Getting a gaming rig. Buy or Build?

[ameratsu]

You're going to get a LOT of pc for $1500. You could easily do a great build for $800 and have $400 left over for a non-tn panel 1080p monitor, putting you at the bottom end of your budget. I would argue there's little point going to more expensive ($300+) video cards when a $150-$200 one will get you high settings on most games at 60 fps. Use the money you save for an upgrade in 2 years.

The best advice I can give is to go through Garcian Smith's excellent thread for some sound information on building a gaming PC.