Gaming PC under $1000

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within the next 30 days BUDGET RANGE: no more than $1000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, surfing internet, photo and video editing, downloading music, watching movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: need everything

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: as long as its US based, I don't care

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'm leaning towards an Intel build, but if AMD can be done cheaper and just as good, then I'll go with it, and I prefer mid tower case, but everything else I don't care

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe (need to learn how) SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe and depends which is better and if it can still be done at my budget (also need to learn how)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: at the very least 1600x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like it to be quiet, but if that's not possible its no big, I also need to get an OS, preferably Vista 64 bit. If there is a dell that I can buy a cheap model of and upgrade on my own while still staying under or just at $1000, then I'm all for that as well. (I can get 10% off of dells thanks to my job) I'm up for any and all opinions/advice. Oh, and this is my first time trying to build my own, if you couldn't already tell.





**EDIT: I can pick up a monitor and the OS at a later date, since they seem to be the main issue with getting what I need/want in this system (and I have a working crt monitor its just old , but it'll due till I can save for an LCD), so if we take those out of the configuration what can we do with $1000 or less?

Vista 64 with tech guarantee $110

Acer X233Hbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009163

AMD Phenom II X4 945 + ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX combo $270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.239850

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $84
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220333

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152181

HIS H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161276

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119137

Those prices are after rebates .
Total is $ 949

Which lets you keyboard/mouse and speaker in the budget
I compromised on these for now since they are easily replaced and even an $12 keyboard works well enough

You could save a bit by swapping the case for the antec 300

I edited out a samsung monitor . Resolution higher than 1080 p is going to b harder to game on

I did work fast

sadly I worked so fast I forgot a power supply , and once you include that I think it will blow your budget

You probably need 600- 650 watt for that build and buying a cheapo psu is a mistake so expect to pay a minimum of $60 even if you find a unit with a huge discount

You could scale back the processor to a Phenom X3 730 and save almost enough , and for gaming thats not going to hurt much at all .

Keep the build suggested just drop down the video card to a 4870 and get a asus 785g board and you will have enough

also on the DDR2 variant of that motherboard i was able to unlock the cache on my X4 810 (so you may be able to unlock the th core, just don't count on it)

looks good


I hope I didnt forget anything else

I like that samsung monitor a lot but notice the resolution is 2048 x 1152 .

Thats higher than a hi def tv which is 1920 x 1080 . It also means icons and buttons on a desk top will be smaller , and gaming might be a problem
Thats a lot of extra pixels for the gfx card to "paint" and that will slow down frame rates about 10 - 12 %
Im not even sure gfx card drivers can out put at that resolution and if they cant then the image will be less crisp as the monitor tries to scale a smaller image to fill the screen .

Stick with a 1920 x 1080 screen , or at least do some research on the higher resolutions when you are gaming