Gaming PC under $1000

[ashenromance]

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?

 

[Outlander_04]

AMD can definitely be done cheaper . Intels new i7 is more powerful but it isnt in your budget and the older intel c2d and c2q processors are at the end of their life cycle and about to be replaced .

Most screens these days are widescreen so you will probably be at 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1080

Vista 64 with the update to windows 7 is $110 and worth the extra $10

 

[Outlander_04]

Vista 64 with tech guarantee $110

Acer X233Hbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009163

AMD Phenom II X4 945 + ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX combo $270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.239850

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $84
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220333

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

HIS H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161276

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

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

 

[ashenromance]

wow, you're fast! thanks, I'm going to go ahead and look over it all

 

[Outlander_04]

wow, you're fast! thanks, I'm going to go ahead and look over it all

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 .

 

[ashenromance]

Aww, poo...well, back to the drawing board, right?

 

[lebaneseguy]

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

 

[Outlander_04]

You are probably better off with the gfx power of the 4890 and to drop the processor back to an X3.

This article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cores-performance,2373.html
shows that in gaming the fourth processor core isnt that important . That wont be the case in encoding or maybe photo editing depending on the programs you use . The triple core will be slower , but then if you are like you wont be sitting watch your computer encode anything .
Around here its click START and then go have a coffee or a beer and come back when its done

So keep everything from the original build except the cpu and mb and swap in

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz $119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

You give up a processor core and a couple of hundred Mhz of processor speed [ which you can easily get back by over clocking ]. The motherboard only has one gfx card slot so crossfire isnt an option , but the 4890 should be powerful enough for the 1080p resolution monitor all by itself

Those changes free up $70

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

and still in your budget

 

[mindless728]

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)

 

[ashenromance]

You are probably better off with the gfx power of the 4890 and to drop the processor back to an X3.

This article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cores-performance,2373.html
shows that in gaming the fourth processor core isnt that important . That wont be the case in encoding or maybe photo editing depending on the programs you use . The triple core will be slower , but then if you are like you wont be sitting watch your computer encode anything .
Around here its click START and then go have a coffee or a beer and come back when its done

So keep everything from the original build except the cpu and mb and swap in

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz $119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

You give up a processor core and a couple of hundred Mhz of processor speed [ which you can easily get back by over clocking ]. The motherboard only has one gfx card slot so crossfire isnt an option , but the 4890 should be powerful enough for the 1080p resolution monitor all by itself

Those changes free up $70

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

and still in your budget

I just noticed you didn't have an optical drive listed. I figured this one seems pretty good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187

 

[Outlander_04]

I just noticed you didn't have an optical drive listed. I figured this one seems pretty good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187

looks good


I hope I didnt forget anything else

 

[ashenromance]

Okay, I decided to push my budget by a little bit, and I should be able to do it as long as I buy half of the stuff now, and the other half in a few weeks when I've built the savings back up. So, here's what I've decided on (I kept most of what Outlander_04 had originally listed, plus the psu and an optical drive, and a different monitor)....


COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail + AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX945FBGIBOX - Retail combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.239850

HIS H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161276

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS34G1333LLKN - Retail:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220333

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - OEM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187

SAMSUNG 2343BWX High Glossy Black 23" 5ms 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000:1 (DC) w/ HDCP Support - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001317

Vista 64 with tech guarantee


Grand Total after shipping: $1,113.91, only $114 more than my budget, which isn't too bad

 

[Outlander_04]

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

 

[ashenromance]

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

Ah, see, I didn't know any of that. Okay, so I'll go with the monitor you had listed then. Thanks