$1000 Gaming Build

Naamans

Distinguished
Jan 2, 2011
2
0
18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: when ever I can my parts figured out
Budget Range: $1,000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the net, light video editing

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: New Egg. I have $140 in gift cards to Comp USA that I will probably use to pick up Windows 7

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel, MSI motherboard

Overclocking: Probably not

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe some day in the future

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Mostly just play WoW on it but I want to be able to turn everything up. I do some other lite gaming as well but I do not need the top of the line card. I am willing to spend the most money on the video card compared to the other components though. No SLI or Crossfire either. I will be doing some lite video editing as well but just stuff from my family. I also would maybe like a Blu-Ray burner as well for those movies. A cheaper one will do fine though and if they are too much I will skip the Blu-Ray for now and just get DVD to stay under budget. No SSD either.

Taking a stab at it:

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

MSI H55M-ED55 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130264

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe Support - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136181

That leaves about $385

Video Card: Suggestions? I do not have a preference on brand
Power Supply: Depends on what the card is. Suggestions?

All of this stuff can be changed out I am not attached to any of them. I would like my CPU to be Intel though and I have worked with MSI boards in the past and been happy but I am open to suggestions there as well.

Any help would be great. I have used this site before and I always have been helped out.

Thanks in advance!
 
If you must build in the next two weeks

Case - $90 - Coolermaster HAF-922 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
Case Fans - Later - CM Red 200 mm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103072
PSU - $110 - XFX Black Edition 850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001
MoBo - $120 - ASUS P7P55D-E LX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131634
CPU - $209 - Intel i5-760 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067
Cooler - $40 - Scythe SCMG 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
TIM - $5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
RAM - $80 - 2 x 2GB Mushkin CAS 7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226103
GFX - $230 - EVGA GTX 470 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550
GFX - Later - Same
HD - $55 - Seagate 7200.12 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433
SSD - Later - OCZ Vertex 2 3.5" 120GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227590
DVD Writer - $19 - ASUS 24X DVD Writer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
OS - $100 - Win 7-64 Home OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

However, with Sandy Bridge about to break, I'd wait for the new 1155 based MoBos / CPU's such as the new Asus Sabertooth
 
For $1000, you could easily throw in a SSD. Add a second GTX 460 to this and a hard drive for storage:

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129066
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
$69.99


EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814130591
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$40.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$199.99
$159.99


Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified ...
Item #: N82E16817371015
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$30.00 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate
$99.99
$69.99


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231274
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$44.99


ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131634
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$20.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$149.99
$129.99


Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760
Item #: N82E16819115067
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$208.99


A-DATA S596 Turbo AS596TB-64GM-C 2.5" 64GB USB 2.0 & SATAII Internal / External Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820211479
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$104.99
Subtotal: $788.93
 
The Sandy Bridge CPUs don't really matter though. While the OP won't be able to just drop in a new SB CPU at some point, his system will still run perfectly fine. An Intel CPU will last a good long time, and since there haven't been a lot of CPU-limited games out there, as long as the OP stays up to date with his GPU he should handle games fine for the next several years.
Only until there are major OS or software requirement changes will the OP need to consider upgrading to a different platform.