Gaming for under $1000?

[mab455]

Hello. I was trying to play demigod the other day and decided my pc is ready for another upgrade. But I think will have to start from scratch from this one. I was looking at a i7 setup but read that it's kind of pointless if I use that just for gaming? As of right now at least. I was wanting to keep it under $1000 but I ended up going over with what I choose. Was wondering if any of you experts would be able to help me.

Currently I have a 500w antex 500w smartpower 2.0 psu and 500gb seagate hd.

I do not need a monitor as I use my 32" hdtv and prefer this. It usually runs at 1280x720 wide which does mess up some games.

I have a old emachine that was upgraded with an evga 7800gt and 1.5gb ram, that I will be selling.

If I am able to use the psu and/or hd that be great but not necessary. I will be installing the hd though for backup, but not sure if its good for main hd or boot.

I know a little about computers, enough to put it all together when the pieces are separated, but when it comes to everything working together like the ram and motherboard and psu... need some more help. Also if there was anything that I did miss. I don't care on the look of the tower either, just that it performs well in terms of air flow and space. Nothing fancy.

So I thank you in advance for taking the time to stop and help me out.

 

[irkjab]

Well, something like this would probably be decent (and below your budget)
I'd go with a new PSU just in case, and the WD Black 640gb is probably quite a bit faster than your old one.
A solid i7 rig would probably run you closer to $1400.

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P + AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8ghz BE combo deal
$255 ($240 after MIR)

G.Skill DDR3-1333 4gb
$60

WD Black 640gb
$75

Xigmatek Dark Knight Heatsink
$40

Sapphire Radeon 4870 1gb
$190

Cooler Master RC-690 Case
$75

Corsair 650W PSU
$95 ($75 after MIR)

Samsung DVD Burner
$26

Total: $819 ($784 after MIR) before shipping

 

[mab455]

Cool thanks. I was at around 1200 with just the mobo, processor and dual cards. was wondering if it was going to get anymore. Would there be significant increase in gameplay with an extra $200? So 1200? Thanks

 

[geofelt]

At a clock rate of 3.0 or better, the vga card is much more important for gaming than the cpu.
At that level, overclocking is good for bragging, but it will not net you as much increase
in FPS as a better vga card will. Today, very few games can make use of more than two cores.
Flight simulator X and supreme commander are exceptions. It is not a trivial matter to code multi threaded programs,
and game vendors will not sell too many games that require quads to run.
I don't see this changing in the next couple of years.

Net: a faster E8400 duo for the increased clock speed.

If you have a need/desire for a quad, look at the i7-920. The cost of the cpu is similar to a Qxxx, but it will perform much better. The added cost for mobo and ram is about $150.

 

[mab455]

This was about as far as I got with my i7 build. Wasn't sure how much more I would have to pour into it. Givin that I would need a new psu and I guess hd as well.

EVGA X58 SLI
2 x EVGA GTX 275s in SLI
i7 920 PC
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB)