First Gaming PC, Less than $1000

jyoung1234

March 17, 2011 6:50:55 PM

Hey guys. Love the site and the forums, thanks so much. Anyways, I'd like to build my first setup, and I've been dying to do it, reading reviews, guides, websites forums etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: April-May 2011

Budget Range: 750-900 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming!!!!!! Some streaming movies and music, web, normal stuff

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I like newegg and tigerdirect, but no preference, mostly want to save money so will be shopping around

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: I'm contemplating the I5 Sandybridge, but open to recommendations.

Overclocking: Never tried it, but am open to it. Don't know if I'll really need it

SLI or Crossfire: Will probably be trying to get one nice card now, looking at the 2GB HD 6950 (So I can Unlock it to 6970?), and then in a while add in the second card.

Additional Comments: Don't really care about bling or lights, cool if Ive got them, cool if not. Would just like to make sure it's upgradeable in the future, (ie...Socket set), reliable, runs cool. Would like to keep the price down as much as possible without sacrificing performance. Will also be interested in a SSD for OS install. Thanks in advance guys!!!

More about : gaming 1000

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Martin9630

March 18, 2011 7:18:05 AM

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition $160
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 $150
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB $130 (I think 60Gb is enough for OS.)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $65
ASUS ENGTX550 $150 (Not top of the end but I reckon it should be fine.)
LG Black 22X $20
ANY CASE of your choice $130
Rosewill RV2-700 700W $60
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus $30 + $10 (for dual fan, push-pull.)

This build should fit nicely into your budget.
Some things like the CPU cooler can be sacrificed for better parts.

Cheers.

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mdsiu

March 18, 2011 2:49:37 PM

Phenom II x4 955 BE is a slightly better value IMHO. If you are going to try and unlock the HD 6950 you may want to go with Diamond, Gigabyte or HIS as they have very high unlock rates.

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techo

May 19, 2011 2:43:17 AM

Martin9630 said:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition $160
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 $150
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB $130 (I think 60Gb is enough for OS.)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $65
ASUS ENGTX550 $150 (Not top of the end but I reckon it should be fine.)
LG Black 22X $20
ANY CASE of your choice $130
Rosewill RV2-700 700W $60
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus $30 + $10 (for dual fan, push-pull.)

This build should fit nicely into your budget.
Some things like the CPU cooler can be sacrificed for better parts.

Cheers.

Martin9630,

I really like this build you have suggested. I am completely new to the hardware world of computers and if possible would like to request your suggestions on power supply and cases that you would use. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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