@husky: Agreed, for an RPG
Skyrim is generally considered to be the best ever made. If you do get it, PM me with your graphics card and I can tell you how to tweak it. I'm playing on High with excellent framerates on a card Bethesda says will only hande Low.
Racing:
DiRT3, but you'll need a wheel and pedals. All kinds of disciplines in cool 60s and 70s cars. Google the cheat code to unlock all the cars and tracks so you don't have to earn them. Beautiful graphics.
Flying:
FSX (Flight Simulator 10). I have over 750 hours in it, but you'll want a bunch of downloads. There's plenty of free stuff, including photoreal terrain for much of the US and other countries. You can fly over your house and see which of your neighbors have pools. I have almost 200 aircraft, more than half of which are helicopters. PM me for the links if that's the way you go.
If you want games good for smoking:
Silent Hunter III is the best sub game. You're a U-Boat and the pace is very slow. It might take you 30-40 minutes to stalk a ship or escape a destroyer. Better than the later Silent Hunters.
A couple of great turn-based smoking games are
XCOM: Enemy Within. Remake of the classic, squad based combat. Uses Action Points to make it turn-based. Fighting aliens.
Also,
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition just came out. They remade it and it stands up to time very well. A classic RPG. Won't stress your graphics card at all.
For an FPS, you're on your own, there's a jillion of them