New to custom systems

Theres good quality hardware in that build but you can do better for the same price

I dont have time right now , but I suggest you head to newegg and look at


mb and cpu combos of Phenom X3 720 be and AM3 MB
4 gig of DDR3 ram
antec 300 case
WD 640 gig black hard drive
2 x ati 4770 gfx cards for crossfire
650 tx power supply
dvd burner

Might as well not bother with windows now . Download the release candidate of windows 7 and use that free for 13 months .

The system im suggesting is stronger every where and you will have change from your budget

For a $1000 you can build a solid core i7 machine...or amd if you want. Those parts are probably worth $500-600 easy with OS included. Either way, i think thats a pretty fine build and if you want to get the most out of gaming, you have to get DDR2 1066 or 1200 RAM (4GBs). You can also run Crossfire set up to increase frames...with a Asus P5Q turbo. They are pretty cheap now.

I think its best if you look for other parts right now like the Core i7, Asus P6T, Kingston 3/6GBs DDR3 1600 or better, 500GB drive is fine (love western digitals), The optical burner is cool and the PSU is fine...as for the CPU Cooler, i would look at a Noctua or Zalman 1366 LGA. The case is awesome ^_^ And last but not least...Windows 7 RC....YAY

I doubt its possible to build an i7 system for that price .

One of the old hands on here thought he was special because he managed to get an i7 build on this mb for $1300

I7 is the fastest available cpu but wont give you gaming advantages if you have to cut gfx cards because they dont fit the budget

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. I've already tried to see if I could build an i7 machine with my budget and I could get pretty much everything I need except a good gfx card, so I'll pass on that, but thanks for the suggestion. Any specific AM3 mobos you can recommend?
Two 4770s? Sounds pretty good, actually. Is it easy to Crossfire cards? Thanks for the telling me about that Windows 7 RC. I stopped checking on that since I heard the beta was no longer available.

my favourite am3 boards are:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=E...

yea, 2 4770's are the way to go, and yes, it is easy to crossfire 2 cards, although i never have, hehe. Not much to say bout the RC, other than it is available and free for about a year.

Some questions for consideration:

Are you planning to overclock?

The 640GB WD Caviar Black runs more efficiently due to its platter design.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The Mugen 2 is a monster of a cooler at 36 dollars ($5 more than the Arctic 7, but the performance matches many ~$50 heatsinks). The main reason people won't get it is probably because of the clearance issue; my NZXT zero 2 has trouble closing, but it closes so I'm happy. But the HAF 932 is more or less an inch larger than the Zero 2 so it should fit fine.