On the CompUSA deal.

I am a little surprised that the video card does not connect directly to the power supply. It seems as though it takes power from the motherboard.

The motherboard seems incapable of taking more than the 2 gigs of memory already installed according to the link you provide. My feeble understanding of Vista is that you may not get the full benefit of the bells and whistles loaded into Vista with only 2 gigs. Going to the Asus site that motherboard supports up to 4 gigs of RAM so perhaps this is an older board. Flashing the BIOS might cure that but check VERY carefully before doing that. Will you have sufficient memory for these high end games you play? On the positive the Asus mobo has a 24 pin plus a 4 pin connector from the power supply. Wonder if the power supply has both connectors?

I like Asus motherboards and have built many computers on them. Their picky memory requirements can be a pest but overall a great board.

The integrated audio does not seem to be surround sound capable, surely a must for serious gamers? LOL

At $600 we should not really expect more perhaps, the price seems pretty good.
------------------------------------

The Tigerdirect deal. The page shows 18 computers, wassup with that?

Iam sure you have looked at the Alienware systems? I love Alienware, they cost but they have quality built in.
Alienware

Check at cyberpower they have some pretty good gamer pcs, I am personally an AMD person so go strictly for those.
CyberPower Computer System
and you can customize them in every aspect.

PCUSA.com
PCUSA also is fully customizable with some decent systems with quality parts inside.

you definitely want to have the option to add more RAM over 2 Gig

Do you have a monitor and keyboard and are just looking for a tower or do you need the whole shebang.

I have a custom macro'd keyboard but as I am not too particular about sound quality, I do not know why I just never have been, and I have a monitor and everything so Im set for just the CPU, and thanks for the guys who posted to help :)

But can thje CyberPower inc. Athlon X2 SLI run Age of Conan and WoW? I know the memory looks like it can but theres always little things.

Be a little more specific at the tiger direct site as to which computer you are looking at. There are quite a few at that link

Just look at the Visionman at this link

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=114&SRCCODE=SRL&CMP-BAC=SRL

And on another note, is CPU and processor speed the same?

sure that Athlon X2 SLI rig is built for gaming, has 2 graphics cards, can take up to 8 gig of memory, comes with 2 gig in it, by the way it does come with keyboard and mouse and a nice surround 7.1 speaker set with subwoofer and has onboard 7.1 audio. It also comes with a built in card reader and even has a floppy drive which many no longer have. On the list of stuff on it down below the picture where you can choose what you want on it, if you click on the little ? at each one it will give you all the detailed info on that item. Now I am sure you did see that as it shows it that is with out the windows operating system you have to choose which one you want from the list. But there are a bunch of great freebies you get when you choose your windows, OH and be sure on the set up there you put check marks in front of all of the freebies in the lists they have a LOT of good freebies including some good games. that you have so many options to upgrade items is great.

If you go to some of the gaming review sites the cyberpower systems always rank high.
just for getting it with windows you get Halo2 and Flight simulator delux as freebies IF you check mark them!
the windows bonus pack is great here is what all you get
Accessories
but I see that you have to redeem that before Aug.31 which is next month so that deal must be ending soon.
If you want a wireless card you do have to add that not sure if you were planning on going wireless? it does not have a modem as standard either but if you don't use dial up that is not a problem.

It comes in a nice windowed case and neat that you can choose the color at no extra cost! They have so many case options, you can take a lesser case and save some money or go nuts and get all the bells and whistles. I have a thermaltake windowed case with blue lights on one of mine.
The one thing I would definitely add is the extra case fan you can get with or with out lights but it is just a few bucks extra and you want all the air movement you can get.
The other thing you might want to upgrade is the power supply more never hurts, personally I would not go under 500.
For your price range it is a good option, will never be what a $2000+ rig would be but you have to be realistic.

I am sure some others that do a lot of gaming and know more about specifics will jump in here too.

Hey thanks for that long, yet helpfull review, it really helps.

I was wondering though, since it doesnt come with a "wireless card" does that mean I cannot use my Belkin Wireless adaptor with the computer?

Hey thanks for that long, yet helpfull review, it really helps.

I was wondering though, since it doesnt come with a "wireless card" does that mean I cannot use my Belkin Wireless adaptor with the computer?

EDIT: And also when you build your PC on CyberPower do they come pre configured?

Athlon AM2 SLI Custom Build Configurator (NO MONITOR)

*BASE_PRICE: [+535]
CAS: ($10 off Mail-in Rebate) Sigma Gaming Orca Mid-Tower 400W Case [-21]
CASUPGRADE: NONE
CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (2 x Fans [+3])
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology [+60]
CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
CD2: NONE
CABLE: None
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
FA_HDD: None
FREEBIE_CU1: FREE! CyberPower Multi-Purpose Carrying Briefcase ($19.99 Value)
FREEBIE_CU2: FREE! AGE OF EMPIRE III
FREEBIE_CU3: FREE! RISE OF NATIONS: RISE OF LEGENDS
FREEBIE_CU4: FREE! Cyberpower Unleash The Power T-Shirt with AMD Logo on the back ($19.99 Value)
FAN: Raidmax Maxcool AMD CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent at 20dBA & Overclock Proof) [+15]
FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (BLACK COLOR)
FREEBIE_OS: None
HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
HDD2: NONE
IEEE_CARD: NONE
KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)
MOUSE: PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL (BLACK COLOR)
MODEM: NONE
MONITOR: NONE
MONITOR2: NONE
MOTHERBOARD: Asus M2N SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN,IEEE1394,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY
PRINTER: None
PRINTER_CABLE: None
PRO_WIRING: None
PS_VGA: None
POWERSUPPLY: 500 Watts Power Supplies [+49] (**Recommended** WIN-500XSPX APEVIA 500W JAVA Power Supply-Black)
RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers
TEMP: NONE (AS SHOWN)
TVRC: None
UPS: None
USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
USBHD: NONE
VIDEOCAMERA: NONE
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO2: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO3: NONE
WNC: NONE
_PRICE: (+644)
_view_: detail

I went through these specs and decided on my way through I'm going to end up using my old Win XP OS disc anyway so why spend the extra money right? Hows that look?

What is the XP OS you intend to use?

If it is a full retail version you should do fine. If you bought OEM you likely will have an argument with MS over the phone but hold steady and be firm and you should be fine. If this was from a factory built system you will probably not be allowed to transfer it to this new computer.