Looking for a good gaming tower for under $900US. Any recommendations?

Finding out on Christmas that my good old Sony Vaio PC can't run Fallout 3 was the last straw, I need a gaming PC. I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse so all I need is the computer itself.

I have looked at some models, but this would be my first gaming PC and I really don't know too much about them. Here's more or less what I'm looking for:

Processor, at least 2.4GHz

Memory, at least 2GB

OS, preferably Windows Vista Home/Premium

Video card, preferably 8800GT or better

Hard drive, at least 200GB

Price - under $900US

I've found a few models that look promising to my noob eyes. Unfortunately I'm not seeing a whole lot of tower-only bundles, and I don't want to pay more than I need to on my starter salary. Anyway here's what I found:

iBuypower Gamer 515-GZ2 AMD Gaming Computer ($739.99)

WidowPC WGMI-2NG770 Gaming PC ($899.99, w/ keyboard & mouse)

WidowPC Intel Gaming Desktop Computer ($799.99, w/ keyboard & mouse)

iBuypower Gamer 528GN Gaming PC ($799.99, w/ keyboard & mouse)

Since I know next to nothing about what makes a good gaming PC, I was hoping that I might get some advice, recommendations, etc. Thanks!

Dude Build your own

CPU

MOBO

RAM

GPU

CASE

PSU

HDD

DVD

CPU COOLER

OS

SILVER PASTE

There ya go buddy, 3ghz cpu, P45 mobo, 9800GTX+, 500GB, 4GB RAM, Good case, good PSU, good cpu cooler, vista 64 for that 4GB ram, some silver paste and a dvd writer.

Grand total $896.89 plus shipping

Rebates $65 - spend some on extra cooling for ya case and take the gf out with the rest or buy new games.

Freebies Call Of Duty 5 World at War

Not the best rig u will see on here but pretty solid and capable of kicking some of the best games around at the mo.

i recently built a new pc for a little over 500, but i didn't get any optical drives. those would be cheap though. heres what i got, and the prices in canadian dollars

CPU: e7200 2.53ghz, $130

Mobo: Asus P5QL Pro $100

Ram - 2 gigs crucial pc5300 667mhz ram: $20

Video Card - Evga 9800GT dual slot edition -$130

HDD: 320gig somthing or other - $50

Power Supply - OCZ stealthXstream 500W - $55

Case - APEX ATX mid-tower case with Carrying Handle - $50

this is the rig that worked for me, all parts bought at NCIX in Canada, these could be gotten for less in the US. it maxes fallout 3 at 1280x1024 with 4xAA at 60-80 fps.

Whoops I guess I erased anyone's doubts that I'm a noob. Sorry about the mistype, thank you for correcting that corrupted12.

gp19, KurganUK23 and with_teeth26, thanks so much for the recommendations! I really appreciate it. Here's more or less what I'm thinking of:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00 GHz

Mobo: ASUS P5QL PRO

Memory: Crucial 2GB Dual Channel Kit Desktop memory model

VGA: Diamond Radeon HD4850, XFX GeForce 9800GT, or XFX GeForce 9800GTX+

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500 GB 16MB cache

Power: CORSAIR CMPSV-750TX 750W ATX 12V / EPS 12V

Case: Ultra X-Blaster ATX mid-tower

Cooling: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler & Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound OEM

Unless I've forgotten (or misunderstood) anything I should be able to get it for under US$700. Other than the ubiquitous "does that look decent?" question I'm also wondering how the power supply, etc. will function in Japan (where I live), because they have 100V instead of 120V like in the US (I think).

Whoops I guess I erased anyone's doubts that I'm a noob. Sorry about the mistype, thank you for correcting that corrupted12.

gp19, KurganUK23 and with_teeth26, thanks so much for the recommendations! I really appreciate it. Here's more or less what I'm thinking of:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00 GHz

Mobo: ASUS P5QL PRO

Memory: Crucial 2GB Dual Channel Kit Desktop memory model

VGA: Diamond Radeon HD4850, XFX GeForce 9800GT, or XFX GeForce 9800GTX+

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500 GB 16MB cache

Power: CORSAIR CMPSV-750TX 750W ATX 12V / EPS 12V

Case: Ultra X-Blaster ATX mid-tower

Cooling: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler & Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound OEM

Unless I've forgotten (or misunderstood) anything I should be able to get it for under US$700. Other than the ubiquitous "does that look decent?" question I'm also wondering how the power supply, etc. will function in Japan (where I live), because they have 220V AC.

minarri

Your welcome, VGA: go 4850 or 9800GTX+ depending if you want ATI or NVIDIA, choice is yours there pretty evenly matched.

PSU: buy 1 in japan id say then you know it will defo work over there.

that looks good, although i'm not sure if you need such a powerhouse of a powersupply. you can probably get a 620 watt by corsair and still be totally fine with those parts. make sure you have a big enough case if you go with the 9800GTX, it's a big card, you will probably need a full tower case to install it properly. That motherboard is great, unless you plan on doing sli in the future it should last you for a while. i have had no problem with Crucial ram in that mobo, just don't overclock it and it will do fine. looks like a good rig. good luck with it. with_teeth26

The 620W is modular and costs more, for that setup your probably better with TX650W by corsair