$1000 Gaming Rig

[Talisman00]

Thanks everyone who posts on this site. It looks like there is a really active and helpful group of people here. I am looking to build my first gaming PC from scratch for around $1,000. I have worked on my PCs in the past, but never built one from scratch so I'm a bit nervous, but also excited. I have a 24" Dell monitor I just bought a few months ago along with DVD burner, mouse, and keyboard already. I have a friend that can get me a great deal on Windows 7 so I'm assuming I should get Windows 7 Professional 64 bit version. So those items do not need to be factored into the $1000 budget.

The rest is where I need help. Looking for a machine to play mostly FPS and MMORPG games on as well as normal streaming of video, surfing, ect. I'd imagine a 750 Gig to 1 TB HD is standard these days. The rest I leave in your capable hands for suggestions on what hardware to procure. Thanks in advance for your help!

-cpu ?
-mobo ?
-ram ?
-graphics card ?
-hard drive (750 Gig to 1 TB) ?
-dvd drive/burner - Already own
-power supply ?
-case ?
-operating system - Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit

 

[Muffin Man]

welcome. for whichever version of w7 that you end up getting, just make sure its 64-bit so that youll be able to utilize more than 32-bits' limitation of ~3.5gigs of ram.

for $1k, you could take a look at these parts. these total $950 + shipping.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
optical drive - you already have

there isnt really a "standard" size in hdds these days, you just get whichever size you feel youll need most. some people dont have that much data to store; some people have a few tb's of data, so however much you think youll need, even though i have included a 1tb hdd in, you can obviously change that if you want. this setup would also be crossfire ready (dual gfx cards) should you want to do so later on.

 

[Druid]

Sounds like an i5 budget. I haven't tried putting together an i5 build before, so you sucked me in.

$345 - Cpu + mobo: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
$310 - Gpu: Newegg.com - XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
$125 - Ram: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH - Desktop Memory
$65 - HDD: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$100 - PSU: Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies (for xfire in the future)
$55 - Case: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases (this is based on preference, choose something else if you like.

I think that comes out to exactly $1000.

I'm sure you'll get some suggestions from others as well.

Edit: You might as well go with muffin's ram. It is almost the same except $20 less. That way you can upgrade from the psu I listed to the one he listed.

 

[Talisman00]

Thanks Muffin! I figured HD sizes varied a great deal. My current system has 200 gig's which is about half full. However, I'm thinking I will get a camcorder for xmas so when i start adding video's I'm sure it will start filling up quickly!

 

[Muffin Man]

oi!, two 5850's are back in stock, and one 5870 is too (i didnt even bother to look for them), i was wondering when they would finally...
you should just order the 5850 now before they run out again, the rest of your build will most likely still be available though.

^that looks like a great build, i would go with Druid's instead, but i think the ram is a bit pricey. i would go with your build but with this ram, has almost exact same timings and works at the same speed, but its $20 cheaper.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM - Desktop Memory

if you do go with that change, i think you should look into putting the saved money into a slightly larger case if you plan to run two cards later. if not, i think thats a great list.

 

[Druid]

oi!, two 5850's are back in stock, and one 5870 is too (i didnt even bother to look for them), i was wondering when they would finally...
you should just order the 5850 now before they run out again, the rest of your build will most likely still be available though.

^that looks like a great build, i would go with Druid's instead, but i think the ram is a bit pricey. i would go with your build but with this ram, has almost exact same timings and works at the same speed, but its $20 cheaper.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM - Desktop Memory

if you do go with that change, i think you should look into putting the saved money into a slightly larger case if you plan to run two cards later. if not, i think thats a great list.

5870 went out of stock as I was making my build. I was going to try to squeeze it in there.

Yeah, I noticed your ram was a better deal and edited my post.

He could upgrade the case if he wants, but two cards shouldn't be a problem. The 5850's aren't that big.

 

[Talisman00]

Does it matter which 5850 I get XFX or Sapphire? Is there a difference?

 

[Muffin Man]

xfx offers double lifetime warranty.

 

[Druid]

XFX is known to be a more reliable company. The warranty is better too. It is double life-time. There is nothing wrong with sapphire, but XFX is just the shiz. For $10, it is worth it.

 

[Muffin Man]

plus, the sapphires already out of stock lol.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

so not much of a choice, not that its a bad one that xfx is the only one right now.