Thanks guys. I'll go over these with him in the morning. Anyone want to take a stab at a $400-$450 or under one in case he needs to buy windows? Or is that mission impossible?

He has a monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, and os (i think...). He basically needs the case and everything inside it.

My cousin is trying to build a pc that can play team fortress 2 at a reason fps and maybe cod4 on low settings. Can someone help pick the parts? I'm no good at this stuff especially under such a tight budget. I'm not sure how to allocate money for the best results.

Also, is there any possible way to do it for $450? He is tight on cash.

  Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail 190  CPU

  MSI N9800GT 512OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 140  GPU

   GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 109 MOTHERBOARD

  G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail60  RAM

  OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI 600W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail 105PSU

  Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KSRTL 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail 80 HD

  LIAN LI PC-7A plus II Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail 110 CASE

  Sony NEC Optiarc 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7220S - OEM 25 CD/DVD BURNER

Made some changes and used your motherboard instead.  How does it look now?  Everything looks compatible to this novice's eyes, but should check it.  Still don't know if I should get a 9800 gt or the gtx. 

I just found out my tf2 mate is good with this stuff and he spent hours coming up with something for me late last night.  His setup is this:

  Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail 190

  MSI N9800GT 512OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 140

  ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 170

  GeIL Evo One 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model GE22GB800C4DC - Retail  70

  OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI 600W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail 105

  Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KSRTL 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail 80

  LIAN LI PC-7A plus II Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail 110

  Sony NEC Optiarc 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7220S - OEM 25

Which brings me to about 900 before the monitor.  He convinced me to get the quad core.   I'm thinking I should get dru's faster ram instead of this.  Also,this motherboard doesn't support pci 2.0 for if I want to upgrade my card later.  Should I get a different board?  Also, how much better is the 9800 gtx than the 9800 gt.

Ok here we are I;m assuming it's 64 bit so I chose the 4gb of ram.

Cpu

Video Card

Ram

Mobo

Psu

Case

HDD

Total is $911.93.

You'll be maxing everything except crysis (which you'll play high/ultra high at lik 1680x1050).

mattpunkgd

Ok...  I've decided if I'm going to do this, let's do this right.  Going to go for your original suggestions and scrounge around for the extra cash.  

Going with 2 gb ram for now though since i'm using 32 bit vista.

So do I need to buy fans?  Which ones?  Anything other things I need?  Thermal paste?  I'm a first timer so I have no idea.  I've got an anti static wrist guard.

Anyone anyone else have any edits to this or suggestions to cut costs?  Would appreciate other opinions on this.  I don't know anyone else who knows this stuff, so you guys are my only chance for advise.  Going to try to put the orders in this weekend, so want to make sure everything is good.

marc- i have not monitor at the moment except a really really really really old and small crt monitor.

max- how did you get to 800?  use which video card?  i'm a bit confused.  also, just checked the vista and it is 32 bit.

   Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM60

  Acer X193Wb Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail  100 

  ****** F5D5005 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Gigabit Desktop Network Card - Retail  27

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail  100

  G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBPI - Retail40

  ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail115

  Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail  160

I looked into how much money have have and I actually have less than 1000 set aside to spend on this. :(  Trying to aim as for as low a price as I can, but with a mother board and other stuff that are compatible with future upgrades when I have more cash.  I've decided to aim lower...  The only graphically demanding games I play are team fortress 2, bioshock, flight sim x.  I just want to max those out.  Mostly the tf2 since that's what I play 90% of the time.   I'm at 602 now and I need still need a sound card, video card, case, fans, and anything else??  Any suggestions for those things?  Any edits to the above like for bad allocation of resources ($$$) or compatibility?  Also, how many fans/what type do I need to buy?

Edit: Just as a rough estimate, how much do you think it would cost to max out tf2 and fsx?

My laptop just died on me and I decided to try to build a new desktop.  I'm going to have to almost start from scratch since I only had a laptop before.  The only things I have are Vista for the OS, mouse, keyboard, speakers. 

I'm having trouble with figuring out what parts are compatible with what and how much power I need in my power supply.  I've already decided on a lcd monitor that costs $99, so that leaves me with 900 bucks to build the computer.  Going to buy from new egg.  Can someone help me pick out parts or give me some pointers for a pc that will be good for upgrades later on and cost efficient? 

This is mainly going to be a gaming pc.  I'll try to come up with my own "rough draft" on new egg.