Im building a new computer for a friend and he wants the price range to be around $1,000. I haven't built one in a while so this is what I put together (Hes going to do alot of gaming but its also for college):

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

ASPIRE X-CRUISE -AL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

PLEXTOR Black IDE Slot Load DVD Burner Model PX-716AL/SW - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail

pqi TURBO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PQI3200-1024DBH - Retail

Antec NEOPOWER 480 ATX 480W Power Supply - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500BPBOX - Retail

eVGA 256-P2-N386 Geforce 6800GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Pleas help me build this thing. Thanx!!!!!!

What about a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and operating system? Also, you may want to think about getting a slightly more powerful PSU (500W or 550W).

What parts does he already have that can be salvaged towards the new machine?

I'd look into a X800GTO or GTO2 card with ViVO, so you can flash the BIOS to 16Pipe and overclock it.. It should be stabe at 525/600 or more, which is a good setting.

He's definetly not going to overclock it or do too much tweaking b/c he doesn't know how to and doesn't want to mess with that area. Im pretty sure he has a monitor, mouse, and keyboard already nut i'll check on the operating system. Will he really need a more powerful power supply?!

Can you guys find anything to cut back on to save money without cutting out too much performance or anything? Or do you guys have anymore suggestions on parts?

The specs look good, though I would go with a different DVD (NEC/Lite-on). What about noise? what are the requirements there? are you planning a quiet/silent system?

If you don't want to cut performance while keeping some kind of budget-- you have to overclock.
Yes, an upgrade in Psu (Particularly since the one you picked has only 15 amps on the second +12v line [The minimum I'd recommend for a dual 12v line Psu is 18 amps per +12v line)
is mandatory in a new system. Here's one recommendation
Besides Antec in my experience is almost as bad as Aspire when it comes to PSUs.

For a current-gen single-core AMD chip, this would be it. You have what is basically an
unmarked FX-57 in that chip (although hobbled with a locked 10x multiplier.)

The ram--this would be the best DDR1 I could recommend. This is the budget part I'd choose
I'd wrap the budget part in this however.

For the hsf-- a Zalman 9500, Asetek Vapochill Micro (be careful when installing a better fan) or take a Thermaltake Big Typhoon (again replace the stock fan as non-modified sleeve bearing fans suck.
Modified ones would include Coolermaster's Rifled bearing, Panaflo's Hydro wave bearing, and SilenX's Hybrid bearing) I'd recommend Deltas, however.

Is that opteron 64 bit?

What about a mobo? Is the one i picked out good or do you got another suggestion?

That mainboard is one sweet mainboard! Advanced passive cooling, AMD Cool & Quiet and
lot's of options... nice choice! Maybe if you're a die hard overclocker you might look into DFI
mainboards but for most peeps this one is just sweet!

You could choose the latest BenQ dvd burner... it tested pretty well & you save quite a lot over
the Plextor!

I for one would choose a decent heatsink/fan... I mean the stock AMD does it's job but it's not
really silent, adding a Thermalright SI-120, for instance, would keep both the processor &
the mosfets & ram cooler!

TDR

The mobo says it takes DDR 400, does that mean I can only put DDR 400 in? (I never really understood the whole memory stuff). Also, about that CPU again; I'm just a little skeptical because I've never heard of putting an opteron in a gaming machine. Thanx!

Aight, i revised all the stuff and this is the list of the parts I have minus the case:

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

SILVERSTONE SST-ST56F ATX12V/ EPS12V 560W Power Supply - Retail

AMD Opteron 148 Venus 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model OSA148BNBOX - Retail

OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K - Retail

NEC Black IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner Model ND-3550A - OEM

ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan with Heatsink - Retail

Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2 - OEM

Any comments........suggestions..................?

Sorry about all the posting but i just dont want to get anything that will be bad or incompatible or whatever.

Thanx