need to know a great pc game to play

do you mean play online or download online?

Anyway, right now, I like rainbow six vegas, Oblivion if you never played it before and you Graphic card is at least a high end direct x 9

You could alsa try STALKER, but I had a bunch of problem with it, I have Vista too, and It doesn't really support it

Well you can get a demo for just about any game so I'll reccomend some of those in different genres.

Strategy: Dawn of War, Command and Conquer 3, WarCraft 3, Rome: Total War, Company of Heros

FPS: Half-Life 2, FEAR, Unreal Tournament 2004. Quake 4

RPG: Titan Quest

http://www.direct2drive.com/

http://steampowered.com/v/index.php

http://www.direct2drive.com//

ATI X800XT All In Wonder. Sucker costed a pretty good penny. I guess its a good card I haven't really tried it out. Almost 300. Computer house here say its a great card.

Online or not. Either way would be cool. I've heard alot about this game called Half Life 2. Whats that game about?Patriot298

it continues the story from HL1 (lawl).

you play as gordon freeman, and you lead a revolution against the leaders of City 17. very immersive storyline. one of the best FPS's ever. go for it. you can get from steam. 

Half Life 2 is a great place to start. its very easy to get into and looks, moves and sounds good even by modern standards, it should also run real nice and smooth on a modern rig. its got killer multiplayer action as well. if your'e into it, then there is episode1 and soon 2 plus tons of other "homebrewed" mods

personally i would say that Painkiller and its "Havok2" engine cant completely rival HL2's "source" engine, but don't fall far behind and is superior in some ways too... its a bit more frantic nonstop action though-different gameplay style...

if you need to go to elementary school (before these higher education Degrees) get quake 3 arena. i recomendthis game for absolute FirstPersonShooter beginers. its a great master to teach the basics skills- its bare essentials-simple killing contests it also doesnt look TOO bad for a game almost 7 years old. on a rig like yours you can probably run it at 1000 FramesPerSecond

as far as online deathmatch goes though... nothing beats Unreal Tournament, whether its 2004, 99 or soon 2007 (dubbed unreal3)

also can check gamespot review and video review of half life 2 just to see what the game is like

   Best thing to do is, check gamespot reviews. If a game has a high score, try the demo, most games have them. If you enjoy the demo, it's a good bet your going to enjoy the full game.

Also, if your just starting with PC games, you've missed ALOT of good stuff that you could probably buy for just about nothing. Again, check present reviews and that of the past, you have a ton of great gaming ahead of you.

Online or not. Either way would be cool. I've heard alot about this game called Half Life 2. Whats that game about?Patriot298

Half Life 2 is possibly one of the best First Person shooters available. Its a sci-fi game, set on an Earth which has been invaded by aliens.  

I'm downloading Half Life 2 demo right now. 52 % so far. I like games that look really real. Prey was good I tried that.

HL2 kicks Prey hard in the butt. its a game that stays with you. Prey was fun but upon completion soon forgotten.

HL2 is an unforgettable milestone in every FPS-gamers heart.

Its shadow-light effects are on par with the best but the way it moves is what brings it to life(the source's physics engine kicks insanely serious ass). personally i think the doom3-engined games have more lifelike textures though,,,

HL2 kicks Prey hard in the butt. its a game that stays with you. Prey was fun but upon completion soon forgotten.mottadude

Other way around for me.  Prey's presentation kicked Half-Life 2's butt IMO.