An i5 Gamin build of around $1200

Personal upcoming choices:
SPECS:



i5 750 $200

Coolermaster Hyper 212 PLUS $30

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
(PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail $94

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB $55

Thermaltake Toughpower XT W0229RU 750W ATX12V V2.3 80PLUS BRONZE ATI CrossFireX
Certified AMD GAME READY FanDelayCool Modular Power Supply - Retail
$130

MSI P55-GD65 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $160

Windows 7 home premium 64 bit $105

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel
ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail 100

SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express
2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail $300

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM
48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Writer - Bulk - LightScribe Support
- OEM $26

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Hope these are good, I'm pretty sure this is what I'll be choosing, and I think we're on the same boat! Plus I'm going to get around 4-5x 120 mm led fans to throw in there, 2x on the heat sink, 1x on the bottom of case, 2x on the side. Study these items, they all seem pretty legit.

Have a peaceful day!

^^ That's a good build.
AClipse, if you need to shave off a few dollars you could go for a less expensive PSU. You can get a great quality Antec/OCZ/Corsair for $60-90. They are all roughly the same quality, so personally I would go for a cheaper one (I don't suggest skimping on it though).
But bababablazin did include Windows, so that change may not be necessary.

EDIT: I wouldn't wait for Nvidia's newer cards; they will be overpriced, as are the majority of its lineup ATM, and several sites have implied that these things will be extremely hot and energy-consuming. Also, if they actually do provide the reported 50% greater performance over the HD 5xxx's, your i5 will begin to bottleneck your rig.

I really like the above build. Though i forgot to mention that i would be using my old optical drive.

But i'm really curious about the new Nvidia cards.
At least it will push ATI's cards down a bit right?

Here's a p55 i5 based from another thread.

Case
Haf 922 $99.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAM
Rip Jaw DDR3 1600 7-8-7-24 $114.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MOBO
Asus P7P55D-E Pro USB 3.0/SATA 6.0 2 x PCIE x8 $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU/HD
OCZ 700W and 7200.12 500gb $124.98 w/ $25 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

GPU/OS
Sapphire 5850 + win 7 Premium 64 bit OEM $384.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

CPU/HSF i5-750 and Hyper 212 Plus $221.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Total $1136.90 before $25 MIR and shipping which should cancel out.

You can get a Spinpoint F3 500gb HD instead, but it's only slightly better than the 7200.12 which comes with a $15 off combo w/ the OCZ PSU, so I figured it's worth it.

As to an i5 bottleneck, I doubt a Fermi will get close. Even a 5970(which will easily beat any 1 Fermi) + i7-920 rig is GPU bottlenecked even at stock speeds, with no gain from a 4.0 ghz OC, and the i5-750 is a better gaming CPU than the i7-920.

In fact, thanks to GPU bottleneck, even a Phenom II x4 will match an i7-920's gaming performance w/ a 5970.

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=869&p=11

Does Newegg post all the way to Australia o.o

No they don't.

http://www.newegg.com/HelpInfo/FAQDetail.aspx?Module=4

Sorry for double post but I can't edit. Because of by rating?

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www.Gocomp.com.au has pretty good prices and they have a shop front in Brisbane so if you live near there you can go and pick up the parts, so no shipping cost. Although they have a lot of stuff out of stock which could be a problem since it might take additional time.

*NOTE* The higher price is because this is Australia. I'm thinking your $1000 budget was Australian dollars so the builds posted here may be out of your budget.

bababablazin's build from earlier updated with prices from Gocomp:

CPU
i5 750 $243


MOBO
MSI P55-GD65 $172


Case
CoolerMaster Haf 922M $165


RAM
*gocomp dosen't have G.Skill Rip Jaw RAM* Same timings and speed
Corsair 1600 9-9-9-24 $162


PSU
Thermaltake Toughpower 750W $205


HDD
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB $71


GPU
Asus 5850 $399


OS
win 7 Premium 64 bit OEM $115


Total:
$1532

This is way over your budget. Sadly.

I recommend:

Cutting down on the graphics card, say to a HD 5770. $189

$210 Saving

Changing the PSU to a Corsair TX-650W. $136

$69 Saving

Changing the MOBO to a Asus P7P55D-LE (still has XFire). $146
http://gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II...[/urlExt" target="_blank">
$26 Saving

Total Cost Now:
$1227

-----------------------------------------

This is close now but if this is still too much then:

downgrading the GPU to a HD 4830 (Save $50). Chucking out XFire Support and 4 DDR3 Slots (Save $47). Corsair 550W (Save $30).

Cost:
$1100

If this is still to much you will need to downgrade the graphics further (won't be very good for gaming), or go to a dual core 1156, or even go back to 775 build.

i increased my budget to $1400 aus now

corsairs are too expensive?

is thermaltake toughpower as good or close to corsair in psu

what other psu brands are as good in the same price range

I don't know what you mean by this


Yes I'd say their as good, although they are more expensive and Corsair is always good.


Do you not like Corsair? Other easy to get PSU's here is Australia is Antec, there is Cooler Master as well but I wouldn't recommend them over the others.

Since you have a higher budget you might just be able to pay the extra $210 for the HD 5850 although it might be pushing it. You can a 5850 for $360 if you buy from a different shop though.
http://www.foxcomp.com.au/ProductDetail.asp?ID=12153

It will cost $1397 if you get the 5850 from the other shop, and if you have to post it than it would be a bit more depending on the postage cost. I'd say max $40 for postage. If you can't afford it than just go for the HD 5770, you can always get another one later on and they scale very well in Crossfire. Two 5770's have almost the same performance as a 5850.

So if you can afford a bit over $1400 than get the 5850 otherwise just go for a 5770.

Hope that helped.