Best $1000 Gaming PC Build?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
W

wjsprowler

Distinguished
Jul 22, 2011
49
0
18,540
I am looking to build a top tier gaming PC about a month from now. I will be needing everything except a monitor, mouse, and speakers.


Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: 1 Month

Budget Range: $800-$1,000 (After Rebates and after shipping)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Purchase: Everything except Monitor, Mouse, and speakers.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes (Windows 7 preferred)

Preferred Website for Parts: newegg.com (if other sites are reputable and have cheaper parts I am open to them also)

Location: Provo, UT

Parts Preferences: Intel

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (depending on price and graphics performance boost)

Additional Comments: Prefer windows 7 over other OS. Would like to get a sweet looking mid-sized tower, and some cool looking fans to go with it.

I am upgrading because I am currently using a piece of crap laptop and I am finally wanting to put some money into building my own desktop that will last for a long time. If anyone could put a nice build together for me, it would be greatly appreciated. I am pretty new to the scene so I would like some advice from you experts :)

Cheers,

Will
 
Solution
Rammy
At stock speeds (ie, without any overclocking) the second build will outperform the first due to the stronger graphics card. Also, if I was going to spend the full $1000, I'd probably start seriously considering an SSD too (perhaps a Samsung 840 EVO for $100)

The GTX770 is a good bit faster than the GTX760, but they are based on the same chip which the GTX660Ti/GTX670/GTX680 came from. The increase in performance probably isn't worth the extra money, but then it never really is (if you can run the game anyway). Depending on what game and settings you are playing, the 760 is likely to be maybe 10-20fps behind, so there is going to be a perceivable performance gap. My advice to you would be this, if you want to play modern games at...
Sort by date Sort by votes
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
There's a lot of flexibility here, as your budget is pretty generous, and has a $200 gap. Also, you didn't mention your display resolution. This will cap how much it makes sense to spend on graphics.
If you want an SSD, then that's probably $100 extra, so I'm going to leave that out but keep my build under budget.
Similarly, things like cases are pretty subjective, so I'm sticking with basic value for money, and let you figure out yourself what kind of aesthetic you want and how much you want to spend.

For an overclocking build, you are looking at something like this -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.27 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $903.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-05 01:34 EST-0500)
Now, faster ram would be nice to have, but it's more expensive than it's probably worth right now.
The motherboard isn't the greatest but it's fantastic value thanks to a double discount.


And here is a "bang for your buck" version. No overclocking, nothing fancy, but saving some cash means you have a lot more to blow on graphics.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3330 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($330.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $869.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-05 01:44 EST-0500)

If you blow the full $1000 on this build you can fit in a GTX780 or R9 290 which is probably more than you need.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
W

wjsprowler

Distinguished
Jul 22, 2011
49
0
18,540
Thanks a lot for the post.

I think I am leaning towards the first build that you posted. It looks like it has a lot more power for the intensive games I would like to play with it.

Quick question. Is there a big difference between the ASUS Geforce GTX 770 and the 760? And would I simply be able to swap that into the first build if I wanted to?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
At stock speeds (ie, without any overclocking) the second build will outperform the first due to the stronger graphics card. Also, if I was going to spend the full $1000, I'd probably start seriously considering an SSD too (perhaps a Samsung 840 EVO for $100)

The GTX770 is a good bit faster than the GTX760, but they are based on the same chip which the GTX660Ti/GTX670/GTX680 came from. The increase in performance probably isn't worth the extra money, but then it never really is (if you can run the game anyway). Depending on what game and settings you are playing, the 760 is likely to be maybe 10-20fps behind, so there is going to be a perceivable performance gap. My advice to you would be this, if you want to play modern games at 1080P, then the GTX760 is a good choice, hell, you could go even cheaper if you were fine with turning down details here and there. If you want the card to last longer into the lifespan of your machine and still be playing games at near to max settings though, the GTX770 is a far more compelling product given how easily it handles the majority of todays games.

Here's a revised version of build 1 with a GTX770 and some tweaks.
You'll note a few of my parts have changed, partly due to price changes, partly due to the extra budget, but for $1000 and no SSD, I'd go for something like this -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.26 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1000.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-07 03:06 EST-0500)
(Special offers on the motherboard, case, PSU and graphics card make them pretty interesting).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
W

wjsprowler

Distinguished
Jul 22, 2011
49
0
18,540
Thanks for the post!

That looks exactly like the build I want. Much appreciated. Do you think that it would be wise to purchase a higher wattage PSU in case I decide to throw in a second video card in the future? Or will this PSU be able to take that extra power draw with a 2nd video card?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
That's really a question for you to answer. My basic advice would be to make the best build you can for right now. Things change, and you can't predict quite how that will effect you. If you have a specific plan to add another at some point, then sure, increasing the PSU capacity a little is probably a good idea (750W is probably good for GTX770 SLI), but if it's just a maybe-what-if, then it's probably not worth it.
Remember that for a single 1080P display, a GTX770 is already pretty comfortable, so if you were "needing" to add another, it's likely to be a couple of years down the line. By then, the GTX770 won't be a good buy, even as a second card, and you'll be better off buying an entirely new card if performance is a problem.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom