is one of the very few PSUs I'd prefer to the 750TX. Sometimes it's only $120 at newegg, but more often $140. Keep an eye out for it too.
 
Antec TPQ-850 is a good PSU too. However, it costs more and you don't really need 850W for that setup.
 
OCZ GameXStream 700W is a pretty good PSU too, and usually cheaper than these others.  

Get the 750w corsair from buy.com instead. $99 including shipping:
 
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx [...] 78325.html

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